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Stiff as a Board
I want to work on my flexibility but I don’t know exactly how and where to start. A back bend and split are two poses that I would really love to master. Any tips on how to accomplish them and approximately how long it’ll take.
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9 Replies
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Take it slow, you may want to follow Veena’s flexibility program. It’s key to be consistent with training, at least 3-4 days a week once you get used to it, less at the beginning (1-2 times). Always warm up very well, I like doing my flexibility sessions at the end of my home poling sessions. Sometimes I even do a second warm up if I feel I need it, for example, if I have been training upper body and I want to do the splits. Your timing question does not have an answer, everybody is different and responds different to training, also your background, age, etc. has an impact. It took me about 6 months to have a flat split on my good side but I was not very far away, maybe 3-5 inches or so. Besides Veena’s programs, I like Fit and Bendy – Get Bent DVD.
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It took me about 8 months to have a flat split on my good side, and I was not very flexible to begin with. I did not stretch consistently, but I did pole dance almost every day.
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Thanks so much. I guess you’re right, it’s all about consistency. When I walk into the pole studio a feeling that I can’t explain takes control of me, and I want to do everything that I see everyone else doing. Then I have to remind myself that I a newbie and with time and practice I’ll get there. But when I get home I lose all motivation and then I see you all and my fire is reignited.
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Hi! There’s no set timeline as far as how long it should or will take a person to do splits or back bends. Both of these take time and most of all consistency, but that doesn’t mean training heavy every day!!!! You need rest days to see improvement. As mentioned try my 30 days to flexy program, this includes the whole body and tells you when to rest and gives you tips everyday too.
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I have been working on my splits for a year and a half! When I first started stretching I couldn’t touch my toes. Now I’m about 5 inches from the floor and for me that is a huge victory! Don’t forget to celebrate the small victories because it can be a long and discouraging process. Make sure you warm up a ton that was holding me back for a while until I figured out I wasn’t as warm as I thought I was. And when you get your goals show pictures so we can all celebrate!
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I been stretching my splits for the longest time. But lack of knowledge i Guess in the beginning is what took me sooo unbelivable long. hehe. So following a program i Guess would be really helpfull. I tore my hamstrings in both legs, sÃ¥ after that i learned all about the Things going on in the legs and stuff. 😛 But what really helped me, was to do really good stretching for the pancake first and then do the splits. and stretching for an over split, just to get my normal split. i dont think i would have gotten the normal one if i didnt. But for me it was alot in the hips, so doing the overstretching really got a good stretch in there. good Luck 😀 hope you get there soon!
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I found out for me that flowy stretching like in yoga helps me a lot better than ever do the same static streching. I use a lot the vidoes from Adee like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7__5szNyObA
She has a lot of different splits videos and I do 4 times a week one of them. I’m on my splits since december 2015 and now on my good side I’m not far from the ground 🙂
Oh an foam rolling helps a lot too! -
I agree with poleadventures. For me doing yoga really help with getting lower in splits, and increased my flexibility in general. I have the fit and bendy dvds, she gives a lot of good instructions, and have a very calm voice, but I felt like I was plateauing. I also have cleo’s rocking legs and abs, but I do that sparingly. Unfortunately, I’ve never tried veena’s stretching vids, but hopefully someday soon.
My splits aren’t flat yet, but I found that I’ve gotten much deeper with adee’s flows, they are interestingly and most importantly she reminds you “to breathe and listen to your body” which is very important when stretching. You can also try kinoyoga as she gives good tips, and tells you where should be engaged, and where should be relaxed.
In any case best of luck to you, on your splits and flexy journey.
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I’m working on my splits, too. I just started, so I’m not very close to achieving them yet, but I was able to get a whole 2 inches lower by following the flexibility training here, which I highly recommend, and also using an app on my phone that focuses on the stretches required for achieving the splits. Everyone else has already given you excellent advice about warming up, consistency and using a variety of stretches. I have to agree that all of those factors are key and have helped me gain flexibility safely. It can be hard to stay motivated because it’s going to seem like it’s not working at first. Flexibility gains happen so, so slowly but stick with it and you’ll start to notice you get lower and lower to the ground. Take pictures and measure how far your crotch is from the ground every couple of weeks.
For the first week of stretching, I hated it (it’s pretty uncomfortable if you’re not used to it!), but after about 2 weeks I started to like it, and now I look forward to my splits training days. I have never tried the Adee videos but they look excellent and I think I’m going to give them a go! 🙂 A word of caution: if you are poling in close quarters, you may start to kick things as you increase your range of motion. 😀
Good luck, and take care!
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