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The official splits progress thread
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Excellent! I was actually looking for an additional stretching routine, so I'll be sure to start on this next week. I'll let you know how it goes! And thanks so much for sharing!!
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Have been stretching for a hour almost daily now for 8 weeks. Last week I managed to get my right foot in front completely flat on the floor and letting go with my hands. I can only do it after an hour of stretching though and it takes me about 30 secs to get down on the floor. Now I am working more on my hip flexor wich is what is keeping me from doing a perfect split.
Last night I got my left foot in front flat down on the floor. Woohoo! And wow. My feet are so incredibly sore today they are killing me and its way too cold to stretch today and I can't keep my muscles warm enough.
Going to take a hot shower and do just a few light stretches in there.
I have some questions if anyone can answer 🙂
-Is it really important to stretch every single day if you want to get your splits down fast?
-I once read on some thread here that you should not do deep or heavy stretching every day. But instead light stretching every other day and deep stretching on other days. What are your thoughts about that?
– I have also heard that it is great to stretch in a sauna or someplace really hot and I am thinking about trying that. And I have also heard that it can be dangerous because you don't feel nearly as much tightness in the muscles and could therefor over stretch and injure yourself.
I really need my splits fast because I am competing on saturday next week and I am supposed to do splits in my routine and I would like it to be effortless when I slide down into the splits. And right now I can only get down right after a long stretching session. Should I maybe just take an hour or two of stretching right before I go on stage to perform?
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I pinched something just slightly by over-stretching 3 or so weeks ago (I was in Bikram yoga and I think I just pushed too far.) But I've backed off regular static stretching and have been focusing on hammie strength and resistance strength for a week now, and I think I've conquered the over-stretch. Minimal pinching normally and no pinching after strength training. And I'm back to where I was 3 three weeks ago on my right and left split, and down 2.5 inches further on my center split. Woohoo!
LOVING the Dara Torres Resistance Stretching iPad App so far. I have always plateaued at about 4 -5 inches from total split– I think this is going to help me break through!!
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one thing I saw in every single photo was un-square hips. Stretching splits without square hips can be very bad for the knees. You wont be able to go as far with square hips but it will be better in the long run. The way I check to see if I'm square is by resting my hand on the middle of my bottom. If one cheek sticks up higher than the other than I'm not square.
Oh random FYI I was having a very hard time stretching the last couple of weeks becuse the tendons on the outside of my knee would feel like they were slowly pulling/tearing as I stretched long before my hammstrings, hip flexors ect. actually felt the stretch. After working the knots out of the while upper-calf, knee lower quad reigon the strange/painfull sensation went away. So moral of the story is watch out for knots.
I think I'll have someone take pictures of my splits when I go to the gym friday, that way I can participate in this thread too. 🙂
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Sanchara, I know that many of us are following the splits in 6 weeks program which teaches jazz splits, not true splits. Mainly when you are wearing 6" heels it is impossible to get into true splits.
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Is a square split with the knee facing the floor because thats the way I have been getting into it? And what is a jazz split?
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I think a jazz split is when your hips aren't square, you can still have the knee facing the floor. A "proper" front split is when you keep your hips square and don't twist out
Square hips: http://www.gymnasticsrevolution.com/Split2.jpg
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Thank you for the nice picture of a correct split VinterVlild 🙂
It's okay to do Jazzsplits when you are performing becuse you should never max out your range of flexibility in a performance/training. But when you are stretching having one of the hips in front of the other – or even worse allowing one of the knees to turn causes the ligiments to stretch rather than the tendons. Unlike tendons ligaments cannont "unstretch" so your knees become much weaker. and in a sport where the majority of the athlete are wearing six and a half inch heels you want strong, stable knees.
Now I skimmed throught the "splits in six weeks" programme and it seems that most of what she is talking about is correct. However I think her time frame is unrealistic. There is a thread on the Rhythmic Gymnastics forum I'm on about how long it took to get the splits. Most said six months to a year.
It took me a year stretching 3 days a week at age fifteen…. I just don't want anyone to get hurt. (my coaching insticnt kicks in whenever I see people doing something that they might hurt themselves with and I'm all like RAWR!!)
I'm not saying anyone is dumb or even wrong. I just care 🙂
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Np 🙂 Couldn't find a pic of a jazzsplit though.
I second you on the ligaments issue, my irl stretching teacher stresses us about it all the time so take care of those knees ladies!
A year? I start to see why my teacher thinks I have had such good progress now 🙂
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VinterVild, check out the splits in 6 weeks thread. There are quite a few pictures and discussions there on regular splits and jazz splits.
https://www.studioveena.com/forums/view/Splits_in_6_weeks_2010-03-19_013304
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So I'm doing the splits in 6 weeks thingy, and have completed my first week. I've always felt I'll never be flexible, but the improvement over the last week was nice enough to keep me going on this!
Day 1, last Friday:
http://i53.tinypic.com/1z64axe.jpg
End of week 1, today:
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Ehh, figured out the pics thing..
Day 1, last Friday:
http://i53.tinypic.com/1z64axe.jpg
End of week 1, today:
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well at the time I was only doing the warmup/cool down stretches at karate and warmup at vaulting. There was a bit of a trial and error phase sometime after I started competing in vaulting. Trying to follow the latest fads…but that only resulted in getting injured and having to take time off training.
I had a good chat with my personal trainer friend who was the most flexible person on the national team when she was still vaulting competitively at one point and she explained everything. After applying what she taught me I made significant progress seemingly over night ( in reallity it was about three months between fugly jazzsplits and when this picture was taken.) http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/3174/phonepictures080.jpg
By sancharavaultrg at 2010-05-08I wish I had stayed consitant with it but 2010 was just generally a really bi-polar year for me. and I made no progress in building strength or flexibility during my battle with Annorexia Athletica 🙁 no matter how many hours or how correctly I trained.
I'm going to bug someone to take new pictures at the end of practice tomorow. 🙂 we'll consider that my starting point for all intents and purposes. ;P
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@ Sanchara-
Do tell this secret advice that your personal trainer friend told you that helped make a significant improvement… You've hooked me, I'm dying to know…Also, I couldn't get your pics to come up.
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nothing particularily special.
Eating a proper diet high in dark vegitables, Stretching after strength training, combinic static passive and dymnanic active stretches and using the technique of contracting and releaseing the oposite muscles while doing static stretches. PNF stretching when I had a partner to help out… The biggest things tho were correct alignment and that sort of thing to prevent getting hurt. Also that the pre-split stretches were far more important than actually stetching the splits. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVq9nL_tLbo (1:14 – 1:35 in this video)
This is the picture from before http://img15.imageshack.us/i/phonepictures080.jpg/
this is monday night http://img443.imageshack.us/i/18094519799695689379710.jpg/
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