[ratty]

Hi Miss Kitty,

Hope you’re not too sore today, lol! I definitely can relate to the shaking, and at first when I was doing this I felt like I had just run a freakin’ marathon after just stretching! It was really hard for the first two weeks or so, maybe not that long, and then it got much, much easier.

If you’re already a foot from the floor, you should be able to do it with your hands on the floor. Then you’ve got all your weight pushing down from above and you’ll get there faster. You’re really close with your straddle splits! For me those are the worst….still struggling with that one…

[ratty]

It HAS been awhile since anyone posted here, hasn’t it?

I am still doing the six-week method, although now it’s soooo much easier. I can go into full splits on both sides now after warming up and doing some other stretches first (deep lunges and forward bends). I still can’t get all the way into a straddle split, although I’ve gotten a much wider position and can sit with my legs out to either side, bring my head to each knee, and put my head on the floor in front, and sometimes my chest as well. My legs are not in a straight line with my body but it’s a whole better than it used to be. My hip flexibility has increased dramatically, which is great! I’m doing better with the lying-down leg stretches now, too, although I don’t do them all the time.

So now I’m doing the stretches about every other day, for about 15-20 minutes each time. I am very happy with the results I’ve gotten and hope to progress more in the side splits now.

I wish I’d take some "before" photos!! But I was definitely nowhere near the floor, and that was while trying to do the "cheating" splits where your knee is out to the side.

This has been the best system ever for getting flexible!

[ratty]

Sapphire, I thought you were super-duper flexy already! That is a perfect split! I can get there after working myself down for awhile. Are you able to do splits without lots of stretching into them first? To me, that would be the ultimate!!!

[ratty]

I can do it in 15 minutes but I try to give myself longer since I really need it. I’m trying hard to do it every day so if some days are "short" it’s okay, as I’ll do longer on other days. I’m feeling super-tight today so I may take half an hour and really try to work it out. This method is helping soooo much, and is free! Stacy’s video has some great stretches, but somehow it wasn’t getting me there. I think the key for me was just working the splits and doing it for much longer at a time.

[ratty]

I’m not flexy by nature at all, so have to really work at it. I worked at splits really seriously for about 5-6 months before getting into them last summer. I enjoyed them for about 2 months and then I pulled a hamstring and totally lost them. I started the same stretches I’d been doing before and it was like starting over from scratch, and it SUCKED! I switched to the 6-week plan and now I’m back in them (took less than 2 weeks). I still can’t just drop into them anytime and have to be warm and stretch my way down into them, but I’m just thrilled to get down into them! Straddle split is really improving, too, which I never thought I’d see! It’s great to finally find something that gets great results FAST!!

[ratty]

Hi Joni,

The article goes into lots of detail about the technique itself. I don’t do all the stuff he talks about because like you, I was pretty close to splits already but couldn’t get all the way there. I am trying to do this every single day, and it takes about 15-20 minutes, plus whatever time it takes to warm up first. Here’s my sequence:

1. Forward bend–just relax into it, keep relaxing and keep holding for about 2 minutes, or until your hands go flat on the floor. I got almost immediate results with this one.

2. Lunge–back leg is straight out behind me with toes on the floor so knee is off the floor. This is great for the hard-to-stretch muscles at the tops of thigh and front of hips. I start out with hands on the floor, and then gradually start to take the weight off of them a little, so more weight is going into my hips. I hold this for several minutes on each side. I don’t feel huge changes while I’m doing it, but I can tell it helps with my back leg when I go into splits.

3. Side Lunge–hands on the floor on either side of my front foot–this gives a great side stretch as well as the leg stretch. This one is reeeeeaaaaallly hard to hold for a long time, but I keep sinking lower until I can’t stand it anymore. It’s probably only a minute or so. Feels like infinity.

3. Front splits–back knee facing down, hands on the floor, I go as deep as I can, then wait it out while consciously relaxing the muscles. Push down a little more, then relax and wait. And again, and again, and again…lol…I spend a few minutes on each side or until I can’t take it anymore. By then I’m way further than where I started every time!
I do it on both sides and sometimes repeat it.

4. Straddle splits–I hold on to the pole and slide down as far as I can (this was my least flexible area) and wait, letting my body weight slowly push me down. It’s a great upper body workout, too, since you’re supporting yourself with your arms, lol! My arms were actually sore the next day! If you wait long enough you’ll really get deep in this one–it’s amazing after you do it a few times. I can almost get flat and I’ve never been even close to that, EVER!!

5. Front splits–after doing the straddle split I do these again, and this is when I can get all the way down. The straddle definitely helps with the second round.

6. Straddle split–If I have it in me, I do another straddle. By this time I’m usually shaking and worn out.

So for all of these, I am relying mainly on waiting out the muscle tension until it gives out and I can go further. It takes a long time and is very uncomfortable (that’s an understatement). Sometimes I will go as deep as I can, wait, then contract all the muscles hard for a few seconds, then relax and wait again. But usually I just relax and wait.

7. Leg raises–I don’t do these every time. Lying on your back, pulling your leg towards your head. For some reason, I don’t really feel the stretch with this one. Maybe because I don’t have the benefit of my body weight pushing on the leg. For this one I use the muscle contractions. I stretch the leg in as much as I can and hold it, then contract HARD, relax and wait, and then repeat it all a few times.

I don’t use all the visualizations like he recommends–I just stretch, breathe, and focus. And wait. And wait. And wait….

I could tell the difference almost immediately with these stretches. I am very tightly strung together, so I have to work hard for every little bit of flexibility I get. I really have to work on hip openers (I use some good ones from yoga, just not often enough). I’m going to try this technique with those stretches, and try to find a way to use it in backbends. I just love it and have been so excited to see real results, finally! I’ve also experienced less soreness and discomfort after these than with the way I used to stretch. It makes sense, since this really lets your muscles relax and lengthen. Sometimes I can’t spend as long as I want to doing them, but even if I can do 10 minutes I still feel the progress.

Let me know if you need any more info, and I’m anxious to hear what you think once you’ve tried it!!

[ratty]

Hey angrygirl,

I just wanted to thank you for posting this link! I just discovered it about 2 weeks ago and WOW what a difference it is making!!!! FULL splits for the first time ever! And I use same technique for straddle splits, but I use the pole to slide down. I’m not completely there on them but so much closer than I’ve ever been. The technique makes so much sense and yet I’ve never been taught it or even heard of it before.

I pulled a muscle in my hamstring about 4 months ago, and have lost so much flexibility since then, on both sides. Every time I stretched, it hurt. Using this relaxation method, I can really stretch it out and it doesn’t hurt at all, which really proves to me this is a good way to stretch. I really haven’t used the isometric contractions that much, because the relaxing and holding has worked so well by itself.

So, many thanks for posting this!!! How has it worked for you?

http://www.unique-bodyweight-exercises.com/splits.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ok, here is the link. It may be old news but before I started this program I was a foot off the ground and if you go to the official splits thread you can see I am about 4" off the ground. Also, I have to still get good and warmed up before I can go down in them. I wonder when will I be able to to just slide into them without all the workout and stretching as I see some girls in class do?

[ratty]

I bought this DVD and it has some good stretches in it, but overall I’m not that excited about it. Most of the stretches are ones that I already work on, so I didn’t find any real "secrets".

However, I DID finally find a method that got me into full splits fast (WOO-HOO!!!) even with a pulled hamstring that has been giving me fits for 4 months. Someone else on the forum (I can’t remember who) posted this awhile back and it WORKS, and it’s fast. I am soooo excited about it that I’m going to give a class at the studio to show everyone how to do it. It’s very simple, but not easy, lol! The article is here:

http://www.unique-bodyweight-exercises.com/splits.html

The main way that it works is that you hold each stretch for a VERY long time, forcing the muscles to fatigue until they give out. I think most of us are used to holding a stretch for what feels like a long time, but isn’t really long enough to get the job done. In this method you stay there for a few minutes (feels like forever!) and it’s not easy! You can start to feel it happen after that. It only took 2 sessions for me to see a real difference. I’ve done it 6 or 7 times now and the difference is amazing. My routine takes about 15 minutes and does not hurt my pulled hamstring.

If anyone is interested, I’ll be glad to post more details. I LOVE this method, and am so grateful to the poler who originally posted it here, and who is now probably a contortionist, lol!

[ratty]

Hi Chrissy! Nice to meet a fellow poler from the area! I teach at Studio Rio in VB. What kind of pole are you getting? I got a pole about 2 yrs ago from Platinum Stages. It’s stainless steel. I recently bought an x-pole in titanium gold because I wanted a grippier surface and the smaller 45 mm. diameter. I think I’m going to switch back, though. I’m not liking the new one as much. Having a pole at home is awesome!

I’ve looked at a few lessons and they are great! I’m finding out my students are learning waaay faster than I did, so I need to build up my skills to keep them challenged!

Linda

[ratty]

I just joined the forum and am happy to hear I’m not the only one whose shoulder mount has been misplaced! It is off somewhere with my Ayesha and there are no signs of a return yet. I didn’t want to accuse anyone of stealing it, but I did wonder…

I was SO PROUD of myself when I FINALLY got the SM (my nemesis)! Now how on Earth do I find it again??