Dancers and gymnasts make splits seem so easy. They glide delicately to the ground, their legs perfectly straight. Sadly, however, such incredible flexibility rarely comes easily. It must be achieved through diligent stretching and training, but such perfects splits are indeed possible with a little work.
Instructions
1. Learn the mantra: Not all splits are created equal. A regular right or left leg split exercises totally different muscles than a straddle split. Quite frequently one type of split comes more naturally to a person than the other. To make things even more complicated, each person also tends to have one leg that is more flexible than the other. You may plop easily into a right leg split, but a left leg split may feel painfully tight. Learning where your weaknesses lie will allow you to concentrate on the muscles and positions that give you the most difficulty.
2. Perfect form before function. Frequently, dropping into a split will seem easier if you pay no attention to the exact positioning of your body, but such carelessness can frequently lead to injury. Don't sacrifice your physical health just to make it easier for you to appear effortlessly flexible. In a regular forward split, your front knee should always point directly toward the ceiling, and your back knee toward the floor. You should be able to split on a straight line. In a straddle split or center split, both knees should face the ceiling. If your knees turn in, you are not only cheating yourself from a good stretch, but you might injure your knees.
3. Take baby steps. Do not force yourself into a split quickly and painfully. That is the best way to get a strained or pulled muscle. When first starting out, allow gravity to slowly sink your body further and further down as your muscles relax and slowly stretch. Each time you do this, your flexibility should increase a bit. Repeat this gradual process every day or your muscles will begin to tense back up. To give yourself some incentive, have a friend measure the distance from your groin to the ground. Record the measurements, so you can watch yourself getting closer and closer to the ground and that perfect split.
4. Include some helpful exercises. Aside from simply stretching your split every day, there are other ways to prepare and lengthen your muscles. For a front split: Lie on your back with your legs flat on the ground. Bend one knee to your chest. Grab your leg at the calf from this position and try to straighten you leg without changing the position of your thigh against your chest. Hold it for ten seconds. Bend your knee again and repeat. Complete the exercise on both legs. For a straddle split: Find an empty wall and place your rear end right against the wall so your legs are pointing straight up against the wall and your back is flat on the floor. Open your legs and relax your muscles so that each leg begins to slide down the wall to either side of you. Stay in this position for ten minutes. You should notice your legs getting lower and lower.
5. Never rush it! Building flexibility is a slow process. Not only should you expect to work for months before your split achieves perfection, but stretching should not be done briefly. Hold each split for several seconds, allowing gravity to fully take its toll and drop you down low into your ideal split.
