Tips on doing the split

hiddensecant

So I learned recently that I'm really close to being able to do the split. My muscles are pretty flexible and I don't even feel too much of a stretch in the muscles when I try to do it. I actually feel it in my outer hip joint ... I feel the bone, if that makes sense.

Anyway, I was wondering if there are any tips to loosening that up (other than practicing the split more often, hehe). Any thoughts?

irunwithscissors

My thought would be practice! I took dance class from 5yrs old to 13yrs old, even after 14 years (and gaining 80 pounds) I can still do the splits! I can still kick my face too! lol

workoutqueen628

I also took dance for 14 years as a kid, which is why I'm super limber! I would recommend yoga- it definitely increases flexibility if you practice it enough. Good luck :-)

AndriaLL

You can lie on the floor with your butt right up against the wall, put paper (or coloring books, X-ray film, anything that slides easily against the wall) under the back of your heel and let your feet slide down towards the floor. Put on ankle weights for even better stretch. This helped me get into the splits when alternated with actually doing the splits. There are also stretchers available out there that you sit in and will hold your legs back from martial arts stores such as karatedepot.com. (I'm a former martial artist)

waguchan

Has anyone seen the DVDs by Stacey Nemour about this topic? I've been thinking about buying one of these DVDs:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001LF3690 (STACEY NEMOUR's Secrets of Splits & Flexibility)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002P3LQ3A (Stacey Nemour's Stretching for the Least Flexible People on the Planet)

rmccully

My thought would be practice! I took dance class from 5yrs old to 13yrs old, even after 14 years (and gaining 80 pounds) I can still do the splits! I can still kick my face too! lol

that is awsome

hiddensecant

Has anyone seen the DVDs by Stacey Nemour about this topic? I've been thinking about buying one of these DVDs:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001LF3690 (STACEY NEMOUR's Secrets of Splits & Flexibility)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002P3LQ3A (Stacey Nemour's Stretching for the Least Flexible People on the Planet)

Oh that reminds me that I've been wanting to try out Elastic Steel ... so expensive though, hehe.

waguchan

Oh that reminds me that I've been wanting to try out Elastic Steel ... so expensive though, hehe.

THANK YOU! I haven't heard of that one before. Another one to add to my wish list!

I've been using Ultimate Flexibility DVD by Sang H. Kim (http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Flexibility-Stretching-Martial-Arts/dp/B000MGBM5Y). I really like it. My aching back feels better all day after I do any of the exercise segments in this video. But it isn't focused on getting you into a split.

hiddensecant

Oh that reminds me that I've been wanting to try out Elastic Steel ... so expensive though, hehe.

THANK YOU! I haven't heard of that one before. Another one to add to my wish list!

Classical Stretch is an excellent program too; I credit my current flexibility to that workout.

With Mother's day is coming up, I decided to go ahead and get Elastic Steel (since it's for people who are already flexible) ... I'll let you know how it goes. Yay for priority shipping, lol.