Can EVERYONE do the splits?

[bigpopparob2000]

I've been doing splits for years. I actually learned them a long time before I started taking martial arts. I don't want to say that everyone has the potential to do them, but developing that ability is largely the result of continual effort and patience. For certain, it is definitely not too late for you.

First, a little background in the science of flexibility. Flexibility has three forms.

1. Dynamic - how wide a range of motion you can move your body or a body part. You use momentum to achieve maximum range of motion. Think of doing an axe kick.

2. Static - bracing yourself against a solid object, slowly stretching, and holding the position for an extended time. Think of Jean-Claude Van Damme in Blood Sport when he'd hold a straddle split on the floor (or b/t two chairs) and act like he was meditating.

3. Active - How wide a range of motion you can move your body or a body part relying solely on control, not momentum. Think of ballet dancers who can balance on one foot, stick their other foot straight up in the air, and hold it there for an extended period of time (I've been working on this one for years and just can't get it).

All of that being said, these three areas build on each other in the order listed. Now I'm not abrubtly changing topics, but this helps explain the following lessons I learned by trial and error. If I had known these ahead of time, I would have made much faster progress.

I wouldn't recommend working on the static splits every day. Like any other sort of conditioning, you need to allow your body time to heal. Years ago, I'd train the splits 3 days a week, and it'd take a good 30 minutes to an hour before I could sink into one. When I dropped down to 2 days a week, I needed less time. Now, I only do my static stretching one day a week.

When you do your static stretches, you can make the most gains after you've done aerobic/cardio conditioning. Once I started doing my stretches after running, I didn't need 30 minutes at all. Provided my muscles were still warm, I could work into a split in less than a minute.

Static stretching is what everyone automatically thinks of when they imagine doing the splits. But training your dynamic stretching will greatly improve your static flexibility. Combining dynamic stretching with my aerobic work outs made dropping into splits sooooo much easier. For instance, my martial art is Tae Kwon Do. Three days a week, I'll go into my gym's aerobic room and jump rope for a good warm up. Then, on each leg I'll do 10 swing kicks, front snap kicks, crescent kicks, side kicks, followed by 50 double punches from a horse stance. After that, I go through all of my forms, taking no more than 4 deep breaths b/t each form. It's a sweaty work out to put it mildly. Now, I assure you I have a point other than sounding cocky. Especially since my art is TKD, all the kicking drills and forms require, train, and polish dynamic flexibility. If I spent that time just running, my legs' range of motion wouldn't require any dynamic flexibility at all. After I've done my last form, I can drop into a split with hardly any difficulty. Honestly, it's so much easier than if I had ran a couple of miles instead. After I've done my static stretches, I usually do better with my active flexibilty (of course, some days the balance just isn't there).

I'm sorry to be so long winded, but that's everything I know on the subject. Good luck on your training, and let us know when you achieve your goal.

[bushido_man96]

There is some good info in there, bigpoparob. I think that many people shy away from doing dynamic stretching, because of the risk of injury. The key is to moderate what you do, and don't overdo it. PNF stetching is another good way to supplement static stretching to improve flexibility.

[Shinta]

I can do the splits but I don't believe it is important...

After you can kick above you own height, doing the splits or not doesn't change much. You can actually lose control and power. But it is still good as it is pretty much a mental exercise.

Be careful, as said before, it is very important to know the difference between good and bad pain. The rule is more or less this one: if it is the muscle that hurts is ok, if you are pulling ligaments STOP! And please, be patient enough not to rip yourself apart...

[joesteph]

Be careful . . . it is very important to know the difference between good and bad pain. The rule is more or less this one: if it is the muscle that hurts is ok, if you are pulling ligaments STOP! And please, be patient enough not to rip yourself apart...

Not only do I think you're right, SKI, but I'm glad you gave a focus to the pain. Connective tissue, in this case the ligaments, is simply structurally different from skeletal muscle, and there are people with powerful muscles who become limited by the damage they did to connective tissue. In weight-training, the connective tissue is usually a tendon; in stretching, it's usually a ligament. These tissues can tear, and so, as SKI said, "don't rip yourself apart." Martial artists, I believe, really need that flexibility even more so than the weight-trainer.

Patience--a virtue! A younger person might have an injury not because of impatience but because of a lack of instruction/supervision; an older person might have the reverse, an injury not due to lacking instruction but due to impatience, even lamenting afterwards, "I knew I shouldn't have, but . . ."

[Shinta]

I found it rather funny that you called me SKI

S.K.I. stands for Shotokan Karate International

My real name is somehow similar

[joesteph]

I found it rather funny that you called me SKI

I'm going to stick with "Shinta" from now on.

[bushido_man96]

After you can kick above you own height, doing the splits or not doesn't change much. You can actually lose control and power.

I don't think you will lose control and power too much, as long as you make sure to continue to strengthen your legs as you increase your flexibility.

[woodsman88]

I am 30 and can almost do a split, in a few months I will be able to do a split