Got Built?

“So you wanna do the splits hey?”

That’s what my friend – dance instructor Kate Miller – said when I asked her to take on the daunting task of turning my un-bendy make-believe-bodybuilder-self into a pliable image of grace. Okay, I’m exaggerating. A lot. But I haven’t been able to do the splits since I was a kid and I thought it would be kinda cool to once again “assume the position”.

Here’s what Kate suggested.

Suppose you are a “typical” lifter with little to no formal flexibility training. (Silly meathead! That means your ILS is always acting up!)

Depending on how well you selected your genetics, the following stretching protocol should get you a successful outcome within three to four months – but bodies being what they are, results may take some a little longer than others. Please, be patient. You’ll get there – eventually – but you may need to exercise your patience while you wait for that perfect split.

For the best results – and in the interest of injury-prevention – stretching should be performed after an adequate warm-up. This could be as simple as some light cardio to get blood to the working muscles and to elevate core temperature.

Because we’re good little opportunists (and we’re lazy), we’re going to take advantage of what would otherwise just be wasted heat and do this series post-workout.

I’m going to build this around Baby Got Back and How to do cardio, if you MUST assuming post-workout cardio after each of the four lifting-days and a fifth day with hill-repeats. Perform this stretching sequence after each of the five cardio sessions.

Kate advises: “Please make sure you have enough time to do these movements.” In stretching, you are encouraging the muscles, not bullying them. Forcing a stretch is likely to do more harm than good.

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Perform the following sequence of 6 stretches at least once
(and ideally twice, although you may choose to do up to 5 cycles of them)
following each cardio session.
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1. Butterfly stretch
Sitting on the floor, bend your knees so the bottom of your feet are together. Gently drop your knees to the side as far as possible. Hold this for 45 seconds.

Then gently press on your knees to get your knees further to the ground. Hold this for 30 seconds.

2. Calf Lunge
Stand with feet together. Take a comfortable step forward so you have one foot in front of the other. Making sure your toes are pointing forward, bend your knees until you feel a stretch in your calf muscles. (Be sure to maintain correct posture) Hold this for 45 seconds. Repeat with other leg.

3. Retiré Hamstring Stretch
Sitting on the floor, out-stretch your right leg directly in front of your right hip. Bend your left leg, placing your left foot next to the inner part of your right knee. The left knee should be turned out from the hip, with your left thigh either resting on or heading toward the floor, depending on your flexibility. Keeping your spine neutral (don’t curve it) reach down your right leg as far as possible until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings. Hold for 45 seconds, and then repeat with your other leg.

4. Kneeling adductor stretch
Kate notes that she has to be very careful which classes perform this stretch, as parents may not find it “appropriate”…

Get down on all fours, knees slightly apart. Slowly push your knees outward as if to be doing a side split. Depending on your flexibility you may need to get down on your elbows instead of your hands. Please keep your knees aligned with you hips to maximize the stretch – although you may prefer to let your hips drift a little forward of your knees so you can get farther down before slowly pushing your hips back in line with the knees. Depending on your flexibility, you may find this offers more control than just trying to drop straight down.

This is a challenging stretch, and may be difficult to hold for longer than a few seconds at first. Add a few more seconds each time, working your way up to a full 45-second hold.

5. Kneeling Illiapsoas Stretch
Kneeling on the ground, take your right leg up and our to the front, so you right foot is on the floor in front of you, with right knee bent at a 90 degree angle. With your hands on your right thigh, gently lean in to your right leg until you feel a stretch at the front of your left hip. Hold for 45 seconds and repeat on the other leg. You may find it more comfortable to kneel on a pad or cushion.

6. Lying Quad Stretch
Lie face down on the floor with your legs stretched out behind you. Bend your right leg, bringing your right heel toward your right butt cheek. Hold on to your right ankle with your right hand and gently pull your leg toward your butt until you feel a nice quad stretch! Hold this for 30 seconds. Repeat on the other leg.

BONUS OPTIONAL STRETCH
6+. “The Drop”
Lying on your back with your butt against a wall, with your legs up the wall. Gently drop your legs down to the sides so you are doing a side split on the wall. Hold this for about 45 seconds. For a bit ‘more’ using your hands gently press on your inner thigh to push a little further. Hold for 30 seconds.

***Remember as with your weight training, take at least one day off per week. ***
You don’t want to ‘over-stretch’.

TIME TO SPLIT!
Okay – you’re warm, you’re stretched out, and you’re ready. To ensure proper form in your front splits – a movement which requires more flexibility than just “doing the splits” entails – ease into them as follows. Not only will it help your flexibility-training, but your splits will just look SO much better!

Method: Kneel on the ground, put your hands on the floor in front of your knees but out to the side slightly. Bring your right leg through so your right leg is in front of you out stretched. Keeping your hips square, slowly slide down into your right-leg split.

Pause for a moment, then repeat on your left leg.

Once you can perform this movement, you may also like to use the splits themselves as a stretch to enhance flexibility: get into position and and hold for 30-40 seconds. You could add them to the stretching sequence above if you like.

If you want to get good at them…
Kate offers this final note: “The best way to do the splits is to practice the splits.” Hardly revolutionary, but it needs to be said. I can tell you from experience, flexibility is very much a “use it or lose it” phenomenon. Once developed, it’s not difficult to maintain – and by taking advantage of your already-warm post-workout body, this little protocol can serve as a reminder – and a methodology – to stretch out any other parts you may need to work on as well. I know I’ll be tucking scapular mobility work into this time-slot.

But enough talk! Go – get bent!

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About Kate Miller
Kate Miller is a qualified dance teacher and owner/operator of the Wangaratta District Studio of Dance in Country Victoria, Australia, where she specializes in Jazz, Classical and Funk/HipHop. Kate holds a Diploma of Dance Teaching & Management, and is proud to teach under the guidelines of Australian SAFE Dance

References:
STRETCHING AND FLEXIBILITY
Everything you never wanted to know
by Brad Appleton

The American Ballet Theatre’s Online Ballet Dictionary

*With apologies to the Pantene advertising team