My Biggest Flexibility Tip

There are a lot of resources online that claim to know the 1 way to get flexible fast. The truth of the matter is that the fastest way isn't always the best way. I wouldn't consider myself a human rubber band just yet, but I've gotten much more flexible over the past two years than I used to think I'd be able to.

During my splits challenge I posted at the beginning of the month I'd been consistently stretching at least three times a week and I was making progress. However I didn't feel like I was making progress fast enough. I remembered that in rhythmic gymnastics we would bounce while in the splits in order to get deeper into the position, so I figured if I could do that in an oversplit on my bad leg it would help a lot. I was wrong, and now I have to take a break from stretching for a little while because I pulled a muscle. I had a similar problem when I first got my left splits at the beginning of the year and ended up losing them over the summer, I decided to make this blog post to help others avoid making the same mistake.

My biggest tip when it comes to flexibility is to focus on long term maintenance and progress rather than instant results. Don't stay in your comfort zone though! Your muscles should still be challenged during a stretch, but they should never be forced into a position they aren't yet ready for! When I got my left splits I'd made two big mistakes.

Mistake number 1: I was only stretching my good side.

It's tempting to only stretch whatever body part is more flexible because that's what you'll see progress on the quickest. Don't take the easy way out! In the real world (especially if you're a dancer, gymnast, martial artist, anything that requires flexibility) it's better for your body to stay as symmetrical as possible. If you avoid fixing your weaknesses when you're first starting out, they'll hold you back the more you start to advance. You'll be stuck playing catch up when you could be moving on to bigger and better things, don't limit yourself!

Mistake number 2: I stopped stretching after I'd got my split

Why? Because it hurt! I'd forced myself into the split and pulled the same muscle it felt like I pulled when I forced my right split about a week ago. That's the problem with instant gratification, it's gone about as soon as you get it. I got my left split in February, but because I forced it and pulled a muscle, and then made things worse by continuing to do the split for a while without warming up or stretching first, I had to take a break from stretching my legs for a few months before the pain stopped. By that time I'd lost my splits. If I'd waited and stretched properly, it probably would have taken longer for me to get my splits, but I'd have done it in a healthy way and wouldn't have been injured.

So how should you go about getting your splits?

Step 1: Warm up.

You should always be warm before stretching as cold muscles are more prone to injury. You can do a few minutes of cardio to warm up.

Step 2: Stretch

Lunges, forward folds, pigeons and half splits are great stretches for getting your splits. When I post my results for the splits challenge I'll show what stretches I felt I got the most benefit out of.

Step 3: Hold the position

This is something that really helped me. When sitting on a soft surface like my living room couch, I could get much farther into the splits. I'd put a heating pad and a pillow under my legs to help relax my muscles and hold the position for a minute. Then afterwards I'd try going deeper into the splits by removing the pillow and holding that position for another minute. Then for the last step (which I wouldn't recommend doing if you're farther from your splits than I was in my pictures) I would take about 2 pillows and put them under my front foot and try to do an oversplit position. I would only hold this position for about 30 seconds to a minute.

Step 4: Know your limits

Imagine your muscles are silly puddy. If you pull a piece of silly puddy apart slowly it will gradually stretch longer and longer. However, if you pull a piece of silly puddy apart quickly, it snaps into two pieces. Pain feels different on everybody, so it's important for you to know the difference between pain and discomfort. It's ok to be uncomfortable when you stretch. If you are comfortable then it means you aren't pushing yourself enough to actually gain flexibility. But it should never hurt! If you injure yourself take a break for a week or two, ice your muscles occasionally, and be gentle when you first start getting back into exercising.

I hope this post had some helpful tips and that you can learn from my mistakes. I'm going to try to start stretching again slowly and I'll be posting the results for my sugar plum fairy variation (which I've taken a break from for my knees and pulled muscle) and my splits challenge by January of 2019.