How to achieve the splits

Many people saw my split videos on youtube and asked me how they could achieve this too. I hope with this entry I will be able to answer all the questions.

Note that my routine is based on the great works of several people and my own experience. I didn't use a single prescibed method but rather "absorbed what is useful and discarded what is (for me) useless" to quote Bruce Lee.
I used the books "Beyond Stretching", "Relax into Stretch" and "Super Joints", all written by Pavel Tsatsouline and the book "Stretching Scientifically" by Tom Kurz, which I like the most (by far), especially for achieving the sidesplit. If you dont know Tom Kurz, the following video will say more than a thousand words:



Both Pavel's and Kurz' method are based on very similar priniples but use slightly different approaches. The stretching method used for the most part will be isometric stretching, in the end of this post I'm going to link a few articles that will explain this method in detail and are helpful in general for achieving greater flexibility/the splits.

Now onto stuff that is useful for the real world ;)

To achieve the splits, one must build strength in the increased range of motion (ROM). Simply trying to lenghten/stretch the muscles will only work so far and it will take forever to get flexible. Remember, a strong muscle ist a flexible muscle.

Now this is done via two ways: The first and most important for beginners are dynamic strength exercises through the full ROM, examples for this are ATG squats, pistols, deadlifts, lunges, kettlebell swings, cossacks... (and don't forget to get a strong core and upper body too). Kurz advises to use high rep stuff like bodyweight squats first to condition and strengthen connective tissue and muscles.

After that, one should add resistance to increase the difficulty of the exercises and thereby increase strength gains. The most important thing is to always use the full ROM, if flexibilty is the main goal (there are some sports were limited ROM exercises are more useful, for example partial squats for high jumpers).

The next step are the isometric stretches, meaning moving into a stretch and tensing the muscles for a certain period of time, then releasing the tension and going deeper into the stretch.

For the sidesplit, I found that the best method by far is Tom Kurz' Horse Stance method (you can check it out in the linked articles). Don't get me wrong, Pavel's method works too but in my experience it is much, much easier to build the necessary strength with the horsestance, it's more comfortable and quicker too. For the frontsplit and open frontsplit (back leg's knee facing to the side), both use quite similar methods.

Personally, I like to do 3 sets of the horsestance, inbetween those sets I will do two sets of front splits in each direction combined with splitswitches (can be found in "Super Joints" and in the video at the end of the entry), which are very healthy for the hips and also help your nervous system relax and feel safe even more. Beginners could do some cossacks and a couple sets splitswitches in the beginning of the stretching session instead.

I do this 2-3 times a week. That, combined with the strength exercises is really enough. At the end, I always do some light stretches for the outer hips, quads and hip flexors to avoid muscle imbalances, but nothing hard/taxing.

So, to sum it up, don't do too many exercises, focus on a couple of stretches (front and side splits) and build strength and the flexibility will come with it.
I find that it doesn't matter if my strength and flexibility training are on the same or seperate days, I would say this is a personal choice, it never affected my progress.

Also, I saved the most important "tip" for the end of the entry: CONSISTENCY!!! Don't jump from program to program every couple of weeks and expect results. Increasing flexibility needs time and everybody is different, so allow your body as much time as it needs to adapt. Some people get it faster, some need more time but we are not in a hurry. Stay with it and you will get it. If you only stay with it for a couple of months and you don't achieve the splits, don't say the program doesn't work and jump to another one because the same thing will happen again...

Also, all the reading and knowledge won't do anything if you don't apply it in your training and work hard! To end with a Brucle Lee quote: "If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you'll never get it done." :)

Here are the links:

http://www.stadion.com/column.html

http://www.trickstutorials.com/index.php?page=content/flexibility

And one of my own vids:




Good Luck!!!