Splits in 6 weeks
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How long is is generally supposed to take for your muscles to give out (stop tensing during the stretch) and relax if you're just starting the 6 week program?
Dumb question but does anyone know how many reps you are supposed to do of each exercise? It says sets of 3 - but how many reps?
Charley, I assume "sets" is "reps" in this case.
This is a great thread, its my new years resolution too. I haven't started a programme yet, Alethea has a splits dvd coming out in Jan if anyone did not know I may start in the 6 weeks programme and throw in some of Aletheas stuff too. Good luck all :)
Yes! Thank you so much for posting this! I am going to try to work on this. I am soooo so so very inflexible its hilarious. I've never been able to even touch the floor w/ my finger tips -- unless I bend my knees. Like MommaBear, I'll just be tickled to be able to touch the floor, let alone the jazz splits!! 😀
Just an update...I started this on Saturday and last night was the farthest I had ever gotten into the splits in my life. I dream of the day that my cooch touches the floor!! 😲 (seriously...I really do dream that I can hit the splits and the cold floor always surprises me)
LMAO! Chemgoddess, you put that so elegantly. I know what you mean though. I'm finally down all the way on one side without holding onto the pole, but it's still a pretty tremendous stretch for me. Still, considering how inflexible I've been my whole life, this is a huge accomplishment for me.
Ooooh! I have been jonsing to get into the splits for years. I did them once upon a time back in high school, and even then it was only a few times. I'm looking forward to giving this stretching routine a go. Since I'm new to the forum, can anyone advise if there is a "challenge" or "progress" board? If so, perhaps we could create a Splits in Six challenge. Just a though...
Soulstudio...there is a splits progress thread going. I started it last year and unfortunately was not dligent Here it is: Official Splits Progress Thread
Sorry....that link does not work. I really need to talk to webbie...... https://www.studioveena.com/forums/view/The_official_splits_progress_thread_2009-11-29_011908
@Chemgoddess1 - It looks like the link works to me :) The whole thing is not necessary any more, I built in auto process to take care of that.
The first one did not since it took "]Official" into the link address. Old habits are going to be hard to break.
Just put these in the splits progress thread and decided to post them here, too. Week 1 pictures: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5082/5344272215_7c8f0ab355.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5042/5344274733_c5b386f530.jpg I did not take any pics of mt right forward as it is really bad and I cannot hold it very long.
Chemmie you are getting sooooooooo close! yay!!! 🙂
hey chem! when you're training for your splits keep your hips square-- it's a lot more depressing to see how far up you are off teh ground, but it's a truer indication of progress and it ensures that your'e stretching your hip flexor. make sure your back knee and toes are aligned and pointed so that your toes and knee are on teh ground, not turned out the way you've got-- also make sure that your hip bones are at the same height and both facing forward. if you're stretching with your side to a mirror, you really shouldn't be able to see all of both buttcheeks. i've been working on splits (ummm very lazily) for a while. i have very bad hip flexibility, so that when i'm stretching for splits i'm still a good 6-7" off teh floor on both sides when i'm square. however, because i have flexible hamstrings, i can lay on the floor on my back, keep one leg laying flat on the floor and bring the other one up so that the top of my foot is touching the ground next to my head. in a performance or dancing sure, i don't bother with square hips! but for training you should... sorrry to be a poop.
Amy...this is the way that is explained in the splits in 6 weeks, which is what I have been working on. "The last of the six exercises you must do each day is of course the front splits because the only ay your body learns is by practicing, so the splits every day is what is required. There are two ways of doing them you can either have the foot and knee of the back leg facing the floor or you can have the foot and knee pointing to the side and it is the second way that you should do them. Why? For three reasons, one being that if you choose the first method you place the back leg in a position were it automatically wants to bend at the knee and if your back leg is bent you can not do a proper full splits. This habit can be overcome through training but it is easier and quicker to adopt the foot to the side technique. The second reason is simply that your back leg slides a lot easier with the foot pointing sideways than it does with the foot pointing down towards the floor as the toes tend to dig in to the ground and make it harder to slide. And The third reason is that when it is time to start practicing isometrics whilst in the splits position you will find it a lot easier to maintain your balance with the back foot pointing towards the side."
hm. chem... i'm not sure about that statement, at all...that runs counter to everything that everyone has ever told me-- from contortion teachers, to yoga instructors, to fitness professionals. if you are training for splits, if you don't have both hips facing forward you are not isolating the hip flexor. if you don't have full splits, you must bend your back knee in order to keep the front leg straight, hips square, and isolate the hip flexor. keeping your balance is easy if you put something on either side of you and put your hands on them. in every stretching class i've taken, we've used yoga blocks. i've worked on isometric contractions in that position, and it's much more intense if your hips are straight. and you should be stretching in socks or in pants to allow your leg to easily slide on the floor. those arguments make no sense.
Amy, I think there has been discussion about this in the splits progress thread where this technique of stretching was first brought up. It is the difference between "jazz splits" and regular splits. On the floor in shoes I really do not think you can do straight splits, if you are trying to get them for aerial work that is another story. I am just trying to get down far enough period and if jazz splits are the only ones I can do right now I will take those. Never in my life, even when I was in gymnastics as a child and a cheerleader in middle school, could I do the splits.
chem, i feel like i'm missing something here. why on earth cant you do a regular split with shoes on? the bottoms of your feet aren't touching the ground, why does it matter if you've got on shoes, boots, uggs, or socks? i understand what you are saying about just wanting to get down. if that's the case, then my point is that if you are doing a jazz split, you aren't targeting the hip flexor as much as you COULD. for me, the hip flexor is the single and ONLY obstacle to getting a split and it's only by working on my range of motion with my hip flexor that i will ever be able to get closer to the ground. if you are working on an iron X on the pole, you don't just do upper body exercises, right? you work obliques as well, and core, because if you are relying jsut on your arms to get the X, you aren't strengthening all the areas that come into play on that trick. same with splits: most people have tight hamstrings, and also tight hip flexors. if you don't work your hip flexors by working splits square as well as jazz splits, you are missing a crucial component of stretching for splits that could help you a lot.
She can't do it in heels because she probably can't do the splits with a flexed front foot. In shoes it's difficult to achieve a pointed line and it does take more calf and hamstring flexibility to flex the front foot in front splits or any forward fold. When the foot is in a flexed position, it stretches those muscles and the associated connective tissues even further. It's for this reason that my cooldown with my students involves a series of forward fold stretches from the floor where we start with pointed feet for several breathing cycles, flex the foot through a breath stretch and continue the stretch gently pulling back on the balls of the feet. From there we go to the basic split series so the backs of the legs are loosened between class (where I'm constantly on them to have pointed leg lines) and split stretching (where you need the calves and quads to be relaxed to achieve good flexibility).
And P.S. Chemmie you are so close!!! Remember to keep nice and square when you're stretching to get the most out of it. If that's week 1 you're definitely going to be there at week 6.
hm, again, call me crazy, but if i am sitting on the floor in pike, with my heels on, my feet aren't flexed... they're in neutral, and actually slightly pointed? and the higher the heel and shorter the platform, the more pointed that they are???
my understanding of chem's question wasn't whether or not SHE could do splits with shoes on, but that she is stating that it is not actually possible to do square splits with shoes on?...
In a front split with a proper point, the bottom of the front foot is angled downward at the floor. This is not possible with 6"+ of heel preventing you from doing that. Regardless, the simple solution is to stretch similarly to how I described above, focusing on stretching out the muscles which become very tight after lots of pointing and always stretching square.
I was not talking front leg in splits when wearing heels but rather your back leg. I want to say that most performers will have that back leg laying sideways on the floor. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ns0hBKQdbtk/SQsPH4ZKpcI/AAAAAAAAAjA/g2xONMRRvks/s400/AOD+PDSW08+splits.jpg'; Even on the pole this seems to be the norm, with or without shoes: http://www.poleexercise.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/themes/poleexercise/images/moves/icon-splits.jpg With the exception of gymnasts pretty much every photo I have pulled up on google images for splits has the back leg sideways on the floor. http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:X12336VtB6NLTM:http://www.whudat.com/news/images/ciara-splits-on-chair.jpg&t=1
