by Thomas Kurz
This is the first in a series of articles on training for sports and martial arts that I began posting at stadion.com in March 1999.
My area of expertise is conditioning for sports and martial arts, but I am most known by martial artists as the author of the book Stretching Scientifically: A Guide to Flexibility Training and of DVD Secrets of Stretching.
In my articles I provide readers with information they can put immediately to use and experience its benefits, often right away too. In the course of providing this information I dispel some harmful yet persistent misconceptions on exercise and training methods. Here are some of these misconceptions.
- That most people can’t do splits because of structure of their joints and length of their ligaments
- That it takes long time to achieve great flexibility
- That strength training limits flexibility and speed
- That static stretches, such as attempts at doing splits, are to be done during a warm-up to improve range of motion and prevent injuries
- That stretching prevents injuries
There are other misconceptions and I will address them as they come up in discussing specific issues and answering readers questions.
In this article I will address the first misconception: That most people are kept from doing splits by structure of their hip joints and length of the hip joint ligaments.
There are simple tests that show you that for the great majority of people the structure of joints and the length of ligaments are not the obstacle for doing splits. You can use these test to determine if you have the potential to do front and side splits before you start your stretching program. (Yes, there are people who cannot do side splits because of hip joint deformity called coxa vara.)
Here is the side split test: Stand beside a chair or table and put your leg on it as shown below. Make sure that both your hips and your raised leg are all in one line and your pelvis is level. Repeat this test with your other leg.
If you think that the length of your muscles and structure of your hips will not let you do side splits, try this test… The leg resting on the chair is in the position it would have in a split
Now, what have you done? You have done “half side splits” with both your legs!
You have proved to yourself that both your hip joints have all the mobility (range of motion) needed for a full side split!
You have also proved that the muscles of each of your legs are already long enough for a side split. You know that no muscle or ligament runs from one inner thigh to the other (or, if you don’t know it, you can ask your doctor). So, what keeps you from doing the whole side split with both legs spread sideways at the same time? Your nervous system, that’s what!
I will not bore you here with explaining how that happens. The important thing is that with the right stretching method you will teach your nervous system to let you do side splits any time, without any warm-up.
The right method works with your nervous system and lets you do splits within months, sometimes even weeks. Other ways of stretching take more time and bring worse results because they work against your nervous system.
I stress a method as opposed to mere stretches. You may know many stretches but it is not stretches alone that make the difference in flexibility. What does make a difference is when and which stretch or exercise you do during your workout.
Many adults, who can perform the side split test with ease, have a great deal of difficulty with side or straddle splits (but not necessarily with front splits) due to a problem in the outer part of their hips. They feel that there is a “stop,” accompanied by pain in the outside hip or upper thigh region that prevents them from opening their legs wide enough to do a full side split. In the next article I will tell you how to overcome difficulties with doing a side split.
This article is based on the book Stretching Scientifically. Get this book now and have all of the info—not just the crumbs!
I’m not even close. Does that mean I can’t physically do side splits even if I train?
Yes–if you did the test correctly.
I’ve heard this theory also before from my kung fu master in china who also tried to prove it to me by going into the sidesplit together with me so his feets where in between mine, stretching them to the side while holding my whole weight (just like hugged me from behind underneath my arms and hold me up) – let me wip a little down to relax and suddenly he “let me drop” a lot further down untill the reflex came anyway. But it was a huge difference so I figured he must be right. So this much I knew already and also I’ve just figured out that I have to point my feets to the ceiling since I’ve been blocking myself the whole past 2 years for nothing…
However – your book, is it just describing exercises to train this reflex or is it basically just showing stretches?!
Cause well I know already like tones of stretches so that’s not what I’m looking for….
The book’s table of content is posted at http://www.stadion.com/stretching-scientifically/.
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The book Stretching Scientifically (hard copy and e-book) is available at stadion.com/stretching-scientifically/.
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I am not sure this test proves anything, since when raising one leg up the hip can tilt to the side, making it less of a stretch fro the raised leg. So the angle between the leg to the hip is less than a full split, even though the leg is a full 90 degrees to the torso.
When in a full split the hip can’t tilt or it would make it harder for the other leg. So for a full split with two legs you need the flexibility in the leg/hip.
If you only had the flexibility to get each leg 45 degrees from the hip, then you could pass this test by tilting the hip 45 degrees, and lifting the leg 45 degrees to get it to the 90 degree angle shown.
The guy in the image isn’t doing that since he can do the full splits so doesn’t need to tilt his hip.
Wrong. In a side split with toes pointing forward not only the legs are spread sideways, but also the pelvis tilts forward. In a side split with the feet pointing up, the pelvis is kept straight but the thighs rotate outward. The alignment of the hips and thighs in both types of the side splits is the same. See more in Difficulties with Doing a Side Split.
Wrong. The guy in the image can do the full side split because he has normal hip joint mobility, which the test reveals.
I think I can do the test but I’m not sure if my hips are right. My hips feel like they’re tilted and maybe not in line with my leg and when I try to twist them away from the tilt, it hurts on the side, a little towards the back of the hip. I’m not sure if this is the “stop” you describe later. Did I fail the test?
I don’t think Adam’s comments referred to the pelvis tilting forward. I think it referred to the pelvis turning around a vertical axis, i.e., turning to the side. I have the same question.
It seems that the man in the photo is already able to keep his weight centred otherwise the weight of his stretched leg would topple the chair on which it is resting. A beginner would find that the stretched out leg needs support to carry its weight. Basically, the already flexible person would not need this work, and those who do want to increase their flexibility / mobility cannot expect to start here. A more realistic goal would feel more trustworthy. I don’t want to do splits, I just want to be able to sit on my sit-bones with my legs outstretched and touch my toes, and flex forward with ease and have my upper body fold closer to my knees. Is that realistic for someone above the age of 60?