Has anyone here trained themselves to do the splits?

[Special K]

Has anyone here managed to stretch to the point of being able to do full side splits? What routine/techniques did you use? How long did it take? How close were you to being able to do full side splits before you started specifically training for it?

EDIT: I bought this book:

Stretching Scientifically

back in 2006, but ran into some problems:

1. The book doesn't seem to be organized very well, despite the good reviews on Amazon
2. I don't understand how to do the so-called "isometric stretches" - somehow reading about it in a book just isn't working
3. I lost the time/motivation to keep it up

I have since picked the book back up and have been doing the dynamic stretches 2x/day along with one relaxed stretch that leads to the side splits. I seem to be making some progress, but considering I was nowhere near full side splits when I started, it seems like it could take a very long time to reach my goal.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

I'm be curious as well so here's a free bump.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I could do American splits back in my competitive martial arts days, but never got closer than maybe 4" off the floor on the straddle split. We did individual stretches, partner stretching, and added the Hurley Stretcher not long after it hit the market. Had to be careful with that thing, it was too easy to crank past where you should be stopping.

 

[wwswimming]

high bar leg stretch, yes.

full splits, no.

 

[TallBill]

Not a chance.

 

[pX]

My (twin) brother was able to do it. He started at something around a foot of the ground and simply did it every day, sort of bouncing around at his lowest point (a la dynamic stretching). It seemed like 1 or 2 months before he was able to do a full side split with about 30 seconds of work each day.

 

[wwswimming]

whoever relaxes the most wins (when you're stretching). the goal is not
to do the full splits. the goal is get the benefits of stretching.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: wwswimming
whoever relaxes the most wins (when you're stretching). the goal is not
to do the full splits. the goal is get the benefits of stretching.

What exactly do you mean by this?

 

[Koing]

My bro when he was 12 could drop in to the full box splits no problems. At my most flexible I was 4inches probably about that now or there within a few stretching sessions. OLift keeps me supple. I can cheat the front splits where my gonads are on the floor but my hips aren't perfectly square. Standard stretching, PNF stuff (google this) and it is just a lot of work everyday.

My mate does TKD and stretches pretty dam religously and he can do it. He stretches everyday.

No real books I read. Just did a bunch of stretches:

Dynamic before training,
Static and PNF stuff post training.

I learnt the hardcore stuff from Gymnastics.

Koing

 

[wwswimming]

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: wwswimming
whoever relaxes the most wins (when you're stretching). the goal is not
to do the full splits. the goal is get the benefits of stretching.

What exactly do you mean by this?

there's a tendency when stretching to try & compete.

women & some martial artists can do a full split, where their
legs subtend a full 180 arc.

i never paid much attention to stretching till i took an aikido
class. the black belts were so "into it", their 'ukemi', stretching
& falling arts skills, their enthusiasm was infectious.

i eventually ended up doing a fairly extreme form of hatha
yoga known as ashtanga yoga. one of the local instructors
says, "ashtanga yoga is biomechanically contra-indicated", a
fancy way of saying, you can hurt yourself.

i notice the tendency, when i started yoga, i would try & compete.
one of the other guys in the class was Taylor Knox, a local pro
surfer. i found myself trying to keep up with him on some postures
where i was not as flexible.

also, i would fidget and adjust my posture, and as soon as i was
done fidgeting, the class would be on to the next posture & i never
had a chance to relax with the first posture, because i was fidgeting.

i eventually learned to do what i could do, & noticed the striking
effect - relaxing, breathing slowing down, feeling less anxious about
whatever. by 'striking' i mean, like someone had injected me with
valium. like the feeling you get when you're skiing and then you
go to the bar and then you get in a hot tub. serious relaxation.

but as long as i was trying to do it 'someone else's way', i was
just fidgeting, not stretching.