greyeyes

I have been streching every day for over six months now and I'm wondering why I can't do a full split yet. Also does anyone know any tricks to streching? Thanks guys

almostaugust

Some people are more flexible than others. Although, you should notice lots of improvement if your doing it right. My tip for stretching is to hold your stretch for a good 10-15seconds. I see so many athletes who just give minimal effort to stretching. When done properly (with warm-up), you should be just about breaking a sweat. I cant give you much help about the splits, although i know the butterfly stretch is good for your adductors.

__________________
'And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe
Maybe this year will be better than the last
I can't remember all the times I tried to tell my myself
To hold on to these moments as they pass'

greyeyes

I normally strech for twenty to thrity seconds per strech, and I believe that I strech all of the muscles in the leg.

__________________
I'm kind of jealous of the life I'm supposedly leading.
- Zach Braff

minyn

warm up well before hand. sprint for a few minutes or till you feel your body producing heat. then slow down and go stretch. work out and stretch again, a bit harder tho. walk it off. im a dancer and i found that helps. however, when it comes down to it, you really have to push it sometimes. also, the stretch your hip flexors, sit in a straddle and try to touch your nose to the ground. it will help or so ive found.

__________________
"Woke up this morning with a blue moon in my eye"
~A3 "woke up this morning"

"Don't compromise yourself, you're all you've got." -Janis Joplin

Rodney

Some people just don't stretch as well as others. I've been doing yoga for years -- it's the ultimate stretch -- and while I'm much more flexible now, I still can't touch my toes.

00111000

I stretch almost every night for 30 mins or so, been doing it for a year now and I still cant do the splits either. As others have said everyone stretches differently. What type of stretch are you trying in order to be able to move that way?

__________________
- And so he says, 'I don't like the cut of your jib.' And I go I says, IT'S THE ONLY JIB I GOT, BABY! -

Poloboy

Never sprint as a warm up. Jog. You'll cause serious damage.

Also, technically, the stretch mentioned would be stretching your hip extensors.

seizei

Technically, that stretch works on your piriformis, a muscle that is deep to your gluteal muscles.

Greyeyes, what level of flexibility did you have before beginning stretching? To go from average flexibility (just short of touching toes) to doing full splits, it will take at 2-3 years of stretching 3 times a week, depending on your body. I wouldn't recommend heavy stretching every single day. Stretch lightly every day maybe, and do a more intense stretch every third day or so.

Be sure that your muscles have healed before you stretch againm - if they're sore all the time, you are stretching too often. Jogging or other aerobic exercise with your legs helps to stay flexible and see faster increases in my experience. Also, be sure to do resistance training for your legs in the gym if you are running.

__________________
"If you're not weird, you're not interesting".
I'm very interesting ...

seizei; (adv - Japanese) at the most; at best; to the utmost; as much (far) as possible. (pronounced - say-zay)

greyeyes

I normally just strech my groin by attempting splits. I also do the sit-on-the-floor-and-touch-your-toes-strech for each leg. That's pretty much it, hold it for thirty seconds that kind of thing. My level of flexibility now, I would have to say is a little above average. I can touch my toes confortably (without any bend in the knees of corse).

__________________
I'm kind of jealous of the life I'm supposedly leading.
- Zach Braff