Active Split, Oversplit

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After watching the videos of youtube user cardinely, i am strongly inspired to bring my leg flexibility to a highest level. I used to think splits were pretty much the limit of human leg flexibility

I can already do the front splits very solid (no pain going in and out of, just a little stretch sometimes when i havent practiced it for a few days), and am going to do the middle split very soon.

A month ago I was at a gymnastics training facility and did the front powersplits on the rings, going as low as i could and doing a few sets of what i would call "leg cross pulls" , like falling in and pushing out of the split using only straight leg strength, and felt no soreness the next day. So i think I am ready to advance farther on the road to exploring my potential!

Coach, my questions are,

Can you give any advice on how to best approach the oversplits?

And what can I do to be able the "active split"? I was thinking about doing splits in the inverted position (handstand) with weights on my ankles, lowering as slowly as possible and pulling as strongly as possible in the split position?

Besides I am going to target that area by focusing strongly on my Straddle L (i can hold the Basic Version (normal straddle L) for about 10 sec currently) and Youngs, and next month I am going to start visiting the gymnastic training facility (I am doing an acrobatics class) 3 times a week, so I have access to all kinds of gymnastic equipment, like stall bars, rings, etc.

Much love!

For active flexibility, our girls do a lot of hanging split holds where they hang from a bar and move their legs into a split and hold. They will also do split jumps with band resistances and standing leg raise holds.

For optimal results in useable, real world flexibility one should use a combination of active, passive, weighted, assisted, dynamic, ballistic and integrative stretching means. Good training tools are variety of weight plates, elastic bands, leg weights, stall bars, a partner and even a pulley system.

Here is a clip of a circus performer demonstrating a combination of methods to reach pike and pancake active flexibility:

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Similar methods, and even more advanced drills can be used to develop any position desireable.

I have also ran into an interesting article, many years ago, using an iron chain and carbiner to develop active flexibility in a very creative way. I need to search my archives to find it, and will try to post it later on.

I have also ran into great active flexibility work done with sinchronized swimmers using empty, sealed plastic bottles attached to the legs, and performing various exercises holding the ridge of a swimming pool while opening and closing legs in various ways inside the water. Excelent exercises also. (Shown to me by my good friend ex synchro swimmer and now days circus artist Herelle Jegoux)

Thank you for your responses.

Ido, that is a very interesting information with the underwater stretching. Too bad i cannot try it right away

And the video is good aswell, I am already incorporating some of the techniques shown in my training.

Blairbob, I am having trouble visualizing the split jumps with resistance bands. Could you describe the exercise ?

wow, that was amazing straddle flexibility. I'm so jealous

For the competitive athlete, excessive flexibility is not only unnecessary but dangerous. You should be flexible enough to dynamically enter into and out of the body positions required for your chosen sport. Out of the thousands of athletes I have trained, three have naturally had perfect flexibility coupled with extreme strength. Three.

All of the other naturally flexible have been unable to develop high levels of strength, often despite enormous efforts on their parts. The very looseness of joints responsible for their flexibility also precluded their having adequate leverage during conditioning. Additionally this lack of stability within the joints also predisposes them to excessive injuries when training dynamically. Without exception, they soon leave the sport.

I would much rather have a talented "tight" athlete who is powerful and explosive. With the proper active flexibility training, their flexibility can be increased to a level adequate for their sport. Allan is one such athlete. At National Team Training Camps, the other athletes and coaches are often amazed at Allan's shoulder girdle flexibility. What they often do not realize is that this flexibility is the end result of years of careful, patient, persistent preparation. When he was young, Allan was about as flexible as an iron bar.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Coach, so you are saying that extreme flexibility can be bad, because of too much looseness of the joints. I completely understand this.

But what if this flexibility is not "loose" flexibility, but "strength" flexibility (active flexibility)?

I do not understand how this is bad - if it is not "looseness of the joints"-flexibility , but extreme (near the natural human ROM limit) active flexibility with the appropriate stability and support-strength. This is my goal and the intention of starting this topic - not how to make myself as loose as possible, but how to make my active flexibility reach a very high level, for example touch my knees to my head in a v-sit, or be able to do a split (or near split) while standing without help of hands.

To put my question in another way, is it enough doing hip extensions, straddle L , v-sit, manna, as high as possible, plus active pike / straddle stretches, or are there complementary exercises to assist in reaching my goal more quickly , that you would recommend?

Much love

Coach Sommer, that is heartening to hear because that is very much like my L5 Erik.

This is a boy who is quite strong in some areas, is 10yo ( not as strong as Allan or Vadim was then but is impressive ) but is stiff as a board in pretty much all ROM except he has good shoulder extension, not great but good. Poor pancake, middle, pike, and front split ROM as well as poor shoulder flexion and bridge ability however he is very good at pull strength though not so great at bent arm push strength.

I think he is knock kneed or something up with his legs either by years of unattended squat mechanics by his previous coaches and the fact they figured he was just tight so never really implemented a great stretching protocol. His active hip flexor ability isn't so great but I wouldn't be surprised if he has tight hamstrings as well ( apparently his dad is an ironing board as well though mom was somewhat limber as a gymnast ).

We are now at 8 months since I've come on, sometimes it's hard to tell what he is capable of because he gets acid reflux and doesn't have a great work ethic ( he seems to thrive on being yelled at as his motivation ) and can have energy problems from not eating enough IMO.

Still there is hope for him I guess if he continues for the next 7 years as he is showing improvements in his bent arm strength and HS ability ( though it's hampered by his lack of shoulder flexion ).

I have some questions about what coach Sommer said:

1. Are "naturally flexible" people like that guy in the mana video with hyperextendable elbows? (a sports medicine doctor told me that only 5% of the population can do that, but he also said these kind of people gravitate toward gymnastics and ballet)

2. Or are "naturally flexible" people the ones with that loose joint disease? (I knew a girl who said she didn't like to run because her hips could spontaneously dislocate due to her ligaments being too long; but she could put her hips back in place)

3. Does this mean that naturally flexible people should stay away from dynamic stuff like tumbling?

I'm thinking that excessive flexibility would be if you start stretching the ligaments because you have reached the limit of muscular flexibility and are continuing to try to stretch farther. The guy in the video seems like he is ok except he maybe stretches the knee ligaments too much.