How to Close the Last Inch(es) on Your Splits
How to Close the Last Inch(es) on Your Splits
So you’ve been training you front splits for what feels like for-ev-er only to get stuck 1-2 inches away from the ground for months. Sound familiar?
Don’t despair! I’ve found that many students hit a plateau in their front split training once they get close to a flat split - but that doesn’t have to be the case for you. Assuming you’re already following the basic “best practices” for flexibility training, there are two main things I’ve found help students the most once you get oh-so-close and need to just close that last inch or two to get that sweet sweet touchdown to get flat splits.
How To Flatten Your Front Splits (Video)
For all you audio and visual learners - the video below is a summary of the rest of this blog post:
Super Secret Split Tip #1: Stretch (and Strengthen!) Pesky Hip Flexors
Your “hip flexors,” the muscles that cross over the front of your hip joint - your psoas, iliacus, and even technically your rectus femoris (which is one of your quads, but it does assist in hip flexion) - are often the muscle group that holds people back when working on the splits. Tight hip flexors can be a challenge because they are really good at avoiding being stretched - which is why they often pull your hips away from “square” (both hip bones pointing forwards). If you have a hard time keeping your hips square in a split, you can blame those pesky hip flexors!
Tight hip flexors are such a common challenge that I wrote a whole post on them: 8 Hip Flexor Stretches Using Active Flexibility (also bonus how-to: Hip Flexor Focused Warm Up to make sure they are super warm and ready to stretch).
2 drills I find extra helpful for stretching hip flexors to help get flat splits are:
Block Lunge Knee Taps
Start in a low lunge with a block (or foam roller) under your back foot / ankle.
Press the top of your back foot into the block to lift the knee, trying to straighten your back leg as much as you can
Slowly bend the knee and lower it with control to just “kiss” the floor
Repeat straightening and bending the knee 8-10 times on one leg, then switch legs
The higher you have your chest lifted in this exercise, the harder the drill becomes. To make it easier, you can lean forwards. But if you want a real hip flexor challenge, try to keep your torso totally upright as you do your knee taps!
Supine Leg Extensions with Hips on a Block
Start lying on your back with a yoga block under your hips
Straighten your right leg as you hug your left knee in toward your chest. Hug your right knee in as much as you can - so much so that your pelvis starts to tilt (tailbone toward the ceiling, top of the hips tilting back toward the floor) and your right leg lifts away from the floor
Keep hugging that left knee in as you actively press your right leg toward the floor - you should feel a squeeze in your right glutes trying to lower that leg, as well as a stretch through the hip flexors in the front of the right leg. Make sure to keep your right quads engaged so that the right leg stays straight and you don’t just drop the foot by bending the right knee
Continue to press the right leg toward the floor for 10 seconds, then relax, do some bicycle kicks to shake it out, and then repeat for 2 more rounds of pressing the right leg to the floor for 10 seconds. Then switch legs.
Want to make it harder? You can either elevate your hips higher by adding an additional yoga block (increasing the amount of pelvic tilt you get when you hug one leg toward your chest - OR you can do this same drill with both legs straight (hugging a straight leg instead of a bent knee in toward your chest to tilt your pelvis).
Super Secret Split Tip #2: Start Working on Oversplits
One thing that helped me a lot (and I’ve seen help my students in the same boat) once I got SO CLOSE to the ground was adding a yoga block under the front leg. Even though that might feel like you’re “regressing” because your hips are temporarily higher, you might be able progress a tiny bit more until your splits are “flat equivalent” - then you can remove the block and voila! For more details, see When (and How) to Start Working on Oversplits.
Nowadays, my favorite way to program in oversplits for students who are close-to-flat in their front splits are:
Do all your regular warm up & conditioning and stretching to get split-ready (likely 15-30 min of work)
When you’re ready to work on your split holds, add blocks
30s back leg oversplit: with block under the back foot, front leg straight, torso lifted (you will likely want blocks under your hands as well), do 10 knee lifts, straightening the back leg to lift the knee off the floor, then bending the knee back to the ground. After 10 knee lift reps, hold the back leg straight for 10-15 seconds (it’s going to feel pretty squeeze-y in your quads!
30s “regular” split: right after your back leg oversplit hold, relax the leg, lose the block, and just hold your normal split for 30 seconds, it’ll probably feel more comfortable!
30s front leg oversplit: take a blog under the front calf (or heel, if you’re comfortable keeping a knee microbend without support) and hold your front leg oversplit for 30 seconds
30s “regular” split: take your front leg off of the block and relax into your traditional split. Hold for 30 seconds
Usually after doing oversplit work on the front and back leg, my non-oversplit splits feel much more comfortable by comparison! Sometimes that oversplit work alone is enough to get your touchdown in a single session if you’re lucky.
In the Meantime: How to Fake Flat Splits
If you’re preparing for a performance or photo shoot, you can always “fake” your splits if needed! Earlier this week I wrote about how to do an illusion split which is a great way to make your split look flat on the floor even when you don’t quite have the full flexibility for it.
The secret is just leaning to the side so that you bring your front leg’s inner thigh toward the floor, instead of the back of the thigh. This will close the space between your legs and the ground, and is a lovely split-y shape, even if it’s not your “traditional” square split.
Workshop Recording Available: Getting Flat Splits
For folks who are interested, I do have a recording of one of my previous workshops on this exact topic: Splits Clinic: Getting Flat Splits. This 60-minute workshop is designed for students who have close-to-flat front splits, but are looking to get them all the way flat. It includes a warm up, and a whole bunch of active flexibility exercises (with a lot of focus on those hip flexors!), as well as an introduction to practicing your oversplits.
