Health Dept Magazine Health Dept Magazine

Want great splits? (Gymnastics stretches to improve flex)

READ THIS FIRST There's a lot more tips that wouldn't fit into the montage that I'm going to put in here which will help maximise the stretches. Every stretch demo'd is shown very briefly, in reality warm up stretches need to be held for at least 10 seconds, and the actual stetches used to increase flex need to be held a minimum of 15 seconds (30-60 seconds would be best). This allows the muscles and brain time to work together to lengthen the muscle therefore increasing flexibility. THE WARM UP:This is very very important. No matter how flexible you are always warm up before stretching, and don't stretch cold muscles. In the straddle stretch, keep knees facing the roof, don't let them turn in. When doing reverse lunge do not sit your bottom on yours heels, keep it raised like demonstrated. Point and flex is great for warming up the ankles as well as working on the toe point. FRONT SPLITS: The section includes a lot of hamstring stetches. The aim is to keep the back as flat as possible, don't round it just to make it look like you're able to goo down further. The beam stretch uses a technique where you contract the muscles whilst they are stretched to the fullest, which causes the muscles fibers to lengthen. This technique can be used when your being pushed down for any stretch, simple push back against that force for around five seconds at a time. MIDDLE SPLITS: When doing the partner stretch, the two people pushing must have one foot at or above the knee and one around ...