Tried one of those Century Leg Spreaders
I was at a local sporting goods store yesterday and they had an old Century Mechanical Leg Spreader (link is to the new one) . I have one of those manual leg spreaders and it works pretty good so I got in this thing to give it a try.
It's very easy to opperate. It has adjustable leg pads, an adjustable hand grip and the pully rachet system is pretty smooth and easy to understand. It has a little guide on it that tells you at what angel your stetch is. For example 180° is a full side split. I was able to get in this thing and stretch to 150° cold. I'm sure I could get another 5 to 10 degrees had I been warmed up.
Things I don't like about are; 1. it takes up a lot of floor space. 2. It's kinda pricey for a machine that just increases static flexibility ($149.00 old version - $199.00 for the new one). IMO, Doing splits, or attempting splits, increases flexibility in the same way but also increases leg strength because you have to stabalize your body using the stretched muscles. The leg spreaders take the stabilization out of the equation. While I do think flexibility is important, I believe that a balance of strength and flexibility is optimum.
So if you have the extra cash it would be worth it to make this machine a PART of your stretching program. BUT you can get the same results with a manual leg spreader or by doing splits. It would be easier to just sit and watch TV while using this machine though.