Side Splits

[IronFist]

^ Ouch! What happened?

[Chief Fox]

Originally posted by anerlich
I was working toward the front split a while ago using Pavel's methods (similar to Kurz's) and gave myself a pretty bad hamstring tear from pushing the PNF too hard.

Hasten slowly, OK?

You CAN overdo this stuff, and a medium to bad injury will set you back probably a couple of months at least.

That said, go for it and good luck!

This is great advice. Kurz has a warning in his book saying that if you push it too hard you could injure yourself. Thanks for the heads up anerlich!

So keeping this in mind. I may have reached the end of my leg spreader's range. The center handle has holes in it were you can adjust it's length. You make the handle shorter to increase your stretch. I'm on the second to last hole and I'm about 12 inches from a full side split. I'm not sure if the mechanincs of the spreader will allow me to go much further. ONe thing I've noticed is flexing the muscles around the hip joint really helps.

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Revised ASCI art for IronFist.

[Chief Fox]

Here's a link to the leg spreader that I have: http://www.martialartsmart.net/20-76.html

Just incase anyone is interested.

[norther practitioner]

I'm going to start after thanksgiving (OK I started last night, but lets be realistic.. I'm going to be at my girls parents for 5 days). I have a looooong way to go. My left hammie still bothers me from a bad pull in June.

[shaolinsoccer]

Get a massage on that hammie. It will help break through any scar tissue. Help get you going again.