I need to increase my strength but at the same time I need to increase my flexibility really badly. My goal is to do the splits before October. I'm 7 inches off the ground on my box splits (it's so much harder to push my left/right split, I don't know why).
What are some exercises that will strengthen my body for all the stunts and jumps?
Should I stretch before or after working out?
Please, I'm trying to get all the information I need, badly.
PS: I'm 14, F, 5"3, 45 kg.
***PLEASE READ THIS*** Since my answer is very long, you might not want to read it all, if so, I recommend you skip to the very last paragraph down below where I summarized everything. If not, go on and read the little guide I prepared for you :)
First off, you shouldn't be thinking on how long it's going to take you because you're gonna injure yourself. You should actually be thinking of how to correctly warm up and stretch for splits in order to get them faster and perform them better. I hope you understand that it is 100% necessary to warm-up and stretch before splitting, rather than just going into splits daily for 30 minutes. I learned all of this advice I'm giving you the hard way and suffered multiple injuries. If you follow this personal routine you should not make my same mistakes.
As a dancer I use a special training flexibility routine.
I. Warm-Up
Options
a. Go out jogging for 5-10 minutes
b. Practice some sort of sport before starting.
c. Workout before starting.
d. Take a warm shower.
Although d is the easiest, I strongly recommend you do some sort of physical activity before beginning. Also, the reason why it is EXTREMELY important to warm-up is because you need to have your blood flowing through your body to improve the circulation so that the stretches following the warm-up will not be as bothersome. I think what always got me injured was not the lack of stretches but the lack of WARMING-UP! Always do it, even if you feel like you don't need it, do it so that your splits will come faster. Seriously, the more you warm-up, the more you can stretch, the easier your splits will come.
II. Stretching
Many people think that stretching and warming-up are the same thing or that if you warm-up (i.e. go running) you don't need to do the proper stretches (listed below), or that if you don't warm-up, you can just go into stretches that will become painful because your body is not "warm". Although both are important, I think the warming-up is even more crucial since it'll prevent injuries, while stretches just help with flexibility. AGAIN NEVER STRETCH "COLD" now that that's been said, let's go on with the stretching routine:
1. Pike: Sit on the floor with your legs straight in front of you. Reach to your toes as far as you can WITHOUT bending your knees. Once you can touch your toes, try to touch your head to your knees.
alright so my answer's wayyy too long and yahoo won't let me post it all, if you want the rest of the guide, email me: sophie.fernandez66@yahoo.com
It's best to keep your leg as straight as possible and arch down you'll feel muscle in their that's just meaning your stretching which your increasing flexibility. To become more flexible you would want to stretch more until you are satisfied with how flexible. I am a level 10 gymnast and I stretch a lot to become more flexible. Things I do is do my splits, right, left, and center, and I do the wall stretch and push myself against the wall as a couple of my stretches. But before you do all of this make sure you stretch out your back, arm, leg, stomach, neck, ankle, and a lot of you muscles or else you can pull something. I want to become more flexible and i do stretches a couple of times a day for 20-30 minutes. I have been doing it for a week now and I am already seeing a difference. Swimming will exercise you and so will yoga but out of these two to become flexible yoga. You have to continually work on stretching certain muscles out. It will take a while. stretch every single day and do the splits then you will get more flexible. try to stretch or do the splits for 3 minutes each day and you'll get better I improved my flexibility drastically-I could not even touch my toes, and now I can touch my head to my knees and my palms to the ground-by simply sitting on the ground and reaching for my toes. You can bend your ankles back as far as you want in order to grab your toes, and then attempt to point your toes. This will pull you forwards and bend you down. Hold this position for about 30 seconds. If you cannot touch your toes when sitting on the ground, bend one leg so that one foot is touching your opposite thigh. Then reach for the other foot. Repeat on both sides. Hold each side for about 30 seconds. However, if you do not have time to do this, there is an easier way, albeit one that takes slightly longer. Just stop bending your knees to pick things up off the floor. It will be difficult at first, but soon it will become natural. If you can do both, it will improve your flexibility quickly. stretch more (special stretching exercises for each and groups of muscles increase flexibility) google it to find some exercises. Exercise and do back bends By going to the gym, exercising, running, yoga, or maybe just simply stretching every day and night. There are lots of ways to become more flexible. A major factor of improving your flexibility is to do a variety of stretches every day to ensure that your muscles get used to regular stretching. After about a month you will definitely start to see just how much more flexible you are becoming, as your body will grow accustomed to stretching further out of its comfort zone, therefore pushing it to become more flexible. It will probably take about three months, I'd say, to really improve your flexibility to a much higher level than previously, depending on how flexible you were to begin with. Find about 5 to 7 stretches to do each day and keep this in a routine, then your body will gradually build up more strength to endure this kind of physical exertion and flexibility. After a while of doing these stretches your body will easily perform the tasks at hand as second nature, as it will be so used to doing it. exercise. By stretching a little each day, you cant just become flexible.
I would say just try to do stuff that improve both at the same time. Try doing a elbow and chin stand or or a back-bend something that you have to hold your self up that way you stretch but still get stronger. Make sure you stretch first before you do anything that could hurt your back.
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