splits stretching you can do at home

3 comments ↓

#1 Chris on 12.27.09 at 10:51 pm

The first stretch is not very good. Observe the position of the pelvis. While hard to tell from the angle of the camera, it sure appears to be anteriorly tilted. Well, most of the hip flexor muscles (iliacus, TFL, sartorius, rectus femoris) originate on the pelvis. The psoas major/minor originate on the lumbar vertebral column. She would be getting a much better stretch if she were closer to the chair, more upright, activating her core, and squeezing her glute in an attempt to 1) posteriorly tilt the pelvis, and 2) using glute activation to drive the slight hip extension for the stretch.

Right now, she’s getting a limited stretch and what she is primarily feeling in my opinion is a stretch of the rectus femoris because of the bent knee. It’s a two-joint (bi-articulate) muscle that crosses both the hip and the knee while primarily serving as a knee extensor, first and foremost.

Additionally, most of the “stretch” is really the result of lumbar hyperextension – the arch in her low back. So, again, she’s not stretching much at all. She’s doing a great job of creating excessive lumbar motion instead of hip motion. When there is a lack of hip mobility, the body will compensate through lumbar extension or hyperextension in this case.

The value of this stretch as it is shown? It’s good for de-stabilizing the lumbar spine if that’s your goal.

#2 coach Rick on 12.28.09 at 6:35 am

What would you do instead, Chris?

#3 Chris on 12.28.09 at 2:41 pm

In terms of the first one, I’d put the pillow on the floor so that it was more comfortable on my knee, sit so that the torso is upright, squeeze the glute (butt cheek) on the side that I’m stretching, and tighten the core musculature. Very similar to the position that she’s initially in for the second stretch before she goes down into the splits.

If you want a more intense stretch, put the foot only up onto the seat of the chair or the back if the seat is too low – so that the knee is elevated and perform the same stretch while isometrically contracting to maintain the position. As they fatigue, they will sink deeper into stretch while also simultaneously strengthening to some degree at the end range of motion because the muscle is slowly lengthening (eccentric action) while under tension.

This approach to flexibility is called an EQI (eccentric quasi-isometric). I read about it in Christian Thibaudeau’s “Modern Strength and Power Methods,” but he cites Siff. So, my guess is that this concept is from “Supertraining” by Mel Siff. With that said, this concept is anecdotal and theoretical. I am unfamiliar with any direct empirical research. But, without getting into the underlying theory – trust me in saying that it makes sense. Much of it is based on Hill’s mechanical model of muscle and I doubt too many folks who read this blog have an idea of that unless they have an exercise science background. So, I’d rather not get into that.

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