Develop flexibility: 4 exercises to do the splits

Stretching is a must for beautiful muscles. Surely, you have repeatedly seen girls who do incredible things with their legs. The editors of WANT.ua looked into what four stretching exercises will help you do the splits.

The basis of all stretching exercises is the principle of lengthening muscles. And this provides a number of benefits for health and well-being: in particular, people with good stretching actually do not experience excessive tension in the muscles, they can more easily tolerate stress, they recover faster, and blood circulates better.

Stretching muscles is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. To do this, you need to see the goal, understand why you need it and be prepared to experience not the most pleasant, but necessary sensations during classes. Yes, stretching sometimes hurts, but after finishing the workout, the muscles relax as if after a two-hour yoga class.

FOUR STRETCH EXERCISES

Before starting a muscle stretching workout, do a short warm-up. This could be running, jumping rope, or dancing to fast music. After this, you need to lightly stretch each muscle group and move on to the main workout.

If you want to do the splits, do separate workouts to stretch your muscles. If you don’t have such a goal, do a short stretch at the end of the strength training so that the muscles are not tight and do not cause discomfort.

Rifles

Stand straight with your feet wider than your shoulders. On the way out, squat down completely on your right leg. Stretch the left one completely and pull the sock towards you. Be sure to keep your knee straight. You can put your hands on your belt, or you can lower them to the floor - whichever is more convenient for you. Spring very smoothly in this position for 10 seconds, and then hold for 3 minutes (or better, 6-7).

Do the same on the other leg.

Deep lunges

Bend your right leg at the knee, take your left leg back and straighten it as far as possible. Sit in this position, as deeply as possible. Please note that you should be comfortable. That is, severe pain is not allowed. Be sure to ensure that the knee of the bent leg does not extend beyond the level of the toes. Place your hands on the floor in front of you.

Spring in this position for 10 seconds. Make movements very carefully. Stay in this position for a couple more minutes.

Repeat the same for the other leg.

Virasana

Sit on your buttocks, place your hands on your hips. Slowly spread your legs and lower your buttocks to the floor. If you find it difficult to do this exercise, place a rolled towel under your butt.

Stay in this position for 5 minutes, then lie on your back (the position of your legs and buttocks does not change) and remain on the floor for another 2 minutes. After this, carefully come out of the pose.

Toad

"Toad" is a favorite exercise for dancers. It must be performed at the end of the workout in order to be able to devote as much time as possible. Lie on your stomach (you can also do this on a bed), bring your feet together behind you, and lower your legs (with your feet together) down as far as possible. Stay in this position for 10-15 minutes.

The advantage of this exercise is that it can be done in front of the TV.

Dancers, when actively stretching, do this exercise whenever they have time. For example, in the evenings, while watching the news.