Stretching, Summer and The Splits

Can you believe that we are in mid-July already? With the summer holiday’s fast approaching I have given some of my grade 3 students a challenge to see if any of them can be down in the splits by the end of the 6 weeks. Some of them are pretty close and others have further to go but how can they all be like Batman and get their splits right down to the floor?

Step 1: Complete some dynamic stretching. This comes before the cardio warm up and can help to prevent injury. Walking lunges are a brilliant dynamic stretch along with hip and arm circles.

Step 2: Before any static stretching, it is important to do a cardio warm up. Fun summer cardio warm-ups may include skipping with a rope, jumping on a trampoline, or running in the garden.

Step 3: Start completing stretches specifically to help with doing the splits. A great first stretch starts with lengthening both legs out in front of you before tucking one of your feet underneath your bottom so that you can feel your quadricep lengthening. Then, gently reach towards the extended leg aiming to touch your toes!

You can later move into half splits. In this stretch the back knee kneels whilst the front foot is planted into the floor a right-angle shape. You should aim to put your forearms on the floor with the shoulder in line with the knee. If that stretch is too strong you can place a block under the forearms.

A brilliant video which takes you through some great stretches for the splits has been filmed by Alo Yoga and can be found here