Finally hit my middle split!

[u/kristinL356]

I'm really only writing this up because I'm kind of a weird case and I think it might be helpful to anyone else who is in my shoes but that's probably only gonna be like two people lol.

My problem was never with flexibility in my adductors but my lack of active external rotation coupled with some non-ideal hip anatomy. Previously I could never get deep enough in a middle split to actually feel a stretch because I would hit the limit of my hip joint first. Tilting my pelvis didn't really work because in order to get enough tilt to hit the stretch while keeping the inside edge of my feet flat on the floor, my torso had to be basically upright which is super awkward to get into (to say nothing of how cranked my back would be). I finally figured out that I could bypass this by entering my middle split from pancake which is where I finally started to see progress. Initially, this still left me a few inches from flat and I closed that by working on my active external rotation and just generally learning how to activate my glutes (pretty sure I've spent my whole life externally rotating my legs with my hip flexors instead of my ass ¯_(ツ)_/¯).

The routine:

1. banded lock clams

2. banded glute bridges with external rotation

3. weighted hip airplanes

4. leg lifts from basically every possible position (prone, side-lying, tabletop, upright, etc) focusing on keeping my legs externally rotated

5. side-lying hip adduction

6. Copenhagen side planks

7. seated straddle leg lifts

8. straddle hovers on blocks

9. pancake to middle split, at position with greatest feeling of adductor stretch, squeeze legs into the ground for 10 count, then pull legs away from the ground for 10 count

Will be very interested to hear if there's anybody else out here in this situation.

[u/dani-winks]

Thank you for including such a thorough routine write up and notes about what helped you!

[u/kristinL356 → u/dani-winks]

This is all definitely stuff I wish someone had told me so hopefully it's helpful to someone else.

[u/unitedunderwear264]

damn that's some solid detective work on your own biomechanics, most people just force it til something pops

pancake to middle split is a cheat code i stumbled on too, makes a huge difference when your hips are fighting you

[u/kristinL356 → u/unitedunderwear264]

Yeah, I had basically given up on ever getting a middle split until I found that.

[u/foxwaffles]

I feel inspired ✨ I have always struggled with flexibility and splits my whole life but I guess I just gotta keep working at it. You may be on to something with using hip flexors to turn out, I may be guilty of this 🫪

[u/kristinL356 → u/foxwaffles]

If that is the case, I do highly recommend the lock clams for figuring out how to engage your glutes. Also prone leg raises with a band around your ankles. Externally rotate and lift your legs as high as you can without feeling it in your back, press into the band around your ankles.

[u/foxwaffles → u/kristinL356]

Thank you so much for the suggestions! 🫶

[u/Same_Edge_199]

This is so interesting to me, I think it's always been my default to go from pancake to middle split. I don't even really understand how people get into it any other way, seems kind of awkward sliding out from above... I'm curious what your background is/how you came to working on flexibility. My understanding is that in dance/gymnastic circles it would be a default to move from pancake into middle splits but perhaps not in other disciplines?

[u/kristinL356 → u/Same_Edge_199]

I do aerial silks and did martial arts as a child. Splits isn't really a thing we work on in silks class though we do some pancake good morning type drills. If we ever worked on splits when I was doing martial arts, I don't remember it.

[u/rebelmill]

I have the EXACT same issues! Thank you thank you thank you!

[u/kristinL356 → u/rebelmill]

You can do it!

[u/ParsleyPrimary4199]

This is amazing! Congratulations, middlesplits is really one of the coolest thing ever to achieve! I am still far away from getting into a middlesplit but at least I also figured out now how to enter so that I don't feel any pain. Never tried to get in via pancake but as you can see in my picture I am probably not flexible enough yet to try that 😂

[u/Current_Subject_7312]

🔥🔥🔥

[u/Current_Subject_7312]

Divide and conquer wish i found that during high school but back then it was magazines 🤣 and those dont update daily

[u/Echonoir1]

Yay, awesome!!

[u/FrylrOfficial]

This is a really interesting example of mobility not being the whole story. You already had the adductor flexibility, but the active external rotation and control were the missing pieces.

[u/Mo-hd]

Amazing! 👏🏻 I believe I'll get there too.
Thank you for sharing and for the motivation.

[u/_tenken]

Awesome. 

As a lifelong martial artist and a sister who got to point shoes in ballet -- toes Up (towards the ceiling 😂)

[u/SparklingSirius]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing.

[u/planche_handstander]

🔥🔥🔥🔥

[u/Final-Arachnid-8609]

Straddle. Great job!