Does anyone have any good stretches for center splits that you can share with me?? I need to get them flat for my dance and I'm really close but not quite there. I have both my left and right splits flat but not the middles. Any tips? Thanks!

Lay on the ground for both of these stretches.

1)Lay flat on your back and devolpe your legs straight up the seperate them!

2) Kinda like a turnout stretch by pushing legs seperated up against a wall.

Lunges are key. Even though most people think lunges only help with side splits, what they do is open your hip flexors, which ultimately help you get lower to the floor in your center splits. I found that doing repetition sets each time helped a LOT more than just holding the lunge once.

Do a lunge sequence to the left and hold each stretch for two 8-counts. Then do the sequence to the right.
Repeat the sequence again but this time only hold each stretch for one 8-count.
Repeat again but only hold for 4 counts.
Etc.

Whatever you do, do NOT let anyone just use sheer weight or force to get center splits! No matter how close you are! The risks of permanent injury of the hip flexor for a dancer are too high and costly.

I started dancing seriously "late" in high school and managed to get all 3 splits within a year. Hope this helps!

I'm also working on my center splits. The exersices I find work the best are ...
1. Lying on your back and bring your legs up so you create a 90 degree angle. Then spread your legs as far as they can go.
2. getting into a straddle facing the wall. Push yourself foreward as far as you can go.
3. Do the center splits directly. The more you do them the more comfortable you'll be in them and you'll see a big improvement
Tips***
Hold each stretch for a minumun of 30 seconds
Try wearing socks. It helps you slide into them easier.
Don't over work yourself. Realize your limits and aviod injuries.
Good Luck!

Ps. There are lots of threads about stretching especially for splits. Here's a sticky all about it~ it is very long but all the information is GOLDEN. Hope this helps!

www.dance.net . . .

Go on your hands on knees then spread your legs but keep them bent (like being in splits with bent legs) and push your bum down and back. The aim is to get your bum and body flat on the floor and getting your knees as high as possible. Carry on doing it through the day so your musceles dont seize up.

Also sit in second with your legs against the wall and get someone to push you flat, this really hurts but no pain no gain;)

x

The problem I had at first was that one side was naturally more flexible than the other, so in all the stretches that stretched both sides evenly (most centre splits stretches are like this) one side would be barely stretched, and the other would tear.

This is a good solution to fix that because you stretch one leg at a time, basically.
Put one leg on a barre or object of similar height, and then lean into it until your legs make the widest angle you can handle. Try not to stick your but out and try to keep your legs turned out.

I hope that makes sense! I couldn't find any pictures, sorry.