How can you do a full split in cheerleading?

Question

Im trying out 4 the team and I really need 2 know.

Answer 1

PRACTICE. be able to take the pain. sometimes, stuffing a towel in your mouth helps while practicing because you can bite down on it.

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do a LOT of stretches. below are some ideas.

find high counters, desks, shelves, banisters, etc. around your house and bring your leg up on it. make sure you could feel your muscles tightening and a little pain in your upper thigh. then do the following (whatever order you wish):

~ face the thing your leg is on, point your other foot in the direction you are facing, and reach for your foot (the one on the shelf, desk, whatever). do this a couple of times. do this with both feet.
~ have the thing your leg is on on your side. point your other foot in the direction you are facing. reach for your foot (the one on the shelf, desk, whatever). do this a couple of times. do this with both feet.

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doing this will help stretch you out and get you ready for the actual split part.

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once you are good enough so that you CANT find something around your house high enough to bring pain into your upper thighs, you need help:

get a friend, sibling, parent, whatever. stand against a wall and have that person kneel in front of you. place your foot on his/her shoulder and have her SLOWLY stand up. when you begin to feel pain, tell him/her to stop and stay there. then reach for the raised foot. repeat with your other leg.

if the person DOES NOT want your foot on his/her shoulder, he/she could simply hold your heel with one hand, support your leg under you knee with the other hand, and raise your leg until you feel pain. tell him/her to hold your leg in that position and reach. repeat with other leg.

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kick up alot. take a step, and with the foot that is behind you, slide it forward really fast and bring it up as high as you can. then bring it down slowly, and bring it back to you. then step with the leg that just went up, and do it all over again.

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keep at these excersises/stretches until you can do a full split. after that, do a split every day to keep in shape.

GOOD LUCK!!!

Answer 2

Stretch, stretch, stretch. Every day at least twice a day, you need to be stretching. Never push yourself to pain and never ever bounce to added stretch.

Resistance stretching is a great way as well. If you are talking about side splits, lay down on your back. Keep one leg on the ground and lift the other towards your head, keeping the knee straight. Have someone GENTLY push your heel to stretch you. Once you've reached maximum stretch, push against the hand as hard as you can. After 5-10 seconds of doing this, have the person push your leg a little further. Hold this position as long as you can - preferably 30 seconds. For center splits, simply do the above steps by laying on your with your legs out to the side. play with it to get the position that gives you the safest and best stretch.

Answer 3

I had to do this too! All you have to do is when ever you have free time stretch mostly the bottom half of your body. when your done get in the split and push into it as far as you can until it starts to hurt. fight the pain because if you don't you wont get any better.
when you hit it all the way down try to stay in the splits for 5 seconds, then 10, then 20 so you get use to it. then practice falling in to your split because that's how you will have to do it at your tryout. Have fun and hope you make the team.

Answer 4

Stretching really is the only way. You have to do it every day. Warm up a lot before stretching, be careful (a friend of mine actually ripped his thigh muscles while trying to do a split without warmup) and try out the exercises mentioned. If you feel too much pain to handle, relax and rest for a few minutes.

Answer 5

If you do not already know how, it takes a lot of work ot limber your joints, tendons and muscles and then you have to keep doing that to stay limber unless you have some uncaning natural ability. Stretch all the time. Sit in the middle of the floor with your legs open in a wide v. Flex your feet. Raise your body using your hands on the floor behind you. keep your heels on the floor as you lower your body point you toes. Now put your hands on the floor in front of you. Walk your hands forward as far as you can go. Hold the position for 5 counts. Remember to maintain the postion and keep moving further out. Also do the hurdler's stretch. Good luck.

Answer 6

continue stretching each day. do a split for about a minute at a time and for the last 10 seconds really push down. make sure to keep one hand on each side and keep your hips straight. don't let yourself lean on your side. be careful not to stretch too far. it should hurt but not so much that you need something to stuff in your mouth to bite on. you don't want to tear a muscle.

Answer 7

STRETCH a lot everyday for about a half hour. You can also lay on the carpet against the wall, and put your legs against the wall allowing gravity to push them down. Awkward, i know, but it definitely helps. You shouldn't necessarily have to go down into a complete split because the skirts don't show that you aren't completely on the ground.

Answer 8

I tried to do the splits and I ended up getting
two hip replacements. That ended my cheerleading days!
If you believe this , raise your hand....

Answer 9

Stretch for it a few times everyday! Eventually you'll get there.

Answer 10

First you have to stretch out.If you do not stretch you might pull a muscle.Go as low as you can then try going lower that's how to start.