Oversplits

Hi! Dr. Ezara Greene here, physical therapist who specializes in treating gymnasts! 

This is a hot topic: I personally do not recommend doing oversplits. A lot of gymnasts feel like this is going to help them improve their flexibility in splits, leaps, kicks etc. While it is true that you need a large range of motion to be successful with gymnastics, it is crucial that you know how to safely stretch and not put yourself in a position that is going to cause more harm than good. We have found that in the case of oversplits it does end up causing more harm than good. 

This is because when we go beyond our normal range of motion ie. in an oversplit position with the leg(s) propped up past the 180* and hang there and let gravity pull you down we are essentially creating too much stretch within the joint capsule itself and not enough within the muscle. We are only hanging on the joints, ligaments and capsule once we go into the over split position. 

The reason we don't want to stretch the capsule and ligaments is because 

#1. It can create potential for damage down the road, as well as instability within the joint and 

#2. ligaments are like rope and do not have elastic properties. In fact, they are very inelastic type tissues, once they stretch out, they do not have the capability to go back to what it was before. 

Muscles, however, are elastic and once they are stretched they can go back to the original position, like a rubber band. Muscles are designed to be stretched. When you are stretching into an oversplit you are overstretching the capsule ligaments and contributing to the instability of the joint and if you aren't counteracting this with strengthening the surrounding stability muscles it will affect short term and long term issues. 

There is a safe and effective way to stretch and gain the mobility you need for those past 180* splits/leaps/jumps. The key here is control throughout the entire range of motion, especially at the end range of motion. So we work flexibility as well as strength. The other piece of this is hypermobile joints. 

There is excessive play within the joint and therefore, they become unstable and not strong, so strengthening is key with these hypermobile gymnasts. A few controlled flexibility exercises I love are: 

1. Single leg eccentric slide out (kneeling on a foam pad, support with the upper extremity and a slider under the involved foot) 

Video Source: Perfect 10.0 Physical Therapy, PLC

2. End range knee extension with foam roller under the knee. 

Photo Source: Perfect 10.0 Physical Therapy, PLC

3. Adductor rock back or adductor slide out. Let me know what questions you have! 

Video Source: Perfect 10.0 Physical Therapy, PLC