Video:How to Do a Full Front Split
with Leon Williams Jr.The full front split requires the gymnast to be completely warmed up and limber. Watch this About.com video to see a series of stretches necessary to do a full front split safely.See Transcript
Transcript:How to Do a Full Front Split
Hi, my name is Leon Williams Jr. and we're here at 5 Star Artistic Sports and Entertainment Academy located in East Rockaway, NY for About.com. And what Jessica and I are about to teach you today is how to do a front split.
Pike Position Stretching for a Split
When teaching a front split, what you want to do is you want to warm up the muscles of the leg that the gymnast is going to do the split on. And one of the first stretches you want to do is you'd like the gymnast to do is to stretch in the pike position. A pike is done with the legs extended forward, hands reaching out as far as you can, and having the gymnast reach their chin through their legs as far as they can go.
Stretch Hip Flexors Before the Full Front Split
After doing this for about 30 seconds or so, what you want to do is teach the gymnast how to stretch their hip flexor, and the way we're going to do that is we're going to have Jessica rest on her knees, and she's going to extend her right leg into a lunge position. Now in this lunge position, she wants to push her knee forward, and what that's going to do is stretch her hip flexor.
Gymnasts Should Stretch Hamstrings Before the Split
After stretching the hip flexor, what you want to do is you want to teach the gymnast how to stretch the hamstring. And the way to do that is by teaching them how to extend their legs forward, rest on the back knee and then have the chin drop towards the knee with the arms extended forward. We'll do that for about 30 seconds.
Stretch in the Lunge Position
After that what you want to do is have the gymnast lunge forward again and then what Jessica is going to do now is she's going to demonstrate how to teach the gymnast how to stretch their quad muscles for the rear leg. So what you're going to do is you're going to have the gymnast lift their rear foot, grab the foot with their hand, therefore stretching the quad muscle so that way before she does the split she won't pull a muscle.
Move Slowly Into the Full Front Split
After doing that, what we're going to do is have Jessica extend her front leg, place both hands on either side of her front leg and slide slowly into the split. And once she's in the split you want the torso to be straight, chin up.And that's how you do a front split. For more information, please visit About.com.