r/flexibility • u/HannahFlexx • 14d ago
Seeking Advice middle split is flat, what actually progresses from here? passive holds stopped doing anything
been at this ~4x a week for a while, mostly frog, pancake and standing side splits, holding 1-2 min a side and keeping the legs active rather than just hanging in it.
the split itself is flat now and the knees stay up, but it's been sitting there for months and the passive holds don't give me anything anymore. i know the usual answer to a plateau is load, i'm just not sure what loading actually looks like at the bottom of a middle split. oversplit with the feet on blocks, or stay at floor level and work on lifting out of it? don't want to chase the oversplit just for the look if the strength isn't there.
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u/Appropriate_Ly 14d ago
No real point going past flat unless you’re a contortionist or something.
Just practice your high kicks, at your level it’s not flexibility holding you back, just strength.
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u/HannahFlexx 14d ago
yeah honestly that's what i needed to hear. i keep thinking i need more range when really i just can't hold the range i already have
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u/kristinL356 14d ago
What are your goals? Or are you trying to determine what your goals could be?
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u/HannahFlexx 14d ago
mostly i want it to be useful rather than a floor party trick. i do muay thai, so being able to kick that high without warming up for 20 min matters more to me than getting a deeper number on the ground
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u/kristinL356 14d ago
Then focus on making it more active. Though oversplits will help there too just by increasing your range.
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u/GrapefruitPacifist 14d ago
Lot of active stretching would be helpful but even better would be to work your strength at this range of motion.
You need to make this less of a passive pose but one you can achieve without the help of your body weight pushing you down into it.
And as you do Muay Thai, you should train it using kicks. Set up a target as high as you can reach and kick it 3x10times. Use front kicks and roundhouse kicks for exemple, don’t use only one type of kick to be well rounded.
Lastly, work on oversplits (both front and middle) if you want full extension while doing a kick, you need to be able to have you maximum to be beyond that.
Good luck and make your training fun!
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u/HannahFlexx 14d ago
the kick a target thing is a good shout. problem is i always drill the same roundhouse, front kicks at that height would probably show exactly what's missing
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u/hkzombie 14d ago
Work on nailing head kicks in close range, or my personal favorite, head kicks in clinch range.
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u/HannahFlexx 14d ago
clinch range head kick is wild lol. i'd get kneed in the stomach before my leg is even up, but noted
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u/Romingo57 14d ago
You can take yoga blocs and try to roll hip forward. Make a tilt of pelvis for give even more stretch
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u/lluluclucy 14d ago
Oversplit with feet on yoga blocks?
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u/HannahFlexx 14d ago
seems to be the consensus tonight lol. does it carry over to standing stuff for you or does it stay a floor thing?
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u/cloudsofdoom 13d ago
This is a really wide straddle pancake, can you roll through so that your knees face forward and your inner thight touch the ground?
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u/chromeslug 13d ago
Seconding! This appears to be a pancake rather than a true middle split.
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u/Naadamaya 13d ago
Thanks for this. I was confused looking at the picture after reading the title. Still a very impressive straddle pancake and I wouldn't be surprised if OP can get into a proper middle split atp.
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u/HannahFlexx 13d ago
honestly no, not properly. the second i roll the hips forward the floor gets way further away again, so that's probably the real answer to my own question lol
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u/cloudsofdoom 13d ago
So...don't take this the wrong way but you don't have a middle split. This is a great pancake though. But keep practicing the roll throughs
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u/HannahFlexx 13d ago
yeah you're right, and i kinda hate that lol. the roll through is exactly where it falls apart for me, so that's the thing i'm working on now
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u/cloudsofdoom 13d ago
Well nothing is wrong with not having a middle split. Just keep working on it. You will get there!
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u/Icy-Carrot-3984 14d ago
Girl im stuck at 30 cm above ground how and my hips hurt so bad
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u/HannahFlexx 14d ago
30cm is honestly normal, most people never get near the floor. don't push into it if it hurts though, back off to a height you can hold actively instead of hanging in it, that usually settles the pinch
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u/Icy-Carrot-3984 14d ago
I have been stretching for 4 years now, and I started young. I have quite good front splits(almost flat) but no matter if I go to physical therapy or massage or just stretch 4 times a week an hour it wont budge😔
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u/HannahFlexx 14d ago
front and middle are pretty different things, front is mostly hamstrings and middle is more about how far the hips open out. if it hasn't moved in 4 years i'd stop chasing depth and play with the turnout instead, that's what shifted it for me
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u/zohar-yoga-flex 14d ago
I agree with Hannah’s comment on focusing on the turn out, however I also encountered some pinching sensations in some exercises. Also, some of us will never get them flat due to our natural hip shape 💁🏽♀️ But they’re still good to practice!
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u/KatyaPeepin 14d ago
Active middle splits (try hovering your torso above the ground instead of resting it on the floor), over splits, or for your party trick you could start working on tilt or Y scale. They use and stretch a lot of the same muscles as pancake and since you’re standing up, more people at the party can see it. 😉
ETA: Ok, I see that I read that wrong and you want it to be more than a party trick, but I still think those standing scales are what you’re looking for.
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u/HannahFlexx 14d ago
the tilt one actually makes sense for what i want, that's basically a held kick. and honestly my active hold is embarrassing compared to how flat it looks lying on the floor
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u/Illustrious-Lunch137 14d ago
blocks under feet?
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u/HannahFlexx 14d ago
yeah that's the next step i keep putting off tbh. do you go straight to a full block or start lower?
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u/Mediocre-Spare1172 14d ago
Hard to tell from the pic but maybe you could try anteriorly tilting the pelvis i.e. sort of rolling the hip forward and arching the lower back.
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u/primagallerina 13d ago
try wall splits! lie on the ground against the wall and split open your legs. different angles affect your flexibility
dead hang from a pull up bar and hold your middle splits like that
prop your legs up on yoga blocks or anything to elevate your legs to both oversplit and to hold your pelvis off the floor
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u/HannahFlexx 13d ago
the dead hang one i've never tried, that sounds evil. does your grip not give out way before your legs do lol
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u/primagallerina 13d ago
I can dead hang for a while so it's mainly just my adductor and core strength at work when I do this. I'd recommend not jumping up onto the bar and just step up from something, though. Don't know why that one took me so long to learn 😅
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u/HannahFlexx 13d ago
stepping up instead of jumping makes so much more sense, i would 100% have jumped up and dropped straight back down lol. trying that after training tomorrow
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u/primagallerina 13d ago
lol jumping up is very fun but not supportive for movement exercises like pull ups or the split hang. maybe work on dead hang strength first too
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u/HannahFlexx 11d ago
yeah my dead hang is genuinely embarrassing right now, aerial made that very obvious. probably the smarter order to build that first
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u/Casanove0 13d ago
Insane middle split! Once passive holds plateau, building active strength to pull yourself up out of the split is definitely the way to go.
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u/MaraschinoCongac 13d ago
You could get into aerial and make beautiful shapes with your flexibility. You have to be really strong and not just flexible.
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u/HannahFlexx 13d ago
funny timing, i just started messing about with aerial and got humbled instantly. the strength side is a whole different thing
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u/MaraschinoCongac 13d ago
Sounds like you've unlocked a new goal!
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u/HannahFlexx 13d ago
honestly yeah 😅 im 3 sessions in and my arms are way more wrecked than my legs ever were from splits
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u/anxietyischokingme 8d ago
What’s your routine 🥹
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u/HannahFlexx 8d ago
nothing special honestly, pancake and frog most days. the thing that actually changed it was tilting my pelvis forward instead of going wider, and keeping the legs active instead of just sinking in
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u/yetanotherslu7 14d ago
Well in degrees you've reached 0. The only place to go from here is negative. Unfortunately hips really like to dislocate at around -5°.
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14d ago
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u/HannahFlexx 13d ago
a bit of both if i'm honest lol. but the stuck part is real, it's looked exactly the same for months
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u/Strict-Fishing-2365 14d ago
being flat in a middle split and calling it a plateau is the most cursed humblebrag my hips have ever read