Most of us teen beginners aren't the most flexible of people. I know I'm not, haha. Stretching is very important to improve flexibility and prevent injury. Here I'll go over my split tips to improve splits.
1. Make sure your muscles are warm. Take a warm shower, dance around in legwarmers, challenge your brother to a game of Just Dance, whatever it takes. I usually just do some barre routines with legwarmers on.
2. Massage your neck. Ok, this might be weird, but I heard that realising tension along your spine can help make your muscles more relaxed. Try to give yourself a gentle massage around your neck and along your spine.
3. Start off slowly. Never rush right into a split. Always start with simple warm up stretches. Try sitting on the floor and touching your toes for 30 seconds. Then touch your toes and try to touch your nose to your knees. Do every stretch in an easy version, and than a harder version. Don't push yourself to the point where it is causing you pain.
4. Have something to focus on. Turn on the TV, radio, Youtube ballet videos, whatever. When I'm focused on something it helps me to stretch longer.
5. Stretch everyday! Try to stretch for 15-20 minutes a day. I used to stretch very often and was able to do a split, and I stopped stretching, so I have to start all over! Don't let that happen! Make sure you don't overdo it though!
Here are some good stretches for the splits. http://gymnastics.about.com/od/trainingadvice/ss/frontsplit.htm
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