In this article I will dispel three common misconceptions about flexibility training:

• That most people can’t do splits because their hips are too tight (Not!)

• That static stretches, such as attempts at doing splits, should be done during a warm-up to increase range of motion and prevent injuries (Not!)

• That it takes a long time to achieve great flexibility (Not!)

Simple tests show that for the great majority of people, the structure of joints and the length of ligaments are not the obstacle for doing splits. You can use these tests to determine if you have the potential to do front and side splits (also called straddle splits) before you start your stretching program. (Yes, there are some people who cannot do side splits because of a hip joint deformity called coxa vara, but that’s a small minority.)

Here is the side split test: Stand beside a chair or table and put your leg on it as shown below. Make sure that both your hips and your raised leg are all in one line. Repeat this test with your other leg.

Now, what have you done? You have done "half side splits" with both your legs!

You have also proved that the muscles of each of your legs are already long enough for a side split. You know that no muscle or ligament runs from one inner thigh to the other (or, if you don’t know it, you can ask your doctor). So, what keeps you from doing the whole side split with both legs spread sideways at the same time? Your nervous system, that’s what!

I will not bore you here by explaining how that happens. The important thing is that with the right stretching method you will teach your nervous system to let you do side splits any time, without any warm-up.

Many adults who can perform the side split test with ease have a great deal of difficulty actually doing side or straddle splits (but not necessarily the front splits) because of a problem in the outer part of their hips. When they attempt to slide into the split, they feel there is a "stop," accompanied by pain in the outside hip or upper thigh region, that prevents them from opening their legs very wide.

The problem does not seem to be related to the inner thigh muscles (thigh adductors), as these people do not feel much tension there (unless they have very weak inner thigh muscles). As they continue stretching, their flexibility does improve, but at a very slow rate.

The forward tilt of the pelvis (hip flexion) or turning out of the thighs (external rotation) realigns the hip joint so its ligaments relax and the neck of the femur does not jam the cartilage at the upper edge of the socket. This is the alignment of your hips in the proper horse-riding stance, and this is why alignment of your hips, thighs, lower legs, and feet in a martial arts’ side split should be the same.

So, when doing a side split with toes pointing forward (the martial arts’ side split), you should not only spread the legs sideways but also tilt the pelvis forward. (In a side split with the feet pointing up, you keep your pelvis straight but rotate the thighs outward. The alignment of the hips in relation to the thighs in both types of the side split is the same.)

The easiest way to find the correct alignment is to use the horse-riding stance as the initial position for your isometric stretches leading to the side split. Just make sure that your stance is correct, with your thighs parallel to the floor at any width, toes pointing forward, and chest up.

If the outside of your hips hurt when you do high side kicks, you need to learn how to tilt your pelvis while you kick. The same forward tilt of the pelvis that helps you do a side split will let you raise your leg higher to the side because the reason for the pain and limitation in the sideways movement in both side kicks and in the side split is the same.

Static stretching before a workout definitely does not prevent injuries—actually, it increases your chance of an injury. (References for studies on stretching and injuries are posted at www.stadion.com/column_stretch9.html.)

While it is true that your maximal range of motion in static stretches (your maximal static passive flexibility) determines the maximal height of your kicks (your dynamic flexibility), it does not mean that you need or should do static stretches in your warm-up.

Most of the maximal static range of motion that you had at the very end of your last workout, a day, or two, or three days ago, is still there. It has not diminished much, and to recover it you need only warm up well and do a few dynamic stretches.

If you don’t have sufficient static passive range of motion for your kicks, then you should first increase it by stretching at the end of your workouts until you get this range of motion, and then, in the workouts that follow, you may begin learning and practicing your kicks.

So, how about all those splits, leans, and leg pulls, for example, so many people try to do before kicking?

Don’t bother. Don’t do static stretches before dynamic stretches, kicking, or any other dynamic movements. For several minutes following any type of static stretch, you cannot display your top agility or maximal speed because your muscles are less responsive to stimulation—your coordination is off. Static stretches reduce the maximal strength of the stretched muscles. If you try to make a fast, dynamic movement immediately after a static stretch, you may injure the stretched muscle. I explain these and other reasons for not doing static stretches at the beginning of a workout, but rather at the end—in the cool-down—in the book Stretching Scientifically (Kurz 2003).

Flexibility improves with increased blood flow in the muscles, so after a few minutes of a preferably aerobic activity, you can follow with dynamic stretches—for kickers these would be leg raises to the front, sides, and back. Leg raises should be done in sets of 10 to 15 repetitions per leg. You should do as many sets as it takes to reach your maximal range of motion in any given direction. Usually, for properly conditioned athletes, one set in each direction is enough.

So you see that doing static stretches before a workout that consists of dynamic actions is counterproductive. The goals of the warm-up, which are to improve coordination, elasticity and contractibility of muscles, and breathing efficiency, cannot be achieved by doing static stretches, no matter whether isometric or relaxed. Isometric stretches will only make you tired and decrease coordination. Passive, relaxed stretches, on the other hand, have a calming effect and can even make you sleepy. The best time for static stretches is at the end of your workout, in the cool-down.

The right stretching method works with your nervous system and lets you do splits and high kicks within months, sometimes even weeks. (Yes, weeks—see actual testimonials at www.stadion.com/photos.html). Commonly used (but wrong) ways of stretching take more time and bring worse results because they work against your nervous system.

By doing correct exercises, using correct body/hip alignment in static stretches, and doing these stretches when they are most effective, moderately fit people achieve splits in a few weeks.

If you want to increase the height of your kicks and be able to reach that height with no warm-up, you need to develop the right kind of flexibility—dynamic flexibility (kicks are dynamic movements). Remember that dynamic flexibility is the ability to perform dynamic movements within the full range of motion in the joints (full static passive range of motion, to be specific).

According to Matveev (1977), 8 to 10 weeks is sufficient time to develop maximal dynamic flexibility.

Yes, you can have great flexibility, both dynamic and static, in a matter of a few weeks and then be able to display it without any warm-up. Yes, high kicks and splits with no warm-up. All it takes is the right stretching method. Spending several months on developing your flexibility and not being able to use it without a warm-up indicates that either the stretching method you use is wrong, you are chronically fatigued, or both.

No matter how much the statements in this article contradict popular notions on stretching and flexibility, every one is based on research studies, which are listed in the book Stretching Scientifically.