So why does this work?
When your muscles are stretched, they are relatively weaker than when they are at rest or contracted (shortened). Because the muscles are weaker as we go deeper into our bendy splits poses, the brain sends "danger" signals to stop us from going any further. This is what keeps us from injuring ourselves by pulling or tearing a muscle.
The reason this trick works so well is that we are giving our body time to communicate back to our brain that we are safe. By going into the split in stages and contracting the muscles that are being stretched (front leg hamstring and back leg hip flexors) at each stage we tell our brain, "Hey, Brain! We're safe here, you see? I can contract my muscles so we won't get hurt." The brain needs these "safety signals" to let you go deeper without sending you pain signals.
The deep breathing is also sending your brain a "we're safe" message. After all no one breathes deeply when they're being chased by a lion. So this also tells our brain that we are not in immediate danger and we can relax into the stretch a bit more.
So here is your little trick, try it out and let me know how it goes!
Results from clients
Say "Hell Yes!" to your goals today and this could be you, too!
Arielle's 3 week Splits progress - She's almost on the floor in just 3 weeks!
Julie's 2 week splits progress - Already building so much active flexibility in her square splits!
Kayleigh's 6 week bridge glow up - check out how much more she pushed off the ground!
Alex's 6 week transformation - notice how much more her upper back curls in the second photo!
Meagan's 3 week splits progress - She got her first over split!
Arielle's 6 week bridge transformation - Look at how she straightened her legs, opened her shoulders and used more upper back!
Jordan's 6 week bridge glow up - look at how much higher that leg got! All *active flexibility* friends!
Lucy's 6 week backbend progress - She was able to flatten her feet and push up further!