Front and side split in shortest time.

[Bullwhip]

I just got a certification to teach group fitness, cardio kickboxing and pilates.

I will get payed per class plus per number of students as a bonus.

I really need splits to show them off. That will draw crows and I will get extra .50 per person, so it adds up.

So far everything points to 3 sources.

http://www.elasticsteel.com

http://wwww.stadion.com

http://www.dragondoor.com

By the trailors I am leaning toward ElasticSteel.
If you use one of them and it helped you with splits, please advise.

[Flash Jackson]

Nope.

[Pandinha]

I got elasticsteel about 4 months ago. I wasn't really impressed.

**** we did in Judo.

[jubei33]

use a door frame and pull. You can also have someone push on your back and stretch it out.

[Teh El Macho]

The OP is asking for a groin pull injury.

[TheCount]

One thing you need to check is whether you are physically capable of the splits ie. is your hip join capable of moving that far for the full side splits.

[zendeath2000]

unless your a hot teen cheerleader and performing them naked; doin the splits shouldnt be the thing that draws people into your class.

there is a great post on stretchin that you should use to get more flexible and then stretch alittle more further and longer each day.
Or you could go the dumb route and waste your money on something you could build yourself.

[Teh El Macho]

I'm scared of anyone asking for directions on how to do splits the quick-n-easy way while at the same time overseeing a group fitness class... but maybe that's just me, or the little voices in my head.

Stretch the knee, the hips, glutes, hamstrings, flexors/extensors, stuff with immediate practical day-to-day applications, stuff that would come naturally from Yoga or Pilates.

Anything else, splits includes is just "fluff", and a good way to get a groin pull.

[Judah Maccabee]

Tsatsouline's theory about the splits is that most people's body's are physically capable of doing splits, but not mentally capable.

From "Relax into Stretch" :

The traditional Western approach to flexibility has failed because it started with
the assumption that muscles and connective tissues need to be physically stretched.
Other myths snowball from there. Hackers have a saying, "Garbage in, garbage
out." If the premise is false, all the conclusions will be wrong, no matter how
sterling is the logic leading up to them.

Let it sink in: the premise that you need to stretch if you want to be
flexible is wrong.

Ugh? How can it be?

Listen to this: no muscles run from one
leg to the other. No tendons, no
ligaments, nothing but skin. Like the
wheels on your Land Rover, your legs
boast independent suspension. T h a t
means you should be able to bring the
other leg out at the same angle and do a
split without stretching a thing.

So why can't you?

F e a r. Tension. The muscles tighten up
and resist lengthening. Russian scientists
call it antagonist passive insufficiency.
Based on your previous experiences—
sitting all day or performing monotonous
l a b o r, or exercising incorrectly—your
nervous system has picked the favorite
length for every one of your muscles and
prefers to keep it that way. Whenever you
reach too far compared to this standard,
t h e s t retch re f l e x kicks in and reins your
muscles in.

If you try something really aggressive
that you have never done before—for
instance splits—the stretch reflex panics
and stiffens up your muscles with all its might.
Comrade, it is not short muscles and connective tissues that make you tight; it is
your nervous system, ‘the muscle software’ that refuses to let your muscles to slide
out to their true full length! A muscle with pre-Depression connective tissues and
more scars than a prize fighter is still long enough to display as much flexibility as
allowed by its associated joints. Master the muscular tension—and you will be as
flexible as you want to be, at any age.

Then he gets into all the stuff about how to do it.

[kiai_killer]

Just watch Van Damme in Kickboxer for some good techniques.