This article is expressly for those who are after a stretch workout and who do a negative split from 5 cubes but after a quiet and short warm-up are unable to do it even from the floor.

It’s rather commonly believed that no stretching is possible without a very intensive and tiring warm-up beleiving that only “hot” and sweating muscles can stretch.

In fact, however, this belief is very debatable.

Let’s have a close look at this matter.

When you stretch in the “hot rag” condition, you really come down into the splits much deeper.

This is an ideal snapshot for Instagram. But what happens next?

As you cool down, your muscles “twist” back into a rigid state, more rigid than before stretching. That’s one point.

Another point is that you will need more and more warm-up time for your subsequent splits and the requirements for its intensity will also permanently grow.

I can share a story from my own experience.

When I practiced the stretch on the hot body, before the performance I needed such an intensive and tiring warm-up for attaining my opening amplitude that after that I had no strength left for the performance itself.

Actually, the optimum is to stretch oneself on a quiet and well warmed body. Fifteen minutes of the right warming-up is more than enough.

It must consist not only of swings; it must also include power exercises for warming up the stabilizing muscles in order to prepare the body to work from within.

With such a technique you will not get an amplitude which is just as deep as in case of the “hot” stretch during a single training session, but you must SEE FURTHER AND WIDER: these splits will be YOURS and practically applicable without necessitating a heat-up like that after a marathon race.

If you are accustomed to doing stretches on a hot body, you’ll need some time for adaptation and readjustment of your muscles. But eventually you’ll reach a new level with your splits in a pole dance element.

I don’t mean to say that this is the only right method. There are several approaches.

But the important thing is to realize what each of them leads to.

We do the stretch at school after a quiet warm-up and the results are impressive.

*Author of the article Kristina Dumanskaya