I wanted to do side splits for a while now and I have recently started training specifically for them. The problem appears when I try do lower myself and the thing that stops me at some point is pain in my knees. The pain disappears when trying to do side splits with knee and toes pointed at the ceiling. When I lock up my knees( while doing the split with knees pointed forward) the pain is not as strong as before. Should I work on my strength of my quads ( deadlifts??) to help stabilize the knees or is there a simpler solution to this?? Dawix P.S As you may noticed my English is not exactly perfect as I am not a native English speaker
It's possible and it certainly wont hurt. You should be tensing you quads whilst you are lowering yourself, otherwise all the forces are being placed on your knee ligaments - not good.
I recommend the book "Stretching Scientifically." It explains the pitfalls of overdoing weightlifting when trying to attain flexibility, among many other useful advice, and even a sample program to follow to increase your flexibility.
Also Pavel Tsatsouline's book 'Relax into Stretch Instant Flexibility' is good too... Loads of different highly scientific ideas in that on how to get superflexible and increase your strength at the same time.
