Secrets of Stretching: Split in 6 weeks - the truth about stretching challenges and goals

(wersja polska TUTAJ)

 People in general have this specific tendency to set goals with a deadline - challenges. We do it this way in order to:

 • motivate ourselves,

 • speed up one’s actions,

 • make the activity more intense and more efficient,

• finally do get to something which was not taken care of for a long time, 

• leave a sign – being important, 

• prove something to the others, 

• feel great with a clearly defined goal that gives our life a meaning or importance, 

• feel fulfilled after a well-performed work - accomplished on time and finally to be able to be proud of it.

You need to be aware of the fact, that failing is possible and you would be exposed to:

 • severe feeling of failure, 

• it is possible that you will become a laughing stock,

 • to suffer from the consequences of failure due to not meeting the deadlines,

 • being demotivated that changes the desire to achieve other important goals, etc.,  

but with wise assumptions (also taking into consideration various issues), with a reasonable deadlines and well scheduled implementation process, most of our long-term and thus short-term plans are carried out in a satisfactory manner.  

Such behavior - the implementation of objectives according to the schedule – this is something that is constantly present in our lives and whole world is based on such assumptions: sports, education or politics. Everywhere we are we deal with a some kind of a program, which is simply ours or someone else’s implementation and it has clearly defined time frame. Different programs have different time frames depending on what is to be implemented. Based on the below points the duration of the plan is determined:  

• experience, 

• acquired knowledge, 

• the abilities of most physically and mentally healthy people / groups of people / society / nation,

 • observation of individuals and specific social and cultural groups,

 • verification of the program during its implementation schedule,

 • learning from mistakes,

 • probability,

 • assumptions that we are dealing with unchanged processes ,

and of course many others

Such tasks / goals that can be implemented by the majority of people / groups / systems that meet the initial criteria and strictly follow the program these are, for instance:

 • six pack in 6 weeks,

 • reducing your weight - 4 kg less in 10 days ,

• Implementation of the majority of assumptions by the government in 4 years,

 • preparing a new collection by a couture house in 6 weeks,

 • implementation of the super production previously performed in a different place in 8 weeks,

 • building a skyscraper with 42 floors in 2 years, etc. 

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that there are also such goals that cannot have a designated deadline, because their implementation depends on physical and psychological predispositions of a particular individual and these goals are based on delicate processes and work on one's own psyche. Such goals include:

 • curing mental illnesses,

 • reaching a certain level of awareness,

 • experiencing the enlightenment,

 • stretching the body in order to be able to perform the splits, etc.

You cannot determine the time frame within which these goals will be achieved because:

 • their implementation depends on the individual and is not based strictly on the learning process, 

• it is a process with very unclear boundaries and these borders in fact do not exist, 

• there are many ways to achieve the goals,

 • there are no strong facts showing how to achieve these goals,

 • there are not many people who have achieved such goals ,

• these are not popular goals that are being talked about at the gym, at restaurants, etc., 

• their outcome is often not measurable - or when it comes to stretching progress is at some point so small that nearly not visible, 

• they are based simply on a feeling, not on something that is easy to see (as above: stretching progress sometimes is not easy to see and also only a person sitting in split can say how easy it feel and that feeling is the only change/achievement)

Why is it so easy to determine how many contractions of your abdominal muscles and how many days should you repeat when you are 35 years old to get a six pack? It is simply because:

 • it is something that is easy to repeat and easy to be explained to everyone,

 • it is not too difficult to do and it is based on simple exercises, 

• it is easy to prepare a work out schedule, and exercises do not require plenty of time, 

• muscle contraction is not connected with a tearing pain, which can significantly hinder or even make it impossible to reach the goal.

 As a result, more people will implement such a goal and the effect can be measured / seen or felt and it gives a lot of satisfaction.

Well, ok - now let's get to specific stretching purposes such as: the splits in 6 weeks, etc.

 Why do we catch ourselves on wanting to achieve such unrealistic* goals?

(not the split is unrealistic, but usually the time in which we want to do it and method how we want to achieve it)

 • because they sound easy,

 • because we have no idea what they really require - what kind of time expenditure, energy and what kind of work on oneself besides group trainings,

 • because it is great to be able to do something as amazing as the splits, and not too many people can really do it, so it is something so attractive and extraordinary,

 • because the splits looks good and it makes an impression on the others ,

• because we are told that it is easy to achieve the people who want to earn money on our naivety, and yet we want to believe in it, because we really want to be able to do splits – to feel better ,

• because we are convinced that even though not many people are able to perform splits a few of them achieved this extraordinary goal, so we want to believe that we will be exceptional and we will be able to reach the unreachable and meet the deadline.

Well all is fine, but there is a question, where did it come from?

The answer is unfortunately simple and stupid at the same time: it is because someone with amazing predispositions, who was eager to move in his/ her childhood and led a non-stressful lifestyle, reached the splits position in 6 weeks doing some accidental stretching exercises. Then such a person began to talk about it: how simple and possible it is, because she did not stretch at all, etc. She did it during the course and in group 1 out of 20 people with similar or better predispositions and with prior experience in stretching she achieved the splits in 6 weeks. This is how MYTH is created in general.  Why reaching the splits in 6 weeks is at some point possible, but in the long term it can only hurt the body and psyche of a human being?  I always say that I can make everyone perform the splits in one day, and it will happen like this:

So how about I use the breaking wheel, then I will tear the tendons, ligaments, I will tear your muscles, I will ignore screams and cries begging me to stop, then I will slightly cut the muscles at the ischial bone and at the pubic symphysis and here you go – you have achieved the splits.

I know, it sounds extremely brutal, but in my opinion it is not less brutal than pushing yourself / or someone to reach the splits position in 6 weeks. In 6 weeks you can only START your beautiful journey aiming to know yourself – how you react to the stretching, taste the benefits of stretching and wake up the desire to want more – to develop yourself. The splits reached in 6 weeks will be only a short-term effect and muscle will contract and it will affect negatively the mind as well. The body will react to such treatment as this state is a disease, then the body will have to regenerate, and for sure the body does not like to be sick and will reluctantly return to stretching if at all.

 And yet it is not really about the splits, but about the beautiful process of stretching and discovering yourself thanks to its beneficial effects: 

 • improvement of circulation and decreases risk of heart diseases,

 • increasing mobility,

 • better mood,

 • relaxed body and mind,

 • better blood supply to the muscles ,

• better supply of the oxygen to the brain,

 • less risk of any injury,

 • healthy spine ,

• greater awareness of the body and mind,

 • more efficient circulatory and respiratory system

Full article about the benefits can be found HERE

And these, after all, can be felt through all your life and I assure you that if you treat yourself well and apply the following rules, you will reach the splits position. Only the goal "to reach the split" will go through an amazing metamorphosis changing into "I want to have a fantastic life"

  So what is this secret equation – a perfect recipe for the splits?

 Treat yourself well + be persistent / regularity + lack of expectations + acquiring more knowledge on topics related to body and mind + enjoying your stretching sessions + time + well-chosen set of exercises = the splits

Ending note

Therefore, unfortunately I will not promise you that you will be able to perform a twine in 6 weeks, but I hope that I have offered you so much more – something more valuable.

An the truth is that for most of people performing split in six weeks often ends like that:

1. At the beginning