30 Day Splits Challenge

Why this challenge? Well, within a time span of a week, I kept seeing ads proposing one could condition their flexibility to accomplish the splits in as little as one month. I was immediately intrigued. There was a time, as a child, when I was enrolled in gymnastics, however, due, to a military brat lifestyle, it was a little difficult to keep up. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I signed up to receive the information. It was a variety of stretches that were to be done in a block of...you guessed it, 30 days. The stretches ranged from easy to difficult. I was not quite sure what to expect but I knew I wanted to document my progress with before and after photos, so when I took the before picture, I noticed that I really didn’t have that far to go to complete the challenge. Thinking over a 30-day time frame, …it’s in the bag…

 

My Experience: 
Starting off with the initial “beginner” moves I would say they were easy and relaxingly familiar. Then around day 15, it started to become more challenging and tough. A lot of clenching-up until I reminded myself to relax and take deep breathes as the key to loosen and stretch these muscles. I really noticed the condition that my hamstrings were so tight from the ongoing working out I have been doing and the lack of warmups and cools downs in the process. 
I actually started skipping days and then doubling up on the movements on other days. I was still able to keep up until I reached the last three stretches. They were practically the splits, in different versions, on the ground and in midair. Do I look like Olympic athlete? I started to have minor doubts that maybe it just wasn’t possible. But since I am not one to give up, your girl has decided to revisit this challenge again, later down the road. 

Challenge results:
FLEXIBILITY IMPROVED, HAPPY I TRIED, SO I FAILED, but I feel like I failed forward at least, and I plan to revisit and practice more at a later time. Check out my before and after pictures!

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