Pain After Front Splits

Discussion in 'Health and Fitness' started by JTG, Aug 14, 2016.

  1. JTG

    JTG New Member

    Hello everybody...I have a friend who asked me to post this question about pain she gets after doing the front splits.

    Recently, she noticed that after doing the front splits (around the next morning), she has a lot of pain in her front leg. She is able to do the full front splits (all the way to the ground) and has done gymnastics in the past so she is all around pretty flexible. She thinks that it could be age that's doing this to her (she is 38) or just overuse of the tendons.

    Do you guys have any idea on what it could be and how to help it?

    Thank you!
     
  2. Simon

    Simon Administrator Admin Supporter MAP 2017 Koyo Award

    Pain is never a good thing and if it's persistent then it's time to seek professional help.

    That said we do have medical and sports experts here, so can you be a little more specific as to where the pain is.
     
  3. Van Zandt

    Van Zandt Mr. High Kick

    "Front leg" - does that mean she feels pain in the leg she places in front of her during the splits (if so, where is it? What does it feel like? Has she hurt that area before?), or does it mean she feels pain in the front of her legs?
     
  4. JTG

    JTG New Member

    Yes, she feels pain in the leg she places in front during her splits. She says the pain is a "pulling" sort of pain in the hip flexor/abductor area. She has never before hurt in this area before recently (within the last year or so).
     
  5. Van Zandt

    Van Zandt Mr. High Kick

    What does she do for a living?
     
  6. JTG

    JTG New Member

    She's a graphic designer.
     
  7. Van Zandt

    Van Zandt Mr. High Kick

    As a graphic designer, she probably sits at a desk all day. Common ailments in desk-bound populations that cause anterior hip pain are chronically short and tight hip flexors (psoas, iliacus, tensor fasciae latae, top heads of the pectineus/sartorious/rectus femoris), mangled fascia throughout the entire anterior musculature, the top head of the femur being positioned to the front of the hip socket, and even lack of flexibiity throughout the posterior chain.

    When your friend does front splits, does the knee of her back leg point down to the floor or out to the side?
     
  8. JTG

    JTG New Member

    When she does them, her knee points down to the floor.
     
  9. Van Zandt

    Van Zandt Mr. High Kick

    If her back knee points down (and that leg is flat against the floor), we can probably rule out short and tight hip flexors.

    :thinking:

    The culprit is possibly muscle weakness, an impingement related to joint capsule stiffness, or some kind of bursitis related to your friend's activities as a gymnast.

    Appreciate this 'diagnosis' (and I use that word loosely) is based on second-hand information over an Internet forum. It cannot possibly be as detailed or as accurate as live testing and assessment of the injury site.

    That said, I can probably narrow it down a bit further if you can get your friend to answer the following questions:

    How easily can she do the splits without warming up? Can she 'drop' straight into them, or does she need to do some sort of physical activity beforehand?

    What strength training does she do?

    What other areas of her body does she stretch?

    What types of flexibility exercises does she do? Does she do relaxed stretches only (traditional 'reach and hold' type stretching), or does she do isometrics/PNF also?
     
  10. JTG

    JTG New Member

    I got her to answer your questions. Here are her responses:

    1."Yes, I can usually just drop down into the splits without having to warm up, but the older I get I don't just drop down into them anymore. I CAN do the front splits all the way down to the ground, but when I do it seems to irritate my hip joint."

    2. "I do TKD (taekwondo) four times a week and do weight training at least once if not twice a week....I also go on walks everyday. Usually one at work for a half hour and then sometimes at home for 45-60 minutes."

    3 and 4."For stretching I pretty much do what we do in class for our warm ups and cool downs."
    In our classes we mainly do stretching of the hips, legs, and torso (splits, leg cradles, pretzel stretches, etc...). Also, in our classes, we tend to do the traditional "relax and hold" stretches for our warm ups and cool downs (around 95% of our stretching) rather than isometrics.
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2016
  11. Van Zandt

    Van Zandt Mr. High Kick

    Range of motion that reduces with age is an indication that flexibility is dependent upon muscular elasticity rather than strength. In this case, declining flexibility is inevitable due to the naturally occurring change in the ratio of elastin to collagen within bodily tissues. Attempting to demonstrate previous levels of flexibility then becomes a fight against one's own body as it resists being forced into positions it can no longer structurally support. At some point damage will begin to occur, which announces itself in the early stages as irritation and inflammation. My guess, in the case of your friend, is that she is doing flexibility exercises that no longer work for her as an adult.

    Her strength training may not promote flexibility. It might even make it worse. What exercises does she do?

    The exercises she does in class are not based on a rational training programme. Doing the wrong exercises, or even the right exercises but in the wrong sequence, can cause regression and injury. At the very least, she should stop training there until she is examined by a sports medicine doctor. In the long term, she should find a gym or class run by coaches who have a sound understanding in sports training.
     
  12. JTG

    JTG New Member

    Okay! Great! Thank you very much for responding. I'll be sure to show her what you wrote! Thank you for answering all this! :)
     

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