6 Drills for Standing Splits
If you can do front splits on the floor, but cannot do a standing split, here’s what you need to develop:
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- a deep forward fold (mobile hamstrings) for the stance leg.
- end range hip extension (open hip flexors and a strong glute max) for the lifted leg.
Here are 6 exercises that can help you improve your hamstring mobility and end-range straight leg hip extension.
- Deficit Stiff Leg Sandbag Deadlifts: 8-10 reps
- Child’s Pose Leg Lifts: 8/leg and hold last rep 8s.
- Drinking Birds: 8/leg
- Downward Dog Banded Knee Extensions: 8/leg
- Wall-Assisted Standing Split: work towards 30s/side
- Band-Assisted Standing Split: work towards 30s/side
If you want to take a deep dive into your standing splits training, I just created a Standing Splits Clinic!
This clinic consists of a 45-Minute follow-along video routine. Just play the video and do the routine with me, which consists of:
- A warm-up to open the hips and low back, and activate the core and glutei max.
- Exercises for hamstring opening and strengthening for the stance leg.
- Exercises for glutei max strengthening and hip flexor opening in the back leg so you will be able to actively lift the leg towards the North Pole.
- Standing Splits Drills and Progressions
Front Splits on the floor are not a mandatory prerequisite for this clinic, but it’s recommended that you be close to achieving your front splits. Note that this clinic will actually help you improve your front splits and iron out imbalances.
Where do you find this Standing Splits Clinic? It’s found inside:
- The Splits Program (if you already have the Splits 3.0 program, just log in and you will see it in the Splits Program Dashboard!)
- Strength Academy (unit 51).
