Flexible gymnast balancing on cube in studio, isolated over white background

180° of Splits

Flexibility is incredibly important for having clean leg extensions. Because of this, it is important to do exercises that maintain and improve your splits regularly. If you want perfectly straight leg extensions, then you’re going to need to achieve perfectly straight splits. If you can already do splits, then sitting in your splits for a little bit every day will help to keep them strong and flexible. Make sure to do splits on both legs to make sure that you are flexible on both sides.

If you feel advanced in your splits, you can also try oversplits to increase your flexibility. When doing oversplits, make sure that you are fully stretched and doing oversplits in a way that does not hurt your muscles or damage your flexibility.

Barre Lifts

Barre lifts will help you find balance in your leg extensions and practice keeping your leg in the air. To do a barre lift, place one foot on the barre, making sure to keep it pointed and turned out. Then, practice raising your leg off the barre. When your leg is off the barre, hold it in the air for ten seconds before slowly lowering it back down. Make sure to do this exercise with both legs, and repeat multiple times to encourage your muscles to strengthen. Over time you will find that you can hold your leg off the barre for more than ten seconds!

Theraband Exercises

Take your stretches to the next level by introducing a theraband to the mix. For instance, you could use a theraband to create resistance during barre lifts to make it harder to lift your leg. Using therabands to create resistance is especially helpful once you begin to get stronger and need to increase the difficulty of your exercises.

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Veronica Good has been with Showstopper Magazine since 2016. When she isn't keeping you updated on the latest trends, she is at home with her many pets or probably playing The Sims 4. Veronica has a BA in English and an MA in writing from Coastal Carolina University. She is also a writer of fiction and poetry, and her work can be found in Archarios, Tempo, and Scapegoat.