Advanced

Standing Splits

Standing Splits folds you over the standing leg while the other reaches as high as it can toward the ceiling. The standing-leg hamstring gets a deep lengthening stretch, the lifted-leg hip extensors work to raise the leg, and the ankle stabilizers fight to keep you steady. It demands both flexibility and single-leg balance, so build it from a supported fold with the hands on blocks.

Equipment
Body Weight
Body part
Glutes, Hamstring
Type
Balance, Stretching, Yoga
Muscles worked
Target
Biceps Femoris, Semitendinosus
Secondary
Gluteus Maximus, Gluteus Medius, Erector Spinae
Tertiary
Adductor Magnus, Vastus Lateralis, Soleus Gastrocnemius

How to do it

  1. 1

    From a standing forward fold, shift your weight onto one foot and plant both hands on the floor or blocks.

  2. 2

    Keep the standing knee straight but not locked.

  3. 3

    Lift the other leg back and up toward the ceiling.

  4. 4

    Square the hips down toward the floor and reach the lifted heel high.

  5. 5

    Draw the chest toward the standing shin to deepen the fold.

  6. 6

    Hold with steady breath, lower the leg with control, and switch sides.

Tips

  • Set the hands on blocks so you can keep the spine long instead of forcing the fold.
  • Keep the standing foot's toes spread and gripping to steady the balance.
  • Lift from the lifted-leg glute rather than rotating the hip open to the side.

Variations

Common mistakes

  • The hands take so much weight that the arms are propping you up, and the standing leg quietly stops working; keep enough load over the standing foot that you could lift a hand off the floor.
  • The chest is hauled toward the shin by grabbing the ankle before the hips are square, which tips your weight past the standing foot and onto your face.
  • Weight rolls forward onto the ball of the standing foot as the other leg climbs, so the whole balance sits on the toes; press the heel down as hard as the front of the foot.
  • The lifted leg is dropped rather than lowered, which jolts a hamstring that has just spent a minute at full length.
  • Both hands stay under the shoulders where they landed in the fold, when walking them back level with the standing foot gives you a base you can actually balance over.

Frequently asked

What is a sensible hold for Standing Splits, and what should I have before trying it?
Be able to fold forward with your hands on blocks and a long spine, and hold Warrior III or a supported single-leg fold steadily, before you chase height here. Then five breaths a side, two rounds, with the leg only as high as the hips stay square. Most people get more out of two shorter holds than one long one, because the standing hamstring starts to protest around the fourth breath. Practise it late in a session when the hips are already open rather than as one of the first shapes you do.
How do I work up to Standing Splits, and how do I progress it?
Easier: hands on blocks or the seat of a chair, a soft bend in the standing knee, and the lifted leg no higher than hip height. Working with your back to a wall and the lifted heel pressing into it gives you feedback without any balance demand. Harder: walk the hands closer to the standing foot, take one hand to the standing ankle, or bind the lifted ankle with the same-side hand once the hips can stay level without it. Height is the last thing to add, since it is the first thing people cheat.
What is Standing Splits for, and when should I skip it?
It trains standing-leg hamstring length under a real fold, hip extension on the lifted side, and the ankle control that single-leg balance depends on, which makes it useful preparation for handstand work and deeper splits. Skip it while a hamstring is strained or tender where it attaches at the sitting bone, because a deep loaded stretch is what aggravates that. Anyone who gets dizzy with the head below the heart should build up in a supported fold instead.

Related exercises

Other movements among FitRay's 2,000+ exercises that load the same target muscle — same equipment and level first.

All Glutes exercises