Muscular imbalances, weakness, overuse or injury can render our hip flexors inflexible or make our hips tight and stiff which can hinder our ability to split or extend our legs to their full range of motion but Milind Soman’s wife Ankita Konwar sorted our fitness woes. All those who can’t slide into a split should take fitness inspiration from Ankita and try incorporating seated wide angle stretch or Yoga’s Parsva Upavistha Konasana, front body stretch and simple leg stretches to accomplish the masterful exercise move.
Taking to her social media handle recently, the fitness enthusiast flaunted muscle flexibility with split stretch exercises as she returned home. Donning an easy breezy mauve mini dress, Ankita expressed her joy of finally being home by taking to her balcony and nailing three different split stretches.
The first picture featured her nailing an effortless side stretch with her legs split into 90 degrees and body bent flexibly to hold the toes of one feet. The following picture made our jaws drop as Ankita aced a full split, bent forward and extended her arms to hold the toes of either feet with each hand.
In the last picture, the health freak made splitting pose look effortless and easy as she sat with her eyes closed in meditation, legs spread into a split as further as possible and hands raised overhead with fingers clasped. She captioned the inspiring pictures, “A body that bends will always mend .. #stretching #wednesdaywisdom #home (sic).”
Stretches can be accommodated into everyday workout routine to reap the greatest gains but lasting improvement in flexibility can also be achieved if one stretches at least two or three times a week as it makes the short and tight muscles flexible, strong and healthy. This simple exercise helps one to burn calories at a faster rate and allows the entire body to lose weight better.
Parsva Upavistha Konasana opens up the practitioner’s hips and deeply stretches the backs of their legs/hamstrings, arms and back of body. It, relieves insomnia, calms and soothes the mind, balances prana in the body and also opens up the ribcage which then expands side body and diaphragm cavity to allow for deeper breath.
Split improves body awareness, develops focus and perseverance and makes the practitioner more patient with practice apart from providing a deep stretch to the body. It helps to keep us young by benefiting joint health, hip mobility and flexibility, opens up not just the hips but also the hamstrings, quads, calves and pelvis, helps in better balance and prevents falls and injuries.
