It is good to know that getting yourself ready for a work out is just as important of a step to take as the actual exercise itself. While people tend to get very excited to begin and it is great that they are so into working out, it is actually unhealthy to put your body through such vigorous training without first preparing the muscles for such a thing. If you want to be able to do a full gymnast split, you must first know how to stretch to do the splits so you will not tear any muscles.
Getting into a full split position means that you have one leg extended all the way out in front of you, lying flat against the floor and the other one doing the same thing behind you, so that you cannot comfortably see it at all. There should be no air between your body and the ground at all and your legs cannot be bent, even the slightest bit, by your knees. A good gymnast is also able to touch past the ends of her toes by leaning the upper body all the way forward, until it is resting against the front leg.
It is only through much effort, patience, and time along with a hefty dose of practice that you will begin to see how you might one day achieve this position. It would not be good for your body to try and force it into something like this right away, but by slowly working up, you will see the results. A gradual, smooth process is the best and healthiest way to try and ease yourself into a form as extreme as this one.
One of the first ways that you should get ready is to do a simple exercise where you put the right leg in front of the left one by about a foot and keeping the left leg straight, bend your right and lean over. Stretch your arms as far as they can go and stay in place for a count of three.
After a count of three, switch sides and do this exercise again with the left in the front.
The next step is to kind of crouch down on the floor to perform a similar movement from a sitting position. By putting one foot out in front of you so that the leg is straight and your toes are flexed, sit on the other one that is bent underneath you and reach all the way out for your toes. After you hold for a few seconds, change and do this on the other side.
Next, you want to stand up and keeping both legs locked all the knee so that neither of them are bent at all, put one about a foot in front of other. Bend over to touch the floor and move your body around so that it touches by the front leg, then in between the two, and then the back one. Switch sides and make this same semi-circle going the other way.
You have carefully prepared your body, so you are all ready to try your very first split. Lower yourself with ease and caution and spread yourself as far as you can without causing any pain to your muscles. Knowing how to stretch to do the splits is so important, but it does not guarantee a full split on your first try.
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