What could be causing sharp pain while doing center splits?

Question

Hi doctor,

I do a couple of sports to have some hip flexibility. I am pretty flexible, and I can do right and left splits. But when doing the center split, I get a stopping pain in my outer hip with no stretch in my inner thigh. If I rotate my knees back and hips forward, I can do more stretch, but there is also a slight stop. What is this and can it be worked? Will stretching help to release that stopping pain or am I anatomically incapable of doing a middle split? There is pain only when I am doing a center split. How to fix it? I do a lot of kicking, and I do not want to injure myself.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

There are many factors, other than tight inner thigh muscles that limit the split, especially the center split. Bony restriction in the hip joint, as the hip joint bone gets jammed into the socket because of extreme coxa vara angle (angulation between the neck and shaft of the thigh bone) leading to restrictions in movement. These jams will not happen when you do a side split as there is slight rotation occurring in the joint which allows the action to happen.

Another reason could be ligamentous (pubofemoral ligament) limitation as the ligament tightens and it limits further movement. This ligament realigns and will relax while doing forward and side splits. So, it will not restrict your movement other than the center split. You can try tilting your pelvis forward so that there can be some relief with limitations in both cases.

For more information consult a physiotherapist online