Whether you can do the splits is a favorite test of flexibility on the playground, but it’s generally accepted that most people over 40 can’t. So when 78-year-old Angela Rippon kicked her leg into a standing split during Strictly Come Dancing on Saturday, she caused a stir among viewers.
Rippon is the show’s oldest-ever contestant, but experts say her movement is difficult for most younger people and highly unusual for someone her age because the body stiffens with age, while balance and muscle strength decline.
Dawn Skelton, professor of aging and health at Glasgow Caledonian University, said Rippon’s move is impressive because “from the age of 40 we start to see marked declines in our flexibility”, with women losing the natural flexibility designed to help the pelvis expand during childbirth because estrogen decreases during menopause.
Genetics also determines how flexible you are, as well as your speed and strength, but anyone can become more flexible at any age with practice — but if you want to learn moves that really challenge your body, it’s better to start young, Skelton said.
“If you couldn’t do the splits in school, chances are that — even with the best training package in the world — you won’t be able to do them when you’re 60, 70, 80,” she said, adding that this is due because changes occur in the muscles and tendons as we age, and fat infiltrates the connective tissue.
Flexibility is good for “lengthening the muscles and ligament so you can move a joint through its full range of motion” – and is an especially important attribute for dancers, many of whom are hypermobile – but is often ignored in fitness training programs unless they include yoga or pilates, Skelton said.
To learn to do the splits, it’s important to lengthen the hamstrings (the muscles along the back of the leg), which tighten significantly with age. Good core strength keeps the body in position, as does hip mobility.
The important thing to remember, Skelton said, is that Rippon is now reaping the benefits of “a lifelong history of being active.”
She said: “Anything you find difficult, chances are you can do it if you practice more often. If it is embedded in your life like Angela, you can maintain it. It reminds us that we don’t all have to become vulnerable – because many people are Angela’s age. So if you’re in your 40s and you can just about do a split, now is the time to do a lot more if you want to maintain that skill.”
The splits are considered a “very advanced dance move at any age,” says Sarah Riach, head of the school of performance at the University of Sunderland. Watching the show, she was “impressed by (Rippon’s) cha-cha-cha, and the standing split came as quite a surprise”.
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Riach said there are different types of splits, including the standing split performed by Rippon, and the box split, where the dancer faces forward with legs out to the side. Different people will find some easier than others, and some dancers can only do a standing split on one, more flexible leg.
Sadie Hunt, senior dance lecturer at the University of Bedfordshire, said that people with naturally long hamstrings and hip joints with a wide range of motion will find a standing split easier than most people, while some people may never be able to do it.
She recommended that people use breathing and imagery to extend the stretches rather than forcing their bodies into positions, which can cause damage. The most effective movements, she said, would be “anything that lengthens the hamstrings and loosens the hip joints – lunges, hamstring stretches – but do it gently and know it takes time.”
She added that Rippon’s dancing reflected her favorite qualities from Strictly: “The hard work and sheer joy of dancing, and that it’s for everyone.”