I have a question about general flexibility and the limits of it in the human body. If you were to take a man who only has moderate flexibility and strap him into a chair that spreads his legs until he’s in a split, what would happen to that man?
Flexibility varies a lot individually, and also between different areas of the body. There are people who are only moderately flexible who might have the ability to do a full split or nearly so, while other people with good general flexibility might have one or two areas where they are restricted.
For someone who is flexible but also has chronically very tight hips/inner thigh adductors, like me, a torture device such as you mention in your OP could could easily pull/tear muscles in my groin and inner thighs. Though with years of effort and practice I have come closer to doing a full split than I ever thought I would, I’m not there yet and it’s very painful.
ETA: However, put me into a torture device that made my back bend until my head was practically resting on my ass, and I’d be just fine, where other people might never recover from the damage.
Torn muscles (adductors, iliopsoas, hamstring) and ligaments, and possibly damaged hip sockets and/or dislocated hips.
Si
These are the types of injuries that hockey goalies are most prone to having; an awkward split or overreaching with a leg to try and make a kick save results in torn groin muscles and ligaments. Damage to the hip joint also occurs over time.
The body can only do what the body can do, and pushing it further without building up to it results in injury. This is true of hip joints as much as it is of fingers, knees, backs, wrists, etc.
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