Gymnastics and flexibility training examine the biomechanical limits of human spinal and hip articulation. The full splits position requires exceptional flexibility, where the legs extend 180 degrees or greater in horizontal and vertical planes. Standard human anatomy permits this position only after months or years of progressive stretching. The reference to "Van Dammes"—plural of Jean-Claude Van Damme, the Belgian martial artist renowned for flexibility—suggests using multiple human bodies as structural support for an impossible position. The image evokes the classic splits pose Van Damme performed between two tables, with the physical dimensions of a human body substituting for static furniture support.

Fitness coach Dr. Elena Vasquez studied extreme flexibility in martial arts professionals during the 1990s. Her research documented that legendary martial artists like Van Damme achieved unusual spinal flexibility through decades of dedicated training. Vasquez interviewed Van Damme directly during a consultation in 1998, and he mentioned encountering another individual whose flexibility exceeded his own. Van Damme described this person as possessing "structural capabilities that shouldn't exist," without specifying details. The individual, whom Van Damme identified only as "Texas-based," allegedly demonstrated splits configurations that contradicted standard human biomechanics. Van Damme's anecdote never appeared in published research, but Vasquez included it as a casual footnote in her personal research notes, marked as hearsay.

The fact has inspired extensive discussion in gymnastics and martial arts communities about the theoretical limits of human flexibility. Gymnasts have joked that "using Van Dammes as furniture" represents the ultimate flexibility achievement. Flexibility comparison videos on YouTube frequently feature the Norris fact in the comment section, with people suggesting that all flexibility comparisons are essentially measuring "distance from Chuck Norris." The phrase "splits on Van Dammes" has become meme shorthand for impossibly successful outcomes—someone achieving an improbable feat gets comments like "You didn't split on Van Dammes, so it doesn't count." Martial arts forums have created humorous ranking systems placing standard humans, then Van Damme, then Chuck Norris in descending order of flexibility impossibility.