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PlasticDragon
21-Jul-2003, 12:57 AM
Hi there.

I haven't trained in anything for a long time now and have finally decided to get back into training. I wont be attending classes for now, I dont feel I am ready.

My plan is to spend the next 12 months on stretching, endurance and fluidity. I will do Thai Chi Chaun forms alongside my physical work to get me into a condition I feel happier with before starting classes. I am planning to do Jeet Kun Do, later when I feel I am ready mentally and physically enough to focus on it.

Generally I am fairly good condition and training myself back into good shape is something I can manage fine, my real problem is my flexibility. I seem to have tightened up to an impossible degree especially in my legs and hamstrings and I really need to gfet a flexibility training routine going.

I want to do stretches twice daily for flexibility and increasing my muscle lengths again, morning and night. The problem is I really dont know what kind of routine opr excercises I should be doing for this?
I did Freestyle Karate and Thai Boxing when I was younger, but in those days I was very supple anyway so I never really needed streches for anything other than warming up. At the moment though I cant even hold my leg straight at hip height, the hamstrings are just far too tight.

Can anyone advise me on some kind of routine I can use to get these muscles streched back out again. I never realised just how badly muscles could tighten up!!
Preferably excercises I can do alone as I plan to do them early morning and late evening.
I used to be able to slow raise above head height in both side and front kick, now I cant get past waist height in either. I am determined to get that fixed and get the flexibility back into myself.

Any advice is welcome, thanks.

Grifter
21-Jul-2003, 02:52 AM
http://www.momentumsports.co.uk/TtStBody.asp
this site has a lot of differents streches you can do.

PlasticDragon
21-Jul-2003, 11:36 AM
Originally posted by Grifter
http://www.momentumsports.co.uk/TtStBody.asp
this site has a lot of differents streches you can do.

Will these stretches increase muscle lengths and let me get my leg extension height increased again? The ones for the Hamstrings look like just warmup style stretches and not the kind of streching which will open up my muscle lengths.
Or will they work for that as well?

Thanks

Fergie Boy
22-Jul-2003, 06:31 AM
If you do the stretches three to five times a day and hold each stretch for 30 seconds to a minute they will work.

Andrew Green
22-Jul-2003, 06:55 AM
Umm...

You don't need to spend 12 months getting in shape to join what is in a sense, a fitness class...

They will sort you out when you get there :D