Can stretching increase punching power? Stronger kicks?

Discussion in 'Health and Fitness' started by nintyplayer, Aug 5, 2014.

  1. nintyplayer

    nintyplayer Valued Member

    What stretches do you do to increase punching power and why do they have an effect?

    The same goes for kicks. I know that more flexibility means you can kick higher, but will my side kick and roundhouse necessarily be stronger if I can kick someone in the head? Why/why not?

    Thank you.
     
  2. Saved_in_Blood

    Saved_in_Blood Valued Member

    If you can bring your leg back a little more, it has more distance to gain momentum to perhaps kick harder. Oddly enough I have 2 knees I'm working on pain issues with. They have recently found that being to flexible around some joint areas can actually increase risk of some injuries. Being flexible isn't a bad thing... I am very much so, but just be cautious around the joint areas.

    As far as increasing power? What increases power is proper technique and as you gain proper technique all of the areas involved in a movement adapt and thus they will sort of stretch on their own. Keep in mind I am not advocating that stretching and warming up should not be done before training, but the difference IMO would be minimal at best. Work on technique and have someone really watch every single rep you do. You will see your power gains there.
     
  3. matveimediaarts

    matveimediaarts Underappreciated genius

    For legs, I do standard barre routines. i.e. pliet/releve on one or both feet, standing in passe en releve, releve in as many foot positions as possible (I normally focus on 1st, 2nd, 5th). Look up "Ballet Barre" or "ballet barre warmup" on youtube. Stick with the classical ballet instead of the "ballet-based" routines. Here's an example(there are about a bazillion on teh interwebz)-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A6c7bkzmQ8#aid=P-w_9PVTtqY ETA: learning forward and side splits can be helpful as well...just much more difficult. :/
     
  4. aikiwolfie

    aikiwolfie ... Supporter

    Maintaining flexibility or suppleness gives you good range, freedom and fluidity of movement. The more supple you are, the easier it is to move quickly and freely. Which means you can generate momentum more easily.

    Stretching can actually weaken the muscle fibres if you over do it and leave them prone to injury. So as with everything else it's a matter of finding the right balance for you.
     

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