The beginner's guide to flexibility

Thanks a lot people, did stretches last night, no pain! Felt good, have started strength exercises, warm ups and some joint rotations as part of the set and i'm feeling confident!

 

Great to hear, Arthur!

 

A flexible body can perform exercise in better way, and
secure from the injury. the above mention
information is quite right.

 

So.. my TKD class does;

cardio warm ups, joint warm up, isometric stretching, and then the main

Should I consider quitting?

 

Sounds good! Stick with it!

 

I think he is referring to the bad sequencing of exercises ie: of doing isometrics before the main part of his class which would involve dynamic movements.

Its a tough situation to be in. I suggest evaluating the class as a whole. Is the quality of instruction high in all the other areas? and subsequently worth the effort of essentially questioning your instructors knowledge?

If it is, it might be an idea to tell him you had heard that you get better flexibility gains by doing isometric stretching at the end of a class and see what he says, it can be a hard thing to do but I think if the guy is clued up enough to know about isometrics, he probably knows they should be done at the end of a class but does them when he does out of ease of structuring a class.

It can be a pain in the ass to keep your eye on the time and stop all the fun stuff 15 minutes early to go into isometrics at the end.

If of course the rest of his instruction isnt great, it might be worth it to look around and see what else is available.

The other option is of course to fake doing isometrics when he runs the class through them and do them on your own at the end of class by yourself....

 

I see what you mean, but I don't actually think that doing isometrics before class is a bad thing at all as long as the isometrics are not extreme enough to be exhausting and the following class material is not too technical for the fatigue to be detrimental. Remember that maximal strength training should precede endurance and light technical stuff. Light to mildly extensive isometrics for the adductors and hamstrings should not be overly fatiguing before the class. They could be done before or afterwards, but it really is such a minor issue. Not at all worth leaving the class for.

 

Thank you guys I feel so much more relieved.

Oh yea, yesterday I did the routine recommended on page 2. It worked great, my thighs were smiling after. Thank you for posting this.

 

Good!

By the way, nice avatar.

 

Just keeping you guys posted, kicked someone (and drew blood- more to do with his zits than my savagery) on the chin for the first time ever last friday! Cheers peeps!

 

Atta-boy, Arthur!

 

I have a question guys. How many times per day is it safe to stretch. My physio advised me to stretch 3x per day when rehab-ing my calves. Is the same amount of stretching ok with something like the splits, butterfly stretch, yoga stretches?
When stretching every day in the past I only did it once per day in the morning.

 

Follow the physio's intructions, especially with regards to the type of streth they told you to do.

A lot of the sretches recommended in this thread shouldn't really be done that often as they are pretty much a combination of a strength and streth workout. The physio's stretches are unlikely to be like this.

 

No no this was years ago I was just trying to find some kind of support for how many times a day I can safely stretch.

 

In that case it depends what type of stretch you are talking about and what your specific goals are. There will also be a difference between what you can stretch safely and what you should stretch to get the best results.

 

Static - knees to the mat, splits, head to feet, pidgeon laying over my calf, full lotus, foot behind my head,
Dynamic - front kick to my own face level, head level roundhouse,

 

Simple static and dynamic stretches you should be able to do as often as you want.

I take no responsibility if you hurt yourself though.

 

Righty is pretty much right (of course :hat: )

Heyo, Sketco

Only active stretches and isometric stretches need to be carefully spaced apart. Passive (relaxed/static) stretches, like the ones most PT's prescribe by the hours can be done basically as much as you want them. The intensity of the stretch must be moderated, however, so don't stretch really hard three times a day. This mainly applies to largish muscles (like the adductors or hamstrings). You don't have much to worry about with the calves, because they handle high frequency training (stretching, strength, anything) very, very well.

Good luck in your rehab!


Edit:

Dynamic stretches can be done as often as you like; HOWEVER, they will become fatiguing at some level. Stop at that level. Doing them tired won't increase flexibility, and doing a ton won't much either. They usually contribute greatly to kicking ability because the muscles required for raising your legs and holding them there (active flexibility) are used more and are strengthened by repetition.

 

Hey guys. I am back from korea. Was training taekwondo with some of top athletes in korea and survived somehow they were nice to me Now back home I practice more than 2 months on street as coach kicked me out Otherwise my kicks are still bad and I just give up. I just dont practice proper way and even in korea they couldnt teach me proper kicking nor they spent any energy to do so I do some flexibility exercises everyday but in general no big progress :S:S:S:S:S:SS::S:S:S:S

 

Takehura, PM sent. It will help you.