Posted by: CoLa
Am I stretching dynamically correctly? - 01/30/06 12:37 AM
Hello all!
I've always been familiar with dynamic stretching although briefly since I started TKD/Hapkido in October... however I had always treated it as a "filler" for my dominate isometric morning/night stretching.
Recently after much more reading/information gathering I realize how important it is and have re-worked my routine to accomidate some of the principals taught by kurtz. I had no idea how flawed the principals I have been taught half my life really were.
Anyway we all know how long it takes the mail to deliver online goodies so I'm curious if I am doing this right. No point in straining stuff only to get the book/video in a week or two and see that I had an arched back here and knee problems there.
Here is what I've been doing. Front/Side/Back stretch.
Standing feet close to shoulder-width apart and back as straight as possible. I bend my right or left leg just a little bit and raise the opposite leg slightly bent as far into the air as I can.
With my front stretch I notice I can get my leg about perpendicular with my waist (if it was a straight line) at which point I feel much tightness in the quadriceps. I then and I am not sure about this - hold for a few sec and slowly lower - I'm aware the downward motion needs to be controlled and is equally important. I then do this again for about 19 reps?
Okay my side stretch I do the same thing but obviously move my leg to the side. I notice my body leans almost diagnoally opposite of the leg lift. I try to keep the back straight but it feels natural for it to tilt more to the opposing side - is this okay? I've also noticed quite a bit of tension on my opposite hip/knee joint. Perhaps I am trying to lift my leg too far or improper form.. or is this normal?
Keep in mind I am in great condition (asthetically at least lol) and months of improper isometric stretching have rendered me quite flexible during isometric exercises. My areas that need work badly are high kicks and splits which I am hoping this will help with. I also have bad hips from hours of sitting I believe so I have been trying to isolate them with stretches as well. I belive this is partially the cause of feeling extra tension on the side stretch.
Finally the back stretch... this one kind of confuses me as it doesn't seem orthodox but I belive I'm doing it right. Same as the front but lift the leg behind me. Now here is my confusion... should my leg look like a scorpion tail curling or straight like a snap kick with toes pointed. Obviously when it is straight I can get it to raise a little higher. Unfortunately I feel like there is a lot of stress on my lower back. This doesn't hurt/hinder or bother me but it leads me to believe I am doing the stretch wrong and we all know that will eventually lead to injuries.
Okay critiques and help would be greatly appreciated, as usual this forum is an invaluable source of my training.
PS: Could someone with quite a bit of experience/understanding explain some of your routines to me? I was quite knowledgeable about how to plan my regimines prior to reading kurtz advice but now I'm scared I might be doing things out of order.
Here is an example of how I am trying to adapt to his thouhts.
Start with warm up, dynamic joint movement - knees,wrists,neck,shoulders. Light jog... some light leg movements to warm the body.
Next start the dynamic stretches - front, side, back
Move on to the MMA workout - whatever class has been focused on, at my level forms and roundhouse for example.
then move on to jump rope.. to ease some of my tension and increase proper footwork. Pushups and situps.
finally end with isometric stretches? or just ignore this unless I have had a huge cardio workout?
(also on non-mma focused days I would replace the mma workouts with strength training or possibly distance running)
What are some of your thoughts and what have you folks been trying/working on?
I also hope to include hindu squats/pushups with the strength training and maybe even replace my weights with resistance training + hindu squats/pushups.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated to all the veterns out there... I used to think I had this kind of stuff down but I feel like I just got reborn again.
However I am very excited as I look to reach even new gains and feats that will interest others to look into this type of training.
I've always been familiar with dynamic stretching although briefly since I started TKD/Hapkido in October... however I had always treated it as a "filler" for my dominate isometric morning/night stretching.
Recently after much more reading/information gathering I realize how important it is and have re-worked my routine to accomidate some of the principals taught by kurtz. I had no idea how flawed the principals I have been taught half my life really were.
Anyway we all know how long it takes the mail to deliver online goodies so I'm curious if I am doing this right. No point in straining stuff only to get the book/video in a week or two and see that I had an arched back here and knee problems there.
Here is what I've been doing. Front/Side/Back stretch.
Standing feet close to shoulder-width apart and back as straight as possible. I bend my right or left leg just a little bit and raise the opposite leg slightly bent as far into the air as I can.
With my front stretch I notice I can get my leg about perpendicular with my waist (if it was a straight line) at which point I feel much tightness in the quadriceps. I then and I am not sure about this - hold for a few sec and slowly lower - I'm aware the downward motion needs to be controlled and is equally important. I then do this again for about 19 reps?
Okay my side stretch I do the same thing but obviously move my leg to the side. I notice my body leans almost diagnoally opposite of the leg lift. I try to keep the back straight but it feels natural for it to tilt more to the opposing side - is this okay? I've also noticed quite a bit of tension on my opposite hip/knee joint. Perhaps I am trying to lift my leg too far or improper form.. or is this normal?
Keep in mind I am in great condition (asthetically at least lol) and months of improper isometric stretching have rendered me quite flexible during isometric exercises. My areas that need work badly are high kicks and splits which I am hoping this will help with. I also have bad hips from hours of sitting I believe so I have been trying to isolate them with stretches as well. I belive this is partially the cause of feeling extra tension on the side stretch.
Finally the back stretch... this one kind of confuses me as it doesn't seem orthodox but I belive I'm doing it right. Same as the front but lift the leg behind me. Now here is my confusion... should my leg look like a scorpion tail curling or straight like a snap kick with toes pointed. Obviously when it is straight I can get it to raise a little higher. Unfortunately I feel like there is a lot of stress on my lower back. This doesn't hurt/hinder or bother me but it leads me to believe I am doing the stretch wrong and we all know that will eventually lead to injuries.
Okay critiques and help would be greatly appreciated, as usual this forum is an invaluable source of my training.
PS: Could someone with quite a bit of experience/understanding explain some of your routines to me? I was quite knowledgeable about how to plan my regimines prior to reading kurtz advice but now I'm scared I might be doing things out of order.
Here is an example of how I am trying to adapt to his thouhts.
Start with warm up, dynamic joint movement - knees,wrists,neck,shoulders. Light jog... some light leg movements to warm the body.
Next start the dynamic stretches - front, side, back
Move on to the MMA workout - whatever class has been focused on, at my level forms and roundhouse for example.
then move on to jump rope.. to ease some of my tension and increase proper footwork. Pushups and situps.
finally end with isometric stretches? or just ignore this unless I have had a huge cardio workout?
(also on non-mma focused days I would replace the mma workouts with strength training or possibly distance running)
What are some of your thoughts and what have you folks been trying/working on?
I also hope to include hindu squats/pushups with the strength training and maybe even replace my weights with resistance training + hindu squats/pushups.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated to all the veterns out there... I used to think I had this kind of stuff down but I feel like I just got reborn again.
However I am very excited as I look to reach even new gains and feats that will interest others to look into this type of training.