Any Stretching exercises you could suggest?

[Kaan Hussein]

I'm a 13 year old male and a blue tag in wtf Taekwondo and i was looking for more stretching because I'm still not that flexible

(also i wouldn't do this but is it safe to pull them apart with rope like van damme in kickboxer and bloodsport?)

 

[drop bear]

Do the basics you have learned. Hold them for a couple of minutes.

If you do wind up stringing yourself between a couple of trees. Make sure you put it on YouTube.

 

[Buka]

Welcome to MartialTalk, bro.

Just have some patience, stretch at home. Four or five years, you'll have a good start.

 

[KangTsai]

Hips are the most important part of the body to have flexible for kicking. Without any groin stretching, you can still kick heads with good hips.

My tip is to dynamically stretch (high kick the air) and try a deep static squat position. It really didn't take long for me to kick over my head height, and I still can't fully split.

 

[Midnight-shadow]

I'm hoping your instructor gives you basic stretching exercises to do in class as part of your warmup, so just focus on those and do them every day. 5 minutes stretching every day will result in better flexibility than half an hour's stretching once a week. When you do any stretching at home, here are some key points to remember:

1. warm-up your body first. trying to stretch cold muscles can cause injuries. Think of your muscles like an elastic band. If you take an ice-cold elastic band and try to stretch it, it will quickly break. Take that same elastic band and gently warm it up and you can stretch it a lot further before it breaks. Your muscles are the same. So, jump up and down, run around a bit or just swing your legs and hips before you start stretching. Then in between each stretch, jump around a bit to stop your muscles from cooling down.

2. Breath into the stretch. A lot of people hold their breath while doing a difficult stretch as a natural result of the stress (and possible pain) they are putting their body in. This causes your body to tense up making it harder to stretch out properly. By doing deep breaths through the stretches your body will relax allowing you to stretch further for longer.

3. Don't hold a stretch for too long. Holding a stretch for too long can also result in injury. Going back to our rubber band, if you hold it at the maximum stretched position for a long time, even if you don't increase the stretch, it will break. instead, hold the stretch for 5-10 seconds and then let your muscles relax. If you want to keep stretching, stretch a different group of muscles while you wait for the others to recover.

4. Hold the stretch, but don't bounce it. When you are stretching you want to go to your comfortable limit (it should be uncomfortable but not painful) and hold it in that position, rather than bouncing to try and increase the stretch. Go slowly and listen to your body. It will tell you when it's ready to go deeper. What you can do is start off a stretch in a comfortable position, hold it and then relax. Then go back to the same stretch and go a little deeper.

Hopefully this helps. One final piece of advice I will give is be patient. There will be days when you can't stretch as far or as deep, and this can be frustrating. Don't try and force it and over time your body will become more flexible.

 

[Kaan Hussein]

Hips are the most important part of the body to have flexible for kicking. Without any groin stretching, you can still kick heads with good hips.

My tip is to dynamically stretch (high kick the air) and try a deep static squat position. It really didn't take long for me to kick over my head height, and I still can't fully split.

I can kick just above my head and I'll definitely try your advice

 

[Touch Of Death]

I'm hoping your instructor gives you basic stretching exercises to do in class as part of your warmup, so just focus on those and do them every day. 5 minutes stretching every day will result in better flexibility than half an hour's stretching once a week. When you do any stretching at home, here are some key points to remember:

1. warm-up your body first. trying to stretch cold muscles can cause injuries. Think of your muscles like an elastic band. If you take an ice-cold elastic band and try to stretch it, it will quickly break. Take that same elastic band and gently warm it up and you can stretch it a lot further before it breaks. Your muscles are the same. So, jump up and down, run around a bit or just swing your legs and hips before you start stretching. Then in between each stretch, jump around a bit to stop your muscles from cooling down.

2. Breath into the stretch. A lot of people hold their breath while doing a difficult stretch as a natural result of the stress (and possible pain) they are putting their body in. This causes your body to tense up making it harder to stretch out properly. By doing deep breaths through the stretches your body will relax allowing you to stretch further for longer.

3. Don't hold a stretch for too long. Holding a stretch for too long can also result in injury. Going back to our rubber band, if you hold it at the maximum stretched position for a long time, even if you don't increase the stretch, it will break. instead, hold the stretch for 5-10 seconds and then let your muscles relax. If you want to keep stretching, stretch a different group of muscles while you wait for the others to recover.

4. Hold the stretch, but don't bounce it. When you are stretching you want to go to your comfortable limit (it should be uncomfortable but not painful) and hold it in that position, rather than bouncing to try and increase the stretch. Go slowly and listen to your body. It will tell you when it's ready to go deeper. What you can do is start off a stretch in a comfortable position, hold it and then relax. Then go back to the same stretch and go a little deeper.

Hopefully this helps. One final piece of advice I will give is be patient. There will be days when you can't stretch as far or as deep, and this can be frustrating. Don't try and force it and over time your body will become more flexible.

That's funny; I was taught that not stretching long enough, was worse than not stretching at all. LOL

 

[oftheherd1]

I think stretching is often art dependent. Whatever your teacher tells you to do is most likely the best starting point for your art. I also think it is person dependent. Try different things to find what works best for you. And of course, try not to injure yourself in the process.