Stretching

[MeDemitto]

I'm not terribly flexible; so lately I've been working on it. The past few weeks I've done some stretching about as far as I'm comfortable going, after my workouts each day. Sometimes I'll stretch my legs out in the hot-tub or after some time in the sauna, and I usually do a couple times holding it for 30 seconds. While I've noticed the stretches are easier to get into my fully stretched position but the "deepness" or length of the stretches isn't increasing at all.
At what point should I start to see development in this area?

note: I've since increased the time that I hold the stretch to about two minutes per stretch.

 

[MJS]

IMO, you'll get your best stretch when you're warmed up. As for how long it'll take to reach maximum results....every body will be different. Some people will be more flexible than others. Take your time, and over time, you'll gradually see results.

 

[BloodMoney]

Any good flexibility exercises anyone can recommend?

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Any good flexibility exercises anyone can recommend?

Yes. The usual ones, but do more of them.

Seriously, though. I find I become more flexible (and believe me, we're talking relatively here, I am not a flexible guy) the more time and effort I put into it. I also find that this is something that must be done constantly. As much as a person can get into good shape and not lose it overnight, if you stop stretching you lose a lot fast if you were not flexible to begin with.

If you are looking for serious flexibility, I am told that Yoga is good stuff. Looks very painful to me.

 

[dancingalone]

Many martial arts people seem to be moving to some version of the exercises described in Stretching Scientifically by Thomas Kurz. I have a copy of the book and think it is worth reading for those of us who learned to stretch the old traditional way with almost exclusively static stretches.

When I was going through physical therapy a few years ago for an injury, I brought up the book with my trainer. He had actually heard of the book and recommended it.

 

[bluewaveschool]

I have Bill Wallace's book on stretching and kicking, and the stretching portion is very detailed. I have tried yoga class, and need to do yoga on the wii fit more. yoga on the wii is actually pretty good, not as good as a class, but it's a one time investment vs paying out for classes. I tried pilates last night... it kicked my *** harder than any MA class ever. I hurt in core muscles I didn't know existed. I'll be back in the class next week for sure, it's held right before my TKD class and I could feel a difference when I taught.

 

[Gemini]

I also started with the book called Stretching Scientifically which has been popular for some years and I highly recommend it. It's a lot easier to do something correctly when you have a good understanding of what it is you're asking your body to do.
That said, while it provided valuable insight to the dynamics of stretching, I'm really more of a visual guy. I bought a stretching CD called Ultimate Flexibility: Stretching for Martial Arts put out buy a Master Sang H. Kim. It provides multiple levels of strectching and is pretty easy to find. I really enjoy it and it's proven very beneficial.

Regards,