Tips on increasing flexibility?

[Kenlee25]

I've done Taekwondo for 11 years now, and though I'm easily more flexible than most people, I want to push it too the next level. I don't need it for any competitions or anything, in fact I don't even use that many high kicks, but It's something I want to develop to loosen myself up and hopefully help me on later in life as age starts to take it's effect. I don't want to get to the point like the 63 year old man in our class who can barely lift his leg up to my ribs when kicking. That may be an impossibility, but I still want to try.

Any tips on increasing flexibility for the long term besides just the usual stretches done in class?

 

[Dirty Dog]

Stretches, stretches and more stretches. The more flexible you are, and the more core strength you have, the easier high kicks get. Watch some clips of Bill Wallace sometime. He can put a roundhouse upside your head without his torso moving at all.

 

[ACJ]

Besides the stretches you are doing, you should also consider resistance exercises. Strength and flexibility have a lot of overlap and having both will result in positive feedback in each other.
Doing resistance exercises through a full range of motion with correct technique is a great way to build flexibility, as some instances of flexibility can be consider strength in an extreme range of motion.
As your aim is the ability to maintain mobility, you need to not only increase mobility in your joints, but increase stability as well, another thing resistance exercises do well.

For kicking I'd recommend 5 of the movement patterns: squat, lunge, gait, bend and twist.

Squats are obviously the main exercise for the squat pattern, which you can advance to a weighted squat and/or a variety of progressions to pistol squats.
Split squats or lunges match the lunge movement pattern well. And you can advance the split squat again with weight or by raising the rear leg onto an elevated surface (This is particularly good for knee stability and hip flexibility).
Step-ups are a common example of the gait movement pattern.
Bend comes in a variety of core exercises, and you should try a large number of them, but having someone teach you the correct form for dead-lifts and straight legged dead-lifts is fantastic for the health of you back and in turn will directly translate to mobility. You should also try hanging leg raises as the reverses of the dead-lift.
Twist is again found in a lot of core exercises.

The other 2 movement patterns are push and pull, and will help with upper body mobility and stability.

Push comes in 2 varieties: horizontal, which includes actions like bench press and push-ups; and vertical like shoulder press and handstand push-ups.
Pull also comes in the same 2 varieties: horizontal examples are modified pull-ups and bent over rows; vertical are chin/pull-ups and lat pull down.

For an even greater flexibility gain, you can try isometric contractions, commonly used for increasing split range:
From a splits position (either front or side; doesn't matter) go as deep as you can into the stretch, then contract you muscles, particularly the ones that feel stretched in this position. Imagine you are trying to bring your legs together so you are standing straight up. After a short contraction (~about 8-10 seconds), relax and go lower into the stretch, do this until you can not go any lower, at this point hold a contraction for up to 3 minutes. Rest and repeat.

Be warned this is a resistance exercise despite it being isometric, and as such it requires the same rest period other resistance exercises require, and it is also quite tough and tiring once done properly.
Once you start to plateau with this exercise you can begin adding weight.

A final note: studies have shown that barring any unfortunate medical mishaps, you can continue to gain in strength and flexibility for nearly your entire life, it just gets harder to progress as we age.
So if you stick at it smartly, you can be stronger and more flexible at 63 than have ever been.

 

[puunui]

Any tips on increasing flexibility for the long term besides just the usual stretches done in class?

Go visit dance studios and see what they do to increase flexibility. Also, consider studying yoga.

 

[Cyriacus]

Strength is just as important as Flexibility.
That said, I know a fair few folks who sing the praises of Yoga.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Strength is just as important as Flexibility.
That said, I know a fair few folks who sing the praises of Yoga.

I think it could be said that flexibility determines how high you can kick. Strength (especially of the lifting muscles) determines how high you can kick HARD.

 

[Cyriacus]

I think it could be said that flexibility determines how high you can kick. Strength (especially of the lifting muscles) determines how high you can kick HARD.

Not just that - Two things. One is, Ive seen that folks who care about Flexibility who also have Strength, gain flexibility easier. Ill leave it to someone more qualified to confirm or deny if thats the case, or if thats just a matter of the type of people who have Muscular Strength being harder working at things like flexibility. Secondly, personally I find that stronger muscles reduces the chance of injury. Though that could also just be Myself. As a third, albeit im kinda skeptical of this, one person i know can do high kicks, having never done any flexibility training ever. Plenty of strength work, though.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Poorly worded....
What I meant was that if you're flexible, you can fling your leg and momentum will let you kick high, and even kick high with good form. But it'll have no power. If you're strong without flexibility, you can kick hard, but not very high. It's only by combining flexibility (and certainly there are people who are just inherently more flexible than others) and strength that you will be able to kick high with power.

 

[Cyriacus]

Poorly worded....
What I meant was that if you're flexible, you can fling your leg and momentum will let you kick high, and even kick high with good form. But it'll have no power. If you're strong without flexibility, you can kick hard, but not very high. It's only by combining flexibility (and certainly there are people who are just inherently more flexible than others) and strength that you will be able to kick high with power.

Ah. That makes a bit more contextual sense

 

[Earl Weiss]

Searcjh PNF stretching - Don't overdo it.

 

[ACJ]

Poorly worded....
What I meant was that if you're flexible, you can fling your leg and momentum will let you kick high, and even kick high with good form. But it'll have no power. If you're strong without flexibility, you can kick hard, but not very high. It's only by combining flexibility (and certainly there are people who are just inherently more flexible than others) and strength that you will be able to kick high with power.

it's more than that though. Strength and flexibility actually have a very strong correlation between each other, and people who train strength will find it easier to gain flexibility; and training flexibility will help you make strength gains.

This has to do with the ability of the muscle to move from a semi-contracted state to a fully contracted state (or closer anyway). That is to say more fibres being recruited as you can't have a half contracted muscle fibre.

Also training strength without "stretching" (used in the sense of static stretching or even pnf) can still vastly improve flexibility as long as a full range of motion is either achieved or worked towards; and proper form is kept.

Some people, particularly older adults, will struggle with their ability to kick high regardless of their stretching routine. But what they would actually benefit from is a properly designed resistance program.

 

[Kenlee25]

Don't worry guys, I've got strength take care of I think. I work out pretty much every other day, and I go for tone more than bulk.

My current work out:

2 sets of 15 chin ups ( I am 130 pounds )
2 sets of 30 dumbbell squats ( 8 pounds each hand )
2 sets of 20 push ups
3 sets of 12 cross body crunches
2 sets of standing dumbbell calf raises ( one 16 pounder )
1 set of 30 scissor kicks
2 sets of 45 hammer curls ( 8 pounds )
approximately 50 torso twists
30 dumbbell triceps extensions ( 16 pounds )

That takes me 45 minutes to an hour to do. I don't really have time for yoga currently. So I guess it's just time to do all manner of stretches.

 

[ACJ]

It seems to me that a lot of your rep ranges are a bit high for "tone" which is usually regarded as a your muscles being in a naturally more contractile state, usually which means training neuromuscular (strength; ~1-6 reps) and a mix of neuromuscular and physiological (hypertrophy; ~7-15 reps) rather than purely physiological (endurance; ~15+ reps).
When most people say tone they often mean what we call definition, which is basically tone with a lower body fat.
Apologies if you know what you're doing and this is just a change up engineered by you to overcome a plateau or target something specific, but that's just my advice as someone who is regularly writing exercise prescriptions for others.

If you were looking to change your routine for one that promoted kicking flexibility I would recommend:
Making sure your squats are ATG and upping the weight to about ~3-10 reps
Putting in some Bulgarian split squats
Deadlifts!
Hanging Leg Raises

Again, without knowing where you're at exactly and knowing what you want to achieve, these are my ideas.

 

[Kenlee25]

It seems to me that a lot of your rep ranges are a bit high for "tone" which is usually regarded as a your muscles being in a naturally more contractile state, usually which means training neuromuscular (strength; ~1-6 reps) and a mix of neuromuscular and physiological (hypertrophy; ~7-15 reps) rather than purely physiological (endurance; ~15+ reps).
When most people say tone they often mean what we call definition, which is basically tone with a lower body fat.
Apologies if you know what you're doing and this is just a change up engineered by you to overcome a plateau or target something specific, but that's just my advice as someone who is regularly writing exercise prescriptions for others.

If you were looking to change your routine for one that promoted kicking flexibility I would recommend:
Making sure your squats are ATG and upping the weight to about ~3-10 reps
Putting in some Bulgarian split squats
Deadlifts!
Hanging Leg Raises

Again, without knowing where you're at exactly and knowing what you want to achieve, these are my ideas.

I've read a lot of stuff about exorcise, and each points towards using a high amount of reps and low weights for not bulking. From what I have read, you are supposed to go until right before muscle fatigue ( they give out ) so as not to be super soar int he morning, therefore allowing you to do more over all. I'm currently 130 pounds according to the doctor, 5'7 inches and a pretty skinny fellow. I'm the kind of guy who is naturally skinny with a high metabolism. I've seen pictures of "bulky" men and "toned" men, and I look more like the toned ones, with muscles that look asthetically pleasing and functional while still maintaining my skinny form ( I've only added maybe 5 -7 pounds of muscle in the year since I've been working out ). I havn't lost any speed either, I've only gained speed and endurance.

Maybe my workout is wrong like you say, but i'm definately not bulking. So I guess I'm a wierd hybrid in the middle.

By the way, this is a home workout. I don't currently have access to a gym near me. I only have access to a chin up bar and 2 8 pound dumbbells that I can combine into 1 16 pound dumbbell. I try to make due.

 

[puunui]

I've read a lot of stuff about exorcise, and each points towards using a high amount of reps and low weights for not bulking. From what I have read, you are supposed to go until right before muscle fatigue ( they give out ) so as not to be super soar int he morning, therefore allowing you to do more over all. I'm currently 130 pounds according to the doctor, 5'7 inches and a pretty skinny fellow. I'm the kind of guy who is naturally skinny with a high metabolism. I've seen pictures of "bulky" men and "toned" men, and I look more like the toned ones, with muscles that look asthetically pleasing and functional while still maintaining my skinny form ( I've only added maybe 5 -7 pounds of muscle in the year since I've been working out ). I havn't lost any speed either, I've only gained speed and endurance.

I think it is the other way around if your goal is to build explosive speed in your movement, higher weight and lower reps. What you are doing is probably enhancing your slow twitch muscles, not the fast twitch ones.

 

[ACJ]

Maybe my workout is wrong like you say, but i'm definately not bulking.

Not wrong, I just think you could achieve more. There are so many variables and unknowns when it comes to exercise, it's still not the most exact science, so the number one advice I give people is to track their progress. If something is working, then it works. And if it doesn't it may not work at the moment or at all. Pretty simple really. So if you are getting good results, stick with it.

The main difference between bulking and not is your diet and drugs. I am assuming you aren't taking steroids or the like, so you won't bulk from that, but the main bulking that will happen is training in the hypertrophy range and eating in a positive calorie balance and getting lots of good protein at key times. If you hit the hypertrophy range and stay in a maintenance diet or calorie deficit, you will almost certainly not bulk. A lot of people struggle to bulk, so it is hard to do by accident.

The stuff about low weight high reps comes from a myth commonly told to women who are worried about becoming too masculine by bulking (this would be almost impossible for them to achieve without drugs). High reps low weight will let you build muscular endurance and little else. It has very little effect on the appearance of the muscle in my experience.

By the way, this is a home workout. I don't currently have access to a gym near me. I only have access to a chin up bar and 2 8 pound dumbbells that I can combine into 1 16 pound dumbbell. I try to make due.

Ah, that can make it a bit harder. Dumbbells are a pretty bad piece of equipment compared to everything else available IMO, especially fixed ones. I would say rather than focusing on doing more and more reps with you dumbbells, you should consider progressively harder bodyweight exercises. There is such a range that you will never really find yourself without an appropriate exercise.
So my recommendations of Bulgarian split squats and Hanging leg raises are still possible with that equipment, but I'd still suggest you do a couple sets of ATG squats if you aren't already doing you squats like this.
As for a replacement for the deadlift, it really isn't a comparison but you could do an bench back extension through a nice large range of movement.

 

[Kenlee25]

Thank you sir for the input. In college I'll definitely try to start hitting the machines and barbells, so that's only about 4 or 5 months away now. For now, I guess I'll stick with what I'm doing.

is this a myth? I've read also that a workout will yield results as long as it can fatigue you ( you don't have to be tottaly burning ) within 90 seconds. The reason many of my reps are so high is because I generally don't feel fatigue until about the 20th one. For example, with the hammer curls, around 20 I start getting tired and around 30 is when I need a break. I take 15-30 seconds then come back and complete the last 15. I count that as one rep because I work out in a circuit, so as not to waste time or hit the same muscle group twice within the same few minutes, giving them rest.

However, what you said about the low weight high reps thing seems wrong, but this is based solely on my own body experience. I'm the type that if I have my shirt on, the only thing some people will notice about me are my arms ( which I have gotten compliments on ) but take off the shirt and all of the suddenly people pay attention. I'm no model and probably never will be, but It looks good enough that I'm not afraid at all to take my shirt off in public ( not that I ever do ) even though I am a pretty small guy.

But like you said, no exact science. I'll keep changing things up to see what works the best, and I'll definitely look into what you suggested. Thank you.

 

[sopraisso]

Hey, I have to bookmark for this thread! It's full of good tips!

 

[Earl Weiss]

AFAIAC you are doing lots of stuff wrong.

For stretching, do a search on PNF stretching. It will build strength as it increases flexibility in those areas. Do this AFTER - not before training since if you do it right your muscles will be fatigued whcih will lead to injury.

For explosive speed check out Plyometric exercises. These are stressful on the body due to the impact nature. Don't overdue it.

For overall strength. Your sets should not exceed 10 reps. If you are not going to failure at the 10-12th rep, you are wasting your time. Ad more weight. A simple way to do this with free weights is get a dozen or so very small plates. 1-1/4lb. If you can do more than 12 reps ad 2 plates to the dumbell / barbell. USe that until you have increased your strength to do 12 of those then ad more.

3 sets minimum each exercise.

 

[puunui]

For stretching, do a search on PNF stretching. It will build strength as it increases flexibility in those areas. Do this AFTER - not before training since if you do it right your muscles will be fatigued whcih will lead to injury.

Is PNF the method advocated by Mr. Thomas Kurz?