Taekwondo and poor flexibility

Gamefreak501 · 17 Aug 2012 at 08:53

Hi everyone,

After 3-4 years of on and off weight lifting (and 1-2 years of consistent lifting) I think my lack of proper stretching has come to a head and I'm not quite sure where to go from here.

I've had 5 taekwondo sessions so far and I can't kick very high or very straight, and I could use some advise on how to get flexible.

I don't suffer from lower back pain or trunk pain, but perhaps this will be more likely to occur if I carry on neglecting my stretching.

So I am wondering - is it now time to look at foam roll programs? Should I pack in weight lifting at least for now and focus on something like Yoga and Pilates?

Just a bit clueless really. Anyone else had similar problems and how did you overcome them?

Thanks,

David

welshdragon · 17 Aug 2012 at 09:42

I used to do Taekwondo and there's no easy answer really. Pilates and Yoga will definately help but where I trained we used to do a lot of specific stretching during the warm up and throughout the class in pairs aswell as individually.

If I remember rightly it focuses a lot on hamstring streches, abducter muscles and hip flexibility.

Do they do this in your class?

I don't think you need to pack the weights in but a good regular stretching programme will benefit both the Taekwondo and your everyday excercise.

ChroniC · 17 Aug 2012 at 09:44

When I did Taekwondo about 10 years ago, admittedly I was twenty but not flexible. Every night I would touch my toes for about 5-10 minutes.
Make sure you don't bounce as this is bad for ligaments. Then after this progress into doing the splits and just holding your weight as low as you can.
Eventually you'll start getting lower and lower.

I also used to when I had nothing to do or was waiting about would lift one leg onto a chair or something like a work surface, anything progressively higher and higher, and then push the other leg out as far as I could.

Another good stretch is do a can can style goose step, throwing your leg as high as you can get it.

Thing is this wont be an over night thing, its going to take months and months.

Gamefreak501 · 17 Aug 2012 at 15:07

Many thanks for your replies welshdragon and ChroniC,

We did one exercise where we would sit with our legs against each others and push, but we haven't done that in a while. (this was painful!)

Our usual sessions consist of jogging round the gym for 5 mins, doing 10 pressups, 5 more mins of jogging, doing squat lunges and a last bit of jogging before doing our own stretching and then kicking and punching routines.

I am going to add a daily program consisting of a 5 minute stretch in the mornings and evenings, focusing on my legs and back for the moment.

I had a go today and I can lay my hands flat on the floor; if my stance is wide enough and I can keep my leg straight on a work surface up to my knee level, so there might just be some hope yet for me!

Hopefully if I maintain this, combined with forcing messages to my nervous system, with the taekwondo, I will eventually be more flexible. I can't expect results straight away though and I don't want to injure myself!

Just a gradual increase in the height of the chairs/worksurfaces I think will be in order and I don't want to pack in my climbing or my weight lifting.

Thanks again,

David

geuben · 17 Aug 2012 at 15:14

When I used to do kickboxing the first half an hour or so of the class was warm ups which involved a lot of exercises designed to increase flexibility. Before I started I could get no where near touching the floor when stood with straight legs, that soon changed. I can't get anywhere near again now though

.

Some things we used to do were:

1. Sit on the floor, half cross legged, ie one leg out straight infront the other bent inward. Reach down and grasp your extended leg as far down as possible. Try and get your forehead to touch your knee. Get someone to lean on your back to help.

2. As 1 but stood up, one leg straight slightly in front. the other bent slightly behind. Try and touch knee with head.

3. Stand back against the wall, have someone help you stretch your leg up as far as you can. Some guys could touch the wall above their heads with no assistance.

Mat · 17 Aug 2012 at 15:44

Have a read through this:

http://www.bradapp.com/docs/rec/stretching/

I'm currently training for my 4th degree and stretching is every part as important as anything else. It's something I have stupidly neglected over the past few years but I tend to spend at least 30 minutes stretching pretty much every other day now.

icecold · 17 Aug 2012 at 15:54

Check out the mobility thread.

FeFiDoh · 17 Aug 2012 at 15:56

Nice thread. I do a bit of K1 and Muay Thai and have awful flexibility. Can't kick much higher than the ribs/mid section which kinda sucks. I should try and do more in my spare time.
To those who spend time doing it at home, don't you need to warm up first? Surely stretching for quite a long period and trying to increase it with cold muscles = a no no

Mat · 17 Aug 2012 at 16:04

Personally I stretch from cold all the time without problems, have done for years.

Your typical gym instructor, talking to someone off the street might say it's a no-no but an ability to perform from cold is advantageous for those who's martial art involves a lot of kicking. But that's just my opinion.