# Kick stretching in the morning?



## Corporal Hicks (Sep 14, 2004)

Hi there,
In the morning I feel that my legs are stiff and that my movement is limited which is probably usual when you get out of bed but what I was wondering was, if you just get out of a warm bath can you do some slow kicks and not have the risk of damaging the leg as well as not doing a warm up.
For example say if i get up, do pressups and situps, then get in the bath, then get out (within say 15 minutes) and then using banister support from the stairs to hold on to I do some slow side kicks, say 30 each leg making sure I stretch the muscle, and doing 20 turning kicks each leg slowly as well making sure I'm strectching the muscles, would this be counter productive? Should I do a proper warm up before doing this? (Not that I have the space to!) Or should I do some different stretches?

Regards


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## lvwhitebir (Sep 14, 2004)

This should be ok to do, just pay attention to your limits and work slowly.  Thomas Kurz, author of Stretching Scientifically, says that this is what he does every morning to maintain his kicking height and recommends it for others.

WhiteBirch


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## TigerWoman (Sep 14, 2004)

Kicking even slow kicks shouldn't hurt after a bath.  But warming up the muscles that way would "relax" them when what you really want them to do is tense and work.  It sounds counterproductive.  You either workout and once the muscle naturally relaxes after workout, stretch.  But don't relax then workout.  I think Kurtz meant the warm bath to be able to be relaxed enough to stretch without the workout.  I can't find my book though. TW


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## Han-Mi (Sep 15, 2004)

I would just add some basic stretches to it, but it is a good warm up, probably makes your day easier.


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## lvwhitebir (Sep 15, 2004)

Sorry, I never meant to imply that the bath was considered a warm-up.  I just thought it was part of the OP's morning routine.  Baths are not good enough to warm-up the body, they don't provide heat deep enough into the muscle and do nothing to get the heart pumping and lungs working.  The extra flexibility you get from a bath is probably just the relaxation of the muscle.

Kurz mentions in the book the usefulness of doing Dynamic Stretches in the morning to kick-start your flexibility for the day.  They can be considered part of your warmup routine in general.  He doesn't believe in Static Stretches because they relax you and as such don't prepare you for your workout; he believes Static Stretches are best done after the workout, as part of your cooldown routine.

So, I would do Dynamic Stretching in the morning (e.g., side leg raises), and as part of my warm-up for my workout later in the day.  I would do Static Stretches (e.g., seated stretches) as part of my cooldown after my workout and maybe before bed.

WhiteBirch


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