hey everyone, i have a question. what are some good stretches/workouts i can do to improve the strength and flexibility in my ball kicks, side kicks, and roundhouses? also some good stretches and techniques so i can jump higher and have more flexibility/power in the knees. any help would be grateful! thx!!
Ball Kicks, Side Kicks, Round houses, knees
- Thread starter manjiman
- Start date
Try doing lunges and squats for strength. They help build power in your kicks. Also doing lunges as a form of stretching can do wonders. I try to focus my leg stretching on the type of kicks I use, so I concentrate on hamstring, groin and front split type stretches. These stretch the muscles involved in all muay thai kicks. As for building jumping power, try doing squat jumps or box jumps with and without weight (light weights). If you can, look through a book called Ultimate Flexibility for Martial Arts, most book stores have it and it has tons of stretching routines in it.
Slihn
Purple Belt
Thai Style made some really good points but another method that helps build strength and flexibility in your kicks is by shadow boxing(I guess shadow kicking in your case).It works great because it also is relativity easy on the joints (if done correctly) , builds strenght,flexibilty,footwork and agility all in one package;it also helps out your cardio and holds less risk of over stretching since it is active as oppose to static conditioning.
Excellent advice Slihn. Shadow boxing helps tremendously. I remember a young student I once trained with, he would shadow box/kick with ankle weights on. It really helped him to build power and speed in his kicks.
