Stretching advise

[The_Awesome_User]

I am wanting to get full splits this year but I need a little advice. When I do the middle splits I have a hard time keeping my legs straight. For the front splits I set up a stack of pilows and put my leg on it then swich after about a minute. How often should i stretch? Do I need to warm up before every session or just once a day? How long should I stretch in one sitting? I have about a 100 degree split in both front in middle. How long will it take to get to at least 140 degree splits? Is it okay that I am still having growth spurts? I'm 15 in case you need to know.

 

[Dirty Dog]

You should stretch every day. Every day. Yes. Every day.
Stretching to increase flexibility (as opposed to warming up) should be done at the END of your workout. Cold muscles tear. Warm, relaxed muscles stretch.
Hold every stretch for at least 30 seconds. Longer is better.
How rapidly you progress is impossible to predict. It will depend on controllable factors such as how often you stretch, how well you warm up first, how long you hold each stretch, how correctly you do each stretch, etc, as well as uncontrollable factors related to differences in anatomy.

 

[IcemanSK]

Former kickboxing champion Bill Wallace has great stretching advise. In addition to still having ridiculously fast kicks in his late 60's, he does seminars all over the world. He has a masters degree in kinesiology. You can find someone on Youtube that will say "you can learn to the splits quickly." They're not wrong: but if you want to train for a lifetime without doing stupid damage to yourself, Bill has solid concepts here. There are 3 videos in this set on Youtube.

 

[Buka]

How often should i stretch? Do I need to warm up before every session or just once a day? How long should I stretch in one sitting? I have about a 100 degree split in both front in middle. How long will it take to get to at least 140 degree splits? Is it okay that I am still having growth spurts?

In the next five years, YOU are going to answer all these questions. I hope you tell us what you discover.

Keep on rocking, brother.

 

[The_Awesome_User]

Thanks I'll put this into practice

 

[sinthetik_mistik]

I wanted to learn the same thing as far as doing splits goes. My instructor told me the best thing to do is butterflies. Basically, sitting down and putting the bottoms of your feet together, and then pushing down on your knees with your arms until they can go as low as possible and then holding it for as long as you can (not too long though) and for all stretches exercise caution because if you are not careful you could hurt yourself

 

[Drakanyst]

The above posts are great for learning how to stretch. When I learned I would personally do warmups, then stretching, my workout, and THEN major flexibility stretch work. The longer you hold a position the better. It is okay to have only a 95 degree split stretch /as long as your legs are straight/. Start spreading a little bit more each time. Do NOT bounce back and forth trying to work into a stretch.

Good luck! If you keep practicing consitently you'll have this in no time for sure. Be sure to post a pic when you do.

 

[Gwai Lo Dan]

I wanted to learn the same thing as far as doing splits goes. My instructor told me the best thing to do is butterflies.

Personally I have found LITTLE correlation between side splits and butterfly. I am pretty good at side stretch, but not good at butterfly. I think butterfly hits more of the front of the hip, whereas the side stretch / split is more of the inside. So I think there is maybe a 60-80 degree difference in the muscles being targeted.

 

[dcj0524]

The butterfly stretch is good for the middle split.

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[Gwai Lo Dan]

The butterfly stretch is good for the middle split.

That reminds of the Chinese Olympic cycling team who initially didn't have bikes as the sponsor deal was getting lined up. So the coach reasoned that running up hills with a backpack of rocks was similar to cycling and good training for cycling. The coach later said that in the end, running up hills with backpacks of rocks didn't make great cyclists, it made athletes great at running up hills with backpacks of rocks.

Personally I have found the 2 stretches to be quite different; perhaps you have found otherwise for you in your training.

 

[sinthetik_mistik]

Personally I have found LITTLE correlation between side splits and butterfly. I am pretty good at side stretch, but not good at butterfly. I think butterfly hits more of the front of the hip, whereas the side stretch / split is more of the inside. So I think there is maybe a 60-80 degree difference in the muscles being targeted.

becoming flexible has been a challenge for me. I'm not getting any younger, and whenever i do a lot of flexibility exercises that involve hips, my hips get super sore and i can't hardly stretch for a few weeks until the pain goes away. and also i am planning on getting into weight lifting and my instructor told me to always stretch while weight lifting because if you gain a lot of muscle mass without stretching it will decrease your flexibility

 

[sinthetik_mistik]

That reminds of the Chinese Olympic cycling team who initially didn't have bikes as the sponsor deal was getting lined up. So the coach reasoned that running up hills with a backpack of rocks was similar to cycling and good training for cycling. The coach later said that in the end, running up hills with backpacks of rocks didn't make great cyclists, it made athletes great at running up hills with backpacks of rocks.

Personally I have found the 2 stretches to be quite different; perhaps you have found otherwise for you in your training.

as far as lifting your leg to the side goes, i thought an obvious stretch would be doing a split as low as you can go and holding it for 30 seconds... but my instructor told me doing butterflies is even more important than doing splits, (i will say that he has said things i disagree with before... but overall his knowledge exceeds mine to a great degree) what i don't know how to avoid is hip muscle soreness, it comes and goes... sometimes i have to discontinue certain stretches because my hip is in too much pain

 

[Gwai Lo Dan]

my instructor told me doing butterflies is even more important than doing splits

I think butterflies are great for hip mobility, which I think comes into play with some spinning kicks as angles change during the kick. Also, I would guess you need to be able to do a good butterfly stretch to do a good twist kick....I can't do a twist kick and I am guessing that my lack of hop mobility is why.

 

[sinthetik_mistik]

I think butterflies are great for hip mobility, which I think comes into play with some spinning kicks as angles change during the kick. Also, I would guess you need to be able to do a good butterfly stretch to do a good twist kick....I can't do a twist kick and I am guessing that my lack of hop mobility is why.

 

[sinthetik_mistik]

yeah i have trouble doing a lot of kicks also, like i'm pretty decent at doing a front kick or a roundhouse, as far as the snap, speed and power goes, but i can't raise my legs as high as i'd like to, in TKD flexibility is so important... it's like the ballet of martial arts. there are tons of different stretches and i've been slacking off lately i need to keep up with them