Your diet and streching routine

[Dolev]

How important do you think these two are and whats your regiment if you have one?

Possibly, how important do you think flexibility is; in arts that aren't similar to Changquan

 

[malteaser14]

My diet is AWEFUL!!!! However, on the days I train at the club I make sure I eat sensibly so I have energy and concentration. Bad foods when training definately have negative effects!! I used to go to the chip shop then go training I would be lathargic, have no energy and not be able to push myself anywhere nears my ability, let alone my limits!! It also made me feel dizzy and sick!! there was a time when I was dieting correctly and I felt AMAZING! This is definately a HUGE factor.

You don't need to be flexible to win a street fight, but it's an advantage at competitions as well as your grading syllabus!

 

[Jenna]

My diet is AWEFUL!!!! However, on the days I train at the club I make sure I eat sensibly so I have energy and concentration. Bad foods when training definately have negative effects!! I used to go to the chip shop then go training I would be lathargic, have no energy and not be able to push myself anywhere nears my ability, let alone my limits!! It also made me feel dizzy and sick!! there was a time when I was dieting correctly and I felt AMAZING! This is definately a HUGE factor.

You don't need to be flexible to win a street fight, but it's an advantage at competitions as well as your grading syllabus!

If your awful diet is serving you so badly is it worth you think persevering with it can I ask?

 

[Cyriacus]

I eat what i like, and i stretch every couple of days.

 

[bluewaveschool]

I have started stretching while I watch tv with the wife. so 30-60 minutes a day. Legs are feeling better, back feeling great. Eat fairly healthy now, still need to work on that portion control deal now and then.

 

[ralphmcpherson]

flexibility is of great importance to me. When flexible I have no back problems, my recovery is better, I perform to a better standard and can push myself much harder with less ramifications. I try to stretch every day, but occasionally miss a day. Diet varies from person to person, I try to eat well but have periods where my diet is terrible, yet I feel little difference either way. I do a lot of long distance running and try to eat as well as I can during periods where Im running heaps because when burning that many calories its easy to eat a lot of easy foods to get the calories back in, its something I have to stay conscience of during these periods.

 

[Dolev]

I wasn't very flexible but every week or so i can see a large improvement in my splits. When i can bear the "pain", it really isn't it's just annoying, I also workout my upperbody.

My Diet is fine, except the fact that's 3 large portions, so i snack in between quite often. I try my best to snack on fruits and such but sometimes i just eat chocolate and poptarts or chocolate poptarts. I don't notice that big of a difference when I train since i never checked the two. I'm really energetic and have no problem going for my daily run then get a call from friends to play soccer.

As you get older it's more important, i guess?

 

[malteaser14]

If your awful diet is serving you so badly is it worth you think persevering with it can I ask?

Its changing for the better everyday! just hard to let go of certain bad habits, but it's better slowly getting there

 

[Dolev]

Its changing for the better everyday! just hard to let go of certain bad habits, but it's better slowly getting there

That's great! I hope you reach your goal of a healthy diet soon!

 

[Zenjael]

How important do you think these two are and whats your regiment if you have one?

Possibly, how important do you think flexibility is; in arts that aren't similar to Changquan

Ah incredibly important. But both subjects are so relational that you really need to tread with caution. What helps one grow may destroy with another.

Keep in mind with everything I say I am 22, 110-120 pounds, and 5'5". I may have another growth period in store, so with change of form, so many the function change as well. For now this is what I do;

I have trained across a fair number of styles, and the injuries I've seen most common seem to be most relational toward stretching which harms. The one where you tuck the leg behind, and have the other extended, I believe if done for longer than 5 seconds is the direct cause of most ACL tearings. I'm not entirely sure why, but in TKD that seems to be the most common non-striking related injury, and I've noticed it only occurring in schools which do that stretch. I do it... but because I'm wary of it, do it for half the time I do other stretches.

I follow a personal mantra of... "Stressing is good for it causes forced growth, while pain is destroying. If you subject yourself to destruction, how can you grow, which is the essence of improvement?"

In essence; I feel if you're feeling pain, you are working against what you are trying to achieve. Healing requires who knows how long, whereas stressing, discomfort, is a sign of incremental growth. The problem is no one is patient enough, and feel they gotta force it. Some kind of pissing contest with themself, or with others in their school.

I've seen stretching done for increments of half an hour, 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 1 minute, 30 seconds, 20 seconds (most common). I have long suspected that biology follows its formal function; I.E. our ancestors probably did not constantly work out in gathering food, but because were omnivores, and occasionally hunted, would probably end up exercising the limits of their bodies only a few times weekly. As is the case, while long work-outs are condusive, I've found 4-5 ten to fifteen minute workouts per day to be the best for me. I also practice breathing.

I think the most important stretch, and most underappreciated is known as the butterfly stretch. I can kick vertically with a front kick, I believe it to be because of this kick. I've certainly NEVER had a full front split. Which on the note of; I think the split is actually useful for one thing; posterity and show. Being as I can kick vertically, and lock my leg for pretty much as long as I want, I can tell you that the only time I've needed the ability of ease of splits was when visiting new or past schools, and I was forced to do a split passed my point of comfort.

I don't think diet is actually important unless you are actively ill or injured. I... eat way too much Mcdonalds, and I am very physically fit. I can also tell you though that I eat perhaps once a day, and no more than a few pounds of food at that. My parents worry haha, but I am very physically fit and can endure. I figure when I enlist and am given piss poor military food, and when I'm in the special forces (someday, if I hopefully qualify) it'll come in handy to have taught the body how to maximize its energy intake from food consumption when they're making me drink practically stagnant water.

People's physiology is both so similar, and so diverse, that I've come to reason that how we train, while in certain ways can be improved by intake, is largely a mental thing. The brain is both a computer and alchemist of sorts. It knows exactly what to release, and if it cannot do so, will inform you through a variety of means either why, and given you a sense of what is required. If your muscles are fatigued from use, your body lets you know through chemicals to rest. Likewise, when it comes to training, the brain is more than capable on its own to produce what's required to train with, with practically anything you consume. Ultimately energy is just energy to the body, and is why I can do 47 consecutive kicks with one leg, without fatigue, while having had 3 hours of sleep over 2 days, and eaten one grilled cheese sandwich.

It is mind over matter to a point, but I wouldn't worry about diet unless you have legitimate health problems, bad habits, or tendencies and susceptibility toward both. For example, if you had AIDS, I'd tell you to watch you diet damn close. Get sterilized food, etc. It's different for everyone. Just keep that in mind, while concerning yourself with yourself.

I also, preferably, sleep between 4.5-5 hours a night. I try to get two REM cycles in. The worst thing you can do is wake up in the middle of a REM cycle. Wrecks my day.

I stretch in the morning; the release of endorphins gives a morning high which I feel basing the rest of the day, and training period off to be beneficial.

My input; I hope that helps.

And yes, I really do this everyday.

 

[Marcy Shoberg]

After finding out that scientific studies on stretching can't seem to prove specific results from stretching (the only thing that seems pretty clear is that whatever type of stretching you do you get better at doing, but it doesn't clearly translate to any other improvements in any particular abilities) I kind of gave up stretching. But, I have to admit that I hear stories from people who say stretching makes a big difference to them and have no way to say they are wrong.

Diet, on the other hand is everything. I never would have believed how much changing my diet would change my life. I'm writing a book called "Earn your Black Belt in Choosing What to Eat" about things I've learned about controlling one's daily food.

The thing about diet is, you've got to try to figure out how to eat right for yourself, not just copy other people's diets. Some things are very clear, like sugar and most everything like it is bad, white flour products are bad, vegetables are good. Then, some things are kind of iffy, like whether meat works well for your body or not. Of the diet books that are already written, my favorite is the Warrior Diet by Ori Hofmeckler. sorry if I spelled his name wrong.

Finding a diet that works great for your personal body will change your life. Don't focus on weight loss. Focus on eating things nature designed you to eat. When you lose weight, but you eat a lot, and feel good all day long every day, I think is the point where you can decide you've got your body's diet figured out well enough.

 

[Cirdan]

I`d rather be flexible than inflexible... which is I`ll become more and more if I don`t stretch. I try to stretch regularly after class and when I go running.

My diet... is OK i guess but could be better. I certainly could eat more vegetables. Being Norwegian I love my milk and bread, I cut out soft drinks and fast food a long time ago (burgers taste great but will make me fat faster than you can blink). As for snacks, I can confess to being addicted to chocolate. Moderating the intake of those delicious chocolate bars is a constant battle