Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The Importance of an Effective Martial Arts Stretching Routine

By Donald Borah

You need a lot of flexibility if you are going to easily be able to effectively and powerfully perform the moves in any type of martial arts that require extended range of motion. If you want to be skillful in any martial arts style, you need to have flexibility, focus, and strength.

Designing a well balanced martial arts stretching routine is essential to making rapid progress in any martial art. Create programs which combine light stretching workouts in the morning, light stretching in the evening with more intense main workouts during alternate days. This type of focused, intense martial arts stretching training is not easy. But it can increase your flexibility in one half to one quarter the time of a less aggressive program. When your body reaches a certain degree of flexibility, the schedule of the routine will seem easier.

When deciding what flexibility stretches to do during your morning and evening stretching workouts, you need to include active stretches, as well as methods that will loosen your muscles and joints. You do not have time to incorporate strenuous passive stretching, isometric stretching, or PNF stretches. Due to the fact that stretching on a full stomach is not good, you need to perform your morning flexibility stretches prior to breakfast. You need to have your blood supply either concentrating on digesting your breakfast or focusing on your physical activity. It is not beneficial if it has to do both at the same time. With this in mind, you need to do your evening stretching workout at least an hour after you have eaten your evening meal. However, it also has to occur at least an hour prior to going to bed. You need to do your morning and evening stretching workouts six days a week. Be sure that each workout is short, only lasting 15-30 minutes.

Your main martial arts stretching routine should be a more intense workout which is completer no more than two to four times weekly. It is important to provide the body with enough time to fully recuperate between stretching workouts. Always begin with a general warm-up including some cardiovascular elements and simple dynamic stretching. Increase the intensity gradually as your muscles loosen and warm. Progress to a section which is designed to closely mimic the movements of your particular style of martial art. Continue with the primary portion of your martial arts stretching routine by utilizing modern stretching methods like isometric, PNF and relaxed stretching techniques. Follow with a cool down period during which only static forms of flexibility stretches and less strenuous forms are used.

Your level of proficiency and experience will set the level and length of your martial arts stretching workout. Apportion your time between your warm up, main routing and cool down accordingly. Those new to the routines should start slowly with longer warm ups and cool downs. Those who have already achieved a greater level of flexibility and have more experience can devote more time to their main routine. Students who are more advanced may require only a short, rounded workout to maintain their flexibility. Depending on the sport or art you are practicing you will want to enhance your workout with the exercises that build the necessary range of motion.

Concentrate on more generic moves while you are a beginner. More advanced and intermediate students may focus on more accelerated flexibility stretches and techniques including isometrics, PNF and relaxed stretching methods which target specific muscle groups relied upon by their particular style of art.

Martial arts that utilize high kicks require more of a focus on stretching that addresses the legs and hips, where grappling practitioners need to improve the flexibility of their upper body and torso.

By designing your martial arts stretching routing according to your experience level and your sport or art and keeping to your planned schedule, you will reach your flexibility goals faster than you would have thought.

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