From: mary@Cayman.COM (Mary Malmros)
Newsgroups: rec.martial-arts
Subject: Re: *********************** Help with flexibility ****************
Date: 6 Sep 92 23:06:56 GMT
Organization: Cayman Systems Inc., Cambridge, MA
In-reply-to: cholette@JSP.UMontreal.CA's message of 5 Sep 92 04:13:38 GMT


In article <1992Sep5.041338.23455@cc.umontreal.ca> cholette@JSP.UMontreal.CA (Cholette Martin) writes:

    Hello, I have been training in the martial arts ( Karate ) for several years
    now and I still have a problem with my flexibility. When I train several
    times in a week, my muscles become stiff and sore due to overstretching I
    guess. I stretch every time I train , before training. I would like to know
    what is the best way to stretch to attain maximum flexibility? Is it 
    every day, every second day?  Do I pull hard for a short while or do I
    pull soft for a long time ? When my muscles hurt, do I stretch them or do
    I wait for several days for the pain to dissappear before I stretch again?
    This is frustrating, after so many years, my muscles still stiffen after
    heavy stretching. I am 22 years old if this is a factor in it.

    I would appreciate any help with this problem, also can you point out
    the right professional to see for this ie: M.D. or P.T. or O.T. ???


Try this for a couple of weeks and see if things are any better:

1.  Don't stretch a lot before training.  Instead use that time to 
    warm up.  Do some light jogging in place, jump rope, practice 
    techniques or run through kata at slow speed, low power, and 
    without trying for full extension.

2.  Stretch immediately after training.

3.  Do it every time you train, without fail.  This will eliminate a lot
    of next-day stiffness.  If you still have significant next-day stiffness,
    you probably either overtrained or overstretched (see below).

4.  Stretch until you can feel the stretch, but not to the point where
    it's painful.  It's my impression that many martial artists have pretty
    high pain thresholds and tolerance for discomfort, and so if you are 
    stretching to the point of feeling pain, you're probably stretching
    too much.  Also, don't bounce in an effort to get more of a stretch.

5.  Try to isolate a muscle or small group of muscles for stretching.  
    Big movements, like bending at the waist to stretch, can work several
    groups of muscles at once, and that sounds like a big timesaver.  In
    practice, however, it has the disadvantage of mostly stretching those
    muscles that are already stretchy, and allowing them to compensate for
    the less-stretchy muscles, which never really get worked.  For example,
    I can bend at the waist and touch my face to my knees, which sounds like
    pretty good flexibility, but the flexibility is almost all in my 
    hamstrings.  My calf muscles and their tendons are really very stiff, 
    so if I bend at the waist, I am mostly stretching an already stretchy
    muscle (my hamstrings) and not working on the one that really needs
    the work (my calf muscles).

I got a lot of good advice on stretching from one of the instructors
at the dojang.  He also recommended a massage therapist, who could
tell me a lot about my flexibility after one session.  She recommended
some stretching exercises and told me a lot about the importance of 
good form in stretching.  I would think that any good massage therapist
would be able to do this.  I also like Solveborn's "The Book About 
Stretching."



--
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 Mary Malmros     | Cayman Systems Inc, 26 Landsdowne St, Cambridge, MA 02139
 mary@cayman.com  | Phone 617-494-1999  Fax 617-494-5167  AppleLink CAYMAN.TECH
Newsgroups: rec.martial-arts