Just starting any tips for stretching?

[foreverwhitebelt]

I used to do Japanese Karate but I moved in late July and there aren't any karate dojo's in the area. I've looked around and I decided out of what was available I would really like to learn Taekwondo. I really like that the stances aren't super low and it has a lot more kicks. Where I live the dojang I want to go to only takes in new students during certain times of teh month so I won't be able to go for another couple of weeks.

I already have pretty good flexibility for a guy- when I do the splits I'm about six inches from the floor and that's pretty much my natural flexibility. But I know Taekwondo has a lot of high kicks (where my old karate style didn't) and wanted to get better flexibility.

Over the last week I've been doing stretches like the splits, chinese splits, reaching for the toes .etc and holding them for 3 sets of 30 seconds each. But for the last couple of days it feels like my tendons are really stretched/tight and it's hard to keep up this stretching routine. Am I doing too much?

Does anyone practice stretching outside of class and if you do what do think I should do?

[Rateh]

First question, are you warm when you stretch? By that I mean have you warmed up your muscles before stretching. Generally this means doing a bit of cardio first. Think of your body like silly putty. When its warm it can stretch easily, but when its cold it is more difficult and can snap instead of stretch. (a bit of a dramatic example, but you get the idea)

Second question, how hard are you stretching? You should never force a stretch. I tell my students to stretch till they can feel it, but if it hurts they have gone too far.

Third, as far as regular stretching, there is actually a set of stretches called "the daily dozen". It is often used in taekwondo. These stretches would be easy to find on any search engine.

[foreverwhitebelt]

Actually the night before it started happening I was running kind of late so I did my stretches without warming up first That's probably the reason why.

But thanks for telling me about the daily dozen I found it on google.

[DWx]

I wouldn't be overly worried about flexibility now. When you start the classes you'll get shown stretches to do and will most likely spend time in class doing them. Also no-ones going to expect you to kick high straight away, that'll come with time and practice.

You can still stretch a little every day if you want though and Rateh's advice is good.

[tufrthanu]

Most important stretching you can do is on your hamstrings. Only split you really need is the front split. If you feel pressure on your tendons rather than the muscles you need to bend the leg then lean further over and restraighten the leg. This will put the pressure back on the muscle.

[jasonc779]

I'd recommend looking at Bob Cooley's method of resistance stretching. His book is called Genius of Flexibility. Got it on Amazon for $15.