Daily Flexibility Routine

[ShotokanKid]

Hey guys, I'm looking to regain overall flexibility (pretty general, I know).

I think I'd want to put about 10-15 minutes/day (after a hot shower, right before I go to bed). What do you consider a good routine/what are the must-do stretches that get the important muscles?

[Jay]

If you have some sort of goal then we may be able to help better. Do you want increased kick height, be able to do the splits, better hip mobility or hamstrong mobility.

The reason I say this is because its easier to stick to a program where you can measure your progress other than stretching for no reason.

[ShotokanKid]

I recognize it's a very vague statement to say "regain overall flexibility."

Ultimately, I'd say the goal is to stay loose.

How about this:

What is the best stretch for each muscle group that is commonly used?

I would say that I want to stretch my triceps, shoulders, back, abs, groin, hamstrings, calves, quads.

Any muscles that I'm missing?

[Jay]

Well if you just want some stretches the check out trickstutorials. It has most of the stretches from Thomas Kurz's book stretching scientifically. Pick one or two from each group. Generally for stretching you wanna go for small muscle groups first so like calves before hamstrings, back before abs.

Generally I only do lower body flexability, not to say I don't think upper body is important but for my goals its defo lower flexability is the key area.

I also find the Paul Zaichik has some good youtube videos that are free for stretching.

Also for kicking height then do leg raises 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps in front, side and back directions, to increase it.You can also do inside/outside cresent kicks as well.

Make sure you warm up as well before you start the dynamic swings just mentioned can be used for that.

You can also use isometric stretching which is covered on that site I told you about. I generally don't use it much anymore because it doesn't suit me much. But alot of people find it useful. Tense for 10-20 sections the muscle you are stretching then increase your range of motion. Do this until you feel you cannot go any further.

[bushido_man96]

For general flexibility, you can look into many physical fitness manuals for basic arm and leg stretches used to stay loose or for prior to lifting. I like Jay's directions, too.