With every one of the myriad martial arts styles out there, there’s a martial arts stretching program that’s unique to that particular discipline. People who practice martial arts that emphasize high kicking, such as savate, Northern shaolin, or taekwondo, you might want to exercise your hamstrings and hips with your flexibility stretches; grappling arts will need greater core strength and arm flexibility from the results of its martial arts stretching routine. If you’re just starting out in martial arts, you’ll need a more well rounded martial arts stretching regimen to increase your flexibility in general.

If you want to make the most of your martial arts stretching program, you have to keep a few things in mind. The following outlines ways to maximize the efficiency and safety of your flexibility stretches and exercises.

1. Stretching in the Morning.

Martial arts stretching each morning is a great way to keep improving. These flexibility stretches should be done on an empty stomach and last no more than 30 minutes. Be sure to include a warm up, a few dynamic type stretches and a cool down. Static, isometric or PNF stretches should be set aside for your primary stretching workout because they are too taxing to your muscles and are harder to recover from. Once you get used to starting your day with stretching, you will be very pleased with the results.

2. Warming Up

It is a good idea to use a two part warm-up procedure with a beginning and specific warm-up for the muscles. It should include calisthenics which will increase body temperature and increase the blood flow to the muscles. The specific warm up will have dynamic flexibility stretches that will mimic the movements of your martial art and will specifically help you attain the flexibility you need for the movements. This warm-up is vital as part of the morning stretching routine because your body may be more tight in the morning and there is a greater risk of injury if the warm-up is neglected. After the specific warm-up is completed, the main part of the stretching routine can be started, in this part of the routine you may focus on the flexibility needs of your particular martial arts program.

3. The Cooling Down

It is imperative to take the time for a cool-down process as part of your morning martial arts stretching program. The cool down is similar to the warm-up in that it allows additional blood flow to the muscles which speeds recovery of the muscles.

Safety and Injury Prevention.

Health and skill development is the whole idea of a martial arts stretching routine. Injuries to any part of your body can derail your progress. Follow these hints to keep your flexibility stretches safe.

* Talk to a physician before you start a stretching or training routine of any kind. You’ll not only be safer when you do it, you’ll have the approval of your doctor, leaving you feeling more free to make progress.

* Don’t ever do flexibility stretches that cause you any pain. If you feel a sharp pain as you exercise, stop immediately; the most you should be feeling is a warm or small burning feeling in your muscle. Even the smallest amount of pain can be evidence of micro reading of your muscles, making them scar and permanently making you that much less flexible, thereby hindering your progress. If you have any sort of pain as you start stretching, talk to your physician.

* Do not bounce or bob during stretching. This is called ballistic stretching and carries an unnecessary risk of injury.

I invite you to use this martial arts stretching information to increase the benefit of your stretching routine by rapidly increasing your functional flexibility.

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