AboutMark Williams Expertise My expertise is primarily with men`s gymnastics at all levels. General questions about gymnastics and Olympic and World Championship competitions are also areas which I have knowledge.
Experience Head Coach at the University of Oklahoma, 1996 Assistant Olympic Coach for US Men''s Team, 1999 Head Coach of Pan American Games US Men''s Team
Question HI!
When i was 20 i was practicing martial arts, i was good with legs and with exercises i was just 3 - 4 inches to make perfect splits (both types of splits) and i was good with kicking. But then i got sick and i have to stop practicing.
Time has passed and i have 25. I'm doing exercises again and stretching to recover my flexibility. I'm 5 -6 inches to make front splits with both legs and 8-10 inches :( to make side splits.
Now, after a warming i'm doing some exercises i remember. But maybe i'm doing something wrong. Plus, after reading many times that i must stretch every day (why?) i'm just stretching every two days, so maybe i'm waisting my time:
should i stretch every day or not?
How many time should i stretch? 30min? 15 on the morning and 15 on the afternoon? 1 our?
some times i read that i should go to a position, hold for five seconds, release, again. And somtimes i read that i must hold for 30 seconds or most. How many seconds to hold the position and how many times?
Recomend some good exercises for warming please.
How much time should i do warming?
Please recomend a routine of exercises to do splits (of both types).
And if possible some exercises to increase flexibility on the back
I am stretching to recover my flexibility just for fun, i'm not going to pratice any sport right now.
I'm male (i dont know if this makes any difference).
I'm thin and not really tall (1.70 m)
Thank you very much.
Sorry for my english. If i said something weird i will clarify if needed.
Answer Yonet-
These are all good questions. The obvious answer is that the more you work at flexibility, the more flexible you will become. Stretch as much as you are able. I would recommend that you stretch for 30 minutes twice a day to actually get results that you can see fairly quickly, As for warm-up, this can be anything that gets your heart going to a cardiovascular level. Jumping rope, riding a bike, running, doing exercises that are getting you to a sweat will work. I would recommend something that you do for at least 15 minutes before stretching. Stretching cold is much harder and will not let your body move as well.
You will want to do several types of stretching. You will want to hold the stretch for up to 30 to 60 seconds or more. You can do resistance by tightening the muscle while down and then relaxing and going further down. You will want to have assistance with someone pushing you down as well. All of these techniques will help you get lower. The more time you put into it, the more flexible you will become. You can also put your foot up on a mat that is above the ground to get better leverage on working the flexibility.
For back flexibility, you can do arch ups laying on your stomach. Bridge-ups with hands and feet pushing up after starting on your back. Heel arch with hands holding a pole and working your feet upward while on your stomach.
Good luck with this. Keeping a certain amount of extra movement for your body will help keep your body in better shape.
