What's your personal stretch routine besides F1?

Hey, since Stretch 1 is on the way I would really like to know your present stretching routine. Will you switch to S1 when it comes out?

Im basically doing the different stretches from Kit's book for martial Arts and gymnastics + sometimes the daily 5.

My problem is that I am often to exhaused after my workout/tricking/dancing to really stretch so I dont really get any good results the last couple of months =(

How do you guys handle it?

My focus is on the pike, to be able to master the MN's, and I also stretch the hip flexors to balance things out. On MN days I don't do any additional stretching, but I make sure to limber through the various pike stretches on the other days.

I also try to do a hard stretching session once a week, but I'm not really sure what a hard session is, to be honest. My problem is that I don't get sore from the stretching anymore even though I really try to hit the hamstrings progressively harder every week. I make sure that the stretch is felt in the hammies, not the back, and I stretch hard enough that it is unpleasant and it gives me shaky legs, but still no soreness to speak of. I guess my hammies must be in pretty good shape! 

Time will tell if ROM increases.

like me, but i am very bad at straddle ,pancake so my focus is there. all i do is from Kit. mostly every day ,and C/R days from one to two days per week. depence how tired i am.

other parts like wrists ,shoulders etc.  foundation fixing it

I made pretty good gains in pike flexibility from limbering really often. Went from being able to touch my shins to having my hands flat on the ground behind my feet in a few months I think it took. It makes me wonder about the difference between a hard stretch and limbering a lot every day, and is there a big difference between the two?. From what I understand the muscles don't actually lengthen they are just becoming accustomed to the new rom but I really have no idea about any of it or how it works.

ausswe said:

I made pretty good gains in pike flexibility from limbering really often. Went from being able to touch my shins to having my hands flat on the ground behind my feet in a few months I think it took. It makes me wonder about the difference between a hard stretch and limbering a lot every day, and is there a big difference between the two?. From what I understand the muscles don't actually lengthen they are just becoming accustomed to the new rom but I really have no idea about any of it or how it works.

thanks for your insight. what do you exactly dofor limbering?

Badi said:

Hey, since Stretch 1 is on the way I would really like to know your present stretching routine.

On F1-H1 days

- 5 minutes warm up with different jog/walks (knee lifts, butt kicks, straight legs/arms, etc.)

- Some HBH-to-ABH rolls

- Full squat, pulses of pushing knee away with hands

- 30 sec each of front leg, hip flex, adductor stretch

- Some forward roll into full squat into forward roll...

On other days some of the above, plus:

- Straddle pancake pulses, 30 seconds each of: left hand to left foot, R hand to R foot, L hand to R foot, R hand to L foot,

- Straddle pancake pulses: hands forward and reach

- Variations on leg to wall stretch, kinda this thing here: http://www.shouyuliang.com/images/newsletter/v1n1/a4p1s.jpg

- Rows of straight leg kicks (actually lots of them)

I do some weighted stretches at the end of training, mostly depending on how much time left I've got, meaning sometimes I don't do them at all...

Not the main topic, but was there any recent announcement about this S1 that I am totally missing?

Romulo said:

Not the main topic, but was there any recent announcement about this S1 that I am totally missing?

Coach has said there is Stretch product coming out some time this year.

I am working through Kit's Stretching & Flexibility. I am uncertain how this will evolve into a routine, however this has become a focus for me, so I am doing a fair bit every day and seeing what I learn from this. F1 enlightens me to my lack of flexibility. 

So less F1, staying in the early weeks where mobility is lacking (almost all areas) and really working flexibility and mobility, is my current thinking, especially while learning more about stretching via S&F.

I am curious about how to optimise a program.

Thanks Edna!

i do some intuflow (it's a joint mobility program).  i did it religiously for 3 years, but then i stopped, last year, because i was trying out a form of yoga called shadow yoga, which i thought would hold all the answers for me, but it didn't.  i recently restarted doing intuflow for my whole body.

and then i do some leg exercises and clubbell exercises  (every fourth week, i skip these).  

then i do a crapload of stretches for the lower body and shoulders.  lots of hip flexors, some pancakes, groin, shoulders, etc.  i realize that the shoulders are holding me back from doing handstands, at least according to the h1 roadmap.  hips and shoulders are definitely some sticking points for me.

slow, static stretching seems to work best for me.  i tried modified PNF stretching and didn't like it.  i also don't like hard stretching, as it does not feel safe to me.  

Ronin168 said:

 

 

slow, static stretching seems to work best for me.  i tried modified PNF stretching and didn't like it.  i also don't like hard stretching, as it does not feel safe to me.  

i felt the same at first and i decided to try not maximal contractions and it started helping me relax which then helped me get deeper into stretches at first. 

give it a shot with a piriformis stretch and only stretch one leg then compare to the next. take pictures of the end ROM to make the difference more dramatic. be creative as well, try pulsating contractions, short ones, long ones, long ones starting off soft then giving more tension. 

find what feels most comfortable for you and go from there. the idea is to relax and sink into the new rom for a bit and then back off to not hurt yourself. I admit it takes a while to get used to it, so it'll click, don't worry about it.

ewethestuff said:

I do this routine twice a day. It takes ~30 minutes, depending on what my body feels like. It is all hips.

 

- 8 min Hip Flexor work - switching between wall stretch, Kit's solo hip flexor, and front splits.

- 2 min Side Split - sometimes weighted, but I prefer doing side bends, arm raises or punches 

- 5 min Pancake work - starting on the sides like SL/SE4, then working through hamstrings to the middle.

- 1 min Mats Press work - video here

- 4 min Kits Piriformis - video here

- 5 min Weighted Swivel Hips - pic here

Do you warm up before?

Calves/ankles, hip flexors, hamstrings, piriformis and straddle. Most of it is from Kit.

ewethestuff said:

I do this routine twice a day. It takes ~30 minutes, depending on what my body feels like. It is all hips.

 

- 8 min Hip Flexor work - switching between wall stretch, Kit's solo hip flexor, and front splits.

- 2 min Side Split - sometimes weighted, but I prefer doing side bends, arm raises or punches 

- 5 min Pancake work - starting on the sides like SL/SE4, then working through hamstrings to the middle.

- 1 min Mats Press work - video here

- 4 min Kits Piriformis - video here

- 5 min Weighted Swivel Hips - pic here

Sound pretty good men. I'll give it a try, promess. 

I do yoga 4 times a week so my schedule is...

Sun: Yin Yoga
Mon: F7
Tue: H1 and Calisthenics Fun
Wed: Vinyasa Yoga. Tough but Worthwhile

Thur: H1, Vinyasa Yoga, and Yin Yoga back to back... So basically I get very warmed up and loose with Vinyasa then go into the deep relaxing stretches of Yin

Fri: F7

So that's me... (:

Lately due to the number of 30minute squat things flooding.my Facebook feed I've dabbled in holding a squat until it becomes uncomfortable (maybe 10 mins?) then pausing my timer and doing a couple minutes hard hip flexor stretch each side. Repeat until my 30min timer goes off.

It's been opening my hips a lot in front splits

ewethestuff said:

That reminds me - did you keep up with that Horse Stance daily challenge you were doing last year? I tried it for a few days and found it rather impossible.

I got to 37 or so last year, not my best and earnt me a scolding from a senior classmate. We started again on Chinese new year though, so if anyone wanted to....

Jon Douglas said:

Lately due to the number of 30minute squat things flooding.my Facebook feed I've dabbled in holding a squat until it becomes uncomfortable (maybe 10 mins?) then pausing my timer and doing a couple minutes hard hip flexor stretch each side. Repeat until my 30min timer goes off.

It's been opening my hips a lot in front splits

I read about that a day or two ago and started with it as well. Sadly I haven't gotten around to do 30min total each day yet. More like 10-15 or so. I'm feeling it mostly in my back to be honest.

Eh, i dont know if i agree with the importance a lot of people ascribe to it-- i think the inability to do a full squat is.more informative than being able to rest in it-- but as a paired stretching drill I like this one

Yeah I'm not really sure what to think about it, I just thought it could be a fun thing to do. It also made me realize how much stiffer I have gotten in the squat position, compared to what it used to be.

Jon Douglas said:

I got to 37 or so last year, not my best and earnt me a scolding from a senior classmate. We started again on Chinese new year though, so if anyone wanted to....

How does it work?

maolu said:

How does it work?

Add a minute per day for 90 days. We do it every year; its the only time I train sei ping ma for more than 30 mins at a pop.

Meaning you kept a full and regular mabu for 37 isometric minutes?!!?

maolu said:

Meaning you kept a full and regular mabu for 37 isometric minutes?!!?

Yeah, but it's nothing that special. Sifu goes to 90 every year without fail, as do several of my senior classmates. One day I will grit my teeth and do that too, but I do not think it will be this year   too much soft desk work at the moment

Aaaaaand now back to stretching~

I limber every training day.  Do hard stretching every wednesday and saturday.  

Exercises are:

Pancake

Pike

Chest

Hip Flexor

Calves

Feet/ ankles (for toe point)

Tricep and Bicep

Splits

Y-scale

Spend about 10 min before practices loosening up everything but the scales.  Then at the end I do some holds of about 60 seconds.

On hard stretch days I do PNF/C&R stretches with 10 breath reps for each (major focus on splits) I do up to 3 sets.  Leaves me sore the next day.  Will sometimes get someone to push or perform ART on me.

I also used to watch TV in a squatting position.  Would typically finish most of a law and order episode while eating or reading in this position.