Load Stretch

[fireman]

Hi everyone,

I'm very interested in this kind of stretch but i don't know so much drills. I would like to use this post to collect drills. I know drills like these:

Weighted Pike stretch - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STnlPW-H8u4

Shoulder Stretch -

Wrist Stretch -

Diagonal Stretch - http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid= ... =3&theater

Adductor Stretch -

Cossacks -

I would like you to post the drills that you know about this fantastic kind of stretch. What would you use for get splits? How many times a week? How much time to hold?

Thank you very much

[Larry Roseman]

The cossack squat looks to be done for strength not stretching. Likewise the wrist pushups. Some dynamic flexiblity is involved of course.

I would be careful about loading a butterfly stretch with heavy weights for a long period of time. It seems to have done

wonders for him but I don't know about the longer term impacts of that, if there was tendon weakness or instability created in the hip joint. Tendons do tend to deform plastically with long slow stretches (think of silly putty - it snaps if you pull hard but stretches if you pull slowly). Still that type of stretching was used as torture in the middle ages so I raise an eyebrow!

The pike stretch is a bit different because there are multple planes of motion, muscles and joints involved. So it's not stretching

a single muscle/tendon complex or straining a single joint - there is lots more potential points of "give" in other words. It probably could be held safely for several minutes.The shoulder stretch is more dynamic and also encourages thoracic spine flexiblity.

Ido's stetch doesn't seem weighted though it does seem difficult to get in that position without having the initial flexiblity.

I've seen devices (also like middle age torture tools) that force your legs wider to gain the splits in martial arts magazines.

People claim they work. I guess you could hold a KB while in an upright split position for a while and see how that goes, without

recommending this.

I personally would like to do the shoulder and weighted pike stretches more. Do them rarely now, just when I remember.