Stretching

Hi Tony,
I hope your well, i can remember you saying something on Geoff's first masterclass about stretching in the morning and why its more beneficial. When you have time could you elaborate on this.

Respect as always
Dave

Hi Dave,

Good to hear from you.

Stretching in the morning is most beneficial because you regulate the nervous system for the rest of the day. While we are asleep our muscles relax and our skeletal structure settles into all sorts of shapes as we lay asleep and toss and turn. This has the affect of shortening the muscles. Therefore as soon as we wake up and begin to move the nervous system comes into play and starts to regulate the muscle length. Therefore if you stretch very first thing in the morning you are assisting the nervous system and you get to contribute to the nervous systems efforts in making your muscles longer. The best stretches in the morning are dynamic ones as they will give you the greatest mobility. The thing about dynamic stretching is that they improve your kicking and punching ability and range of motion without you having to do the box or side splits. With correct and regular early morning dynamic stretches you can begin to kick higher without having to rely on those the painful static and isometric stretches that leave you being nicknamed ‘one-hung-low’. Stretching and moving first thing in the morning will also energize you for the rest of the day and burn more fat all day long.

Stretching is an interesting subject that carries with it health and well being aspects. The way in which one stretches should change as we get older as we need to adapt the routines to suit our older bodies or we will get more injuries. There is an old saying that father time takes away from us what we inherit and gives us what we deserve, so take care of your self mate and train smart as the race is long.

The key to all these things is discipline and motivation. One comment I often hear is that discipline ties you down and it is difficult to stay motivated to train. In my opinion if you reverse this way of thinking as follows it will help you to train and do your dynamic stretches every morning; “discipline is freedom and you train to stay motivated”

Thanks for the interesting question.

Regards,
Tony

Hi Tony,
Thanks for your reply its appreciated. I do stretch in the morning i have to otherwise i suffer throughout the day. Because my background is of chinese MA there are 3 forms to practice which i do. One of these is done slowly with a breathing exercise at one point. Now im sceptical about the whole 'chi' phenomenon but i do find that parts of my body do tingle. Would in your experience say this is just my nervous system firing up due to the slow stretching i do. This is interesting to me as i once had a chat with an expert in chi kung and he said a similar thing to you. Great stuff.
If your about at Geoff's next masterclass it would be good to chat to you on this if you have the time.
Take good care
Dave

hi tony is this the reason why yoga is considered to be so good for you

Hi Dave, Hi Tony,

Reply to Dave,

Stretching will as you say get your nervous systems working whether it is dynamic, static or isometric. The best stretching is achieved when you kick start the blood moving in your body as that is a bit like letting your car tick over for a while before you pull off on a cold day. One way to enhance your stretching is to use a series of well placed slaps in a certain way on specific parts of the body before you get into dynamic stretching. If you keep me posted when you are next due at Geoff’s next masterclass I will come along for a couple of hours. Then if its OK with Geoff I will coach you for a short while on these techniques so that you can benefit from them. There are also some specific breathing exercises that will also energize you in the morning; I will also go through those with you.

Reply to Tony,

Yoga is good for you for many reasons one of which is that you are assisting the nervous system to regulate your muscle length and realign your skeletal system. The method you choose to stretch will however have an impact on your striking ability. Too much static and isometric stretching can work against you if you have some injuries as it can affect your ligaments if you have not been stretching for a long time. Dynamic stretching is the one that not only improves your mobility but increases your power; this is why it is top of the list for martial artists. You use more static and isometric stretches when you are fully warmed up or and for cool downs to shift the lactic acid.

Thank you to both of you for your correspondence

Regards,
Tony

Now that sounds like a plan my good man
I will let you know closer to the time.
Thanks again tony
Respect as always
Dave

Thanks for that Tony...

Man.... I learn something new every day. especially from Mr T

Excellent advice

Thanks Tony

Craig