by Thomas Kurz
Here is a question someone asked me recently:
I was wondering what schedule would you recommend for me as a college student. I really don’t have that much time to have a dedicated stretching schedule, but I do want to increase my flexibility. I want to be able to do the side splits, front splits, and high front kicks when doing TaeKwondDo forms. We also have TKD practice every M, W, F. It’s also just that isometric stretches take a long time when doing a lot, so I just need to find out the best stretches for limited time. And also a good schedule. Thanks!
And here is my reply:
First a question from me: How knowledgeable about physical exercises is the person running your TKD practice that you need to ask me about such elementary matters as increasing flexibility?
Anyway, to answer your question:
Effective flexibility work or stretching doesn’t take much time—with my method only 11 to 30 minutes twice a week.
There is no need to do a lot of isometric stretches either. But you are right that doing only the best stretches (or best exercises) saves time. You will find those best exercises on Flexibility Express DVD and on Secrets of Stretching DVD. Secrets of Stretching also has detailed info on scheduling workouts for technique, speed, strength, and endurance and how stretching exercises fit with those workouts. Flexibility Express doesn’t give info on scheduling because its exercises are less strenuous than those on Secrets of Stretching and are easier to combine with typical strength workouts most athletes already do on whatever schedule suits them.
To put it briefly, the best time for static flexibility exercises, such as those for splits, is at the end of a strength workout. If you are serious about your sport, you will do strength workouts, and that schedule dictates your stretching schedule.
Note that maintaining your splits takes much less time than achieving them—about one minute, two or three times per week. See video 1-Minute Side Split and Front Split Flexibility Maintenance Routine:
This article is based on the Stadion videos Flexibility Express and Secrets of Stretching. Get these titles now and have all of the info—not just the crumbs! Order now!
If you have any questions on training you can post them at Stadion’s Sports and Martial Arts Training Discussion Forum
Is Flexibility Express, suitable for beginners?
Does one need a certain level of strength in other exercises before beginning the program?
Yes.
No.
Thank you.
I am a martial arts practitioner who recently achieved all three splits following your methods. So first of all thank you so very much for getting me there first of all, that is much appreciated and the knowledge that I acquired from your material is indeed invaluable.
After achieving the middle splits last month (which was the only one that was missing) I realized I am a little confused about the most effective way to continue my training. Pretty much I can get my body in a full middle split only about once a week, then it takes about 4-5 days for the soreness to go away. I don’t need much of a warmup, 2 sets of wide squats, 2 sets of adductor flies and 2 sets of isometric splits (the third one usually gets me to the floor).
I guess so far my goal has been to get to the ground. Now it is to get my splits to the point where I will need no warm-up to enter them and to get rid of the soreness. I am wondering if I should make adjustments to my training routine since I am not trying to reach a greater range of motion, and I am now trying to reach my maximum range of motion more rapidly and comfortably. Should I just keep training exactly as I have been (following the routines in Stretching Scientifically and Flexibility Express) or is there any particular advice that you have for me at this particular stage and with this particular goal in mind?
Repeatedly experiencing soreness after a routine set of exercises is a sign of a gross error in your training. Long soreness is a sign of overloading muscles beyond their ability to adapt to the training load (the resistance, the number of reps). So, you should begin at the beginning: Before doing isometric stretching follow the program of Flexibility Express to develop strength and muscle endurance adequate for isometric stretching. If you don’t skip steps, you will feel no soreness after your side split (middle split) routine and and you will be able to do splits with no warm-up. For more, read the article and the forum post at links below.
https://stadion.com/weekly-schedule-of-workouts/
https://stadion.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=902&p=5926#p5926