Dynamic Leg Raises

[Mendel]

I have just gone back to Tae Kwon Do after a 9 year absence. I am 47 years old and in great shape. I am working on the dynamic side leg raises to improve my kicks, but can only achieve about 45 degrees at best. I have a lot of pain in the outer knee joint. I am just starting out with Tom's book. Am I going at it to hard too soon? The front and rear raises are fine for my flexibility level so far. I think I am doing them correctly. Any ideas?
Mendel

[mat]

I have just gone back to Tae Kwon Do after a 9 year absence. I am 47 years old and in great shape. I am working on the dynamic side leg raises to improve my kicks, but can only achieve about 45 degrees at best. I have a lot of pain in the outer knee joint. I am just starting out with Tom's book. Am I going at it to hard too soon? The front and rear raises are fine for my flexibility level so far. I think I am doing them correctly. Any ideas?
Mendel

Sounds like you might not have your hips aligned correctly when you do side leg raises. You should not have your hips "square on" (in line with the leg you're raising). Instead they should be turned slightly away. I think this is to do with the shape of the hip joints.

Any new students who come into my class can easily do side leg raises at least to waist height (90 degrees) once they get the hip alignment right.

Mat

[dragon]

One way of checking if it is just hip alignment is to lean forwards on a chair for support.This will ensure your hip is tilted forwards.

Dragon

[Mendel]

Thank you for the reply guys. Another question if I may. I am also working on the side split. I an very careful with this because of my age and flexibility. I am only about 30 inches from outside of foot to outside of foot with toes forward and thighs level to the floor. How many times shoud I try to "pinch" the floor and what about duration and reps.
Mendel'
P.s. This is a great site.

[dragon]

If you are concerned about injury then it would probably be best to stick to relaxed stretches only whilst also adopting a strength program for flexibility(front/side lunges,adductor pulldowns,adductor flies,etc).

When you feel you are strong enough in a more extreme range of motion then you can move onto isometrics.I've had the best results performing 2-3 sets 3 times per week with a day of rest between(or start with just 2 days with more rest in between).tense (pinch the floor) for short durations and then relax into a wider stretch.Continue this tense/contract action until you can go no further.In this final position hold the tension for about 30 secs.
Also,during the tense/contract you can hold back a little on the first set(for example,not going to your widest point before the 30 sec contraction),treating it like a warm up set.

Dragon

[mat]

I've had the best results performing 2-3 sets 3 times per week with a day of rest between

Hmm, I've only been doing one set 3 times a week for 2 weeks. I'm making slow progress. I tense about 5 times during the set, including the last 30 second 'pinch'. Should I do more than one set? I'm sure I remember something in Kurz's book about it being unnecessary to do more than one set in isometrics?

Mat

[dragon]

If you've only just started then 1 set can be strenuous enough if you are contracting hard.After a few weeks though 1 set just won't tax you enough.Like i said,i treat he first set like a warm up set before using more intensity on the other sets.

Haven't got the book with me at the moment but i'm sure Mr.K advocates about 3 sets.In the articles from stadion he says 3 repetitions of isometrics,3 repetitions of relaxed stretches(i assume he means the same thing thing.Repetition is a more accurate word than set,as a set implies a group of reps).

http://www.stadion.com/column_stretch15.html


Dragon

[mat]

Thanks Dragon - and just realised I've unwittingly hijacked this thread - I apologise

[dragon]

I'm not very computer literate.I've heard that before-"hijack a thread".

Is this some unwritten rule i don't know about?

If someone asks a question they deserve an answer.

Dragon.

[mat]

It generally means when someone starts asking slightly off-topic questions in a thread started by someone else - really they should have started a new thread.

Not a major offence but some might consider it bad manners

Here we go, we're doing it again....

[mmeloon]

It generally means when someone starts asking slightly off-topic questions in a thread started by someone else - really they should have started a new thread.

Not a major offence but some might consider it bad manners

Here we go, we're doing it again....

That kind of thing happens naturally, I'm afraid. I'm guilty of hijacking a thread in a major way yesterday. I started ranting about the wonders of beef as a source of nutrition in a thread about sit-ups! Just a tad-bit off-topic there! Mr. Kurz was good enough to split the thread into two and I just went back and edited my comments to help everyone understand the split.

I, myself, try to avoid posting a new thread whenever possible because I've been to some boards where there is a rediculous proliferation of threads. But sometimes it's probably best to post a new thread and then make links in both threads to each other to help everyone else follow your train of thought.

Anyhow, I'm just saying that it's very easy to hijack a thread without thinking about it. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

-Mark

[Mendel]

Does relaxed stretching alone aide in flexibility and the ability to do splits?
-Mendel

[dragon]

Yes it does,but relaxed stretching alone doesn't build strength.An imbalance between strength and flexibility can make you more prone to injury.

Dragon.

[Mendel]

Thanks, my legs are sore and I want to back off a bit but still do some relaxed stretching until the soreness goes away.

[jean da best]

how do you make sure you hips are in line? would you do it as though your doing a roundhouse? im confused