do you really need dynamic stretching?

[Dean]

Other people I've read or videos I've watched advise against dynamic (bullistic) stretching because of the potential for injury and the low gains in flexability. So, why do them? Can I get the desired flexibility and the ability to do high kicks without a warm up without doing dynamic stretching and sticking to passive/static stretching and isometric stretching. Also, I've read that isometric stretching is for increasing your flexibility whereas passive stretching is for maintaining the flexibility you have now and doesn't help much in gaining flexibility. If this is true then it seems that there is really no place for dynamic stretching except for maybe in the warm-up. But why do dynamic stretching in the warm-up? If you say to get you to your maximum flexibility before your particular exercises then how is it that you can kick at your maximum flexibility "without a warm-up"? I know that the warm-up is for getting your blood flowing, heartrate up and preparing your body to do a workout. I'm just curious why dynamic streching is recommended.

Also, just a point for clarification because of my own ignorance. On the video Mr. Kurz says that when you are a beginner doing passive/static stretching for the chinese splits it can take you about 10 minutes to get to full splits (assuming you're flexible enough in the first place) but after a while of doing passive stretching you can decrease this time to about 1-2 minutes. However, on the video Mr. Kurz can get into a full side and front splits (on chairs) in a matter of seconds. Is this still static stretching?

[mat]

Dynamic stretching is NOT ballistic stretching. Ballistic stretching is dangerous - you throw up your leg as fast and high as you can. If you are not extremely well warmed up you will almost certainly cause yourself an injury.

Dynamic stretching, however, is CONTROLLED movement, eg. lifting your leg slowly using the muscles, and NOT thowing it up by momentum only. Like many people on this forum, I have practised dynamic stretching for years and it is extremely beneficial to martial arts leg strength and flexibility.

Cheers,
Mat

[mat]

Also, just a point for clarification because of my own ignorance. On the video Mr. Kurz says that when you are a beginner doing passive/static stretching for the chinese splits it can take you about 10 minutes to get to full splits (assuming you're flexible enough in the first place) but after a while of doing passive stretching you can decrease this time to about 1-2 minutes. However, on the video Mr. Kurz can get into a full side and front splits (on chairs) in a matter of seconds. Is this still static stretching?

The stronger your legs are, the more quickly you can get into a full split. Mr.Kurz can get into a full split quickly because he has both the flexibility and the leg strength.

Mat

[Dean]

Dynamic stretching is NOT ballistic stretching. Ballistic stretching is dangerous - you throw up your leg as fast and high as you can. If you are not extremely well warmed up you will almost certainly cause yourself an injury.

Dynamic stretching, however, is CONTROLLED movement, eg. lifting your leg slowly using the muscles, and NOT thowing it up by momentum only. Like many people on this forum, I have practised dynamic stretching for years and it is extremely beneficial to martial arts leg strength and flexibility.

Cheers,
Mat

Maybe this is a problem with the video "Secrets of Stretching" because when Kurz shows the dynamic stretching, it looks pretty ballistic to me. Thanks for the clarification though.

[Dean]

Thank you guys for your comments. I've been going over the video tape and books meticulously and I've started doing dynamic stretching in the morning again (following the morning exercises shown on the video tape). I've read most of Mr. Kurz's columns and have gotten a lot of the answers I was looking for (thanks to whoever recommended them). As I said, I started doing the dynamic stretches (front, rear, side) and I feel good after doing them. Here are my questions. First, is it normal for your body temperature to go up and you start to sweat a little or is that an indication that you are working too hard and fatiguing the muscles? Second, I noticed on the video that when Mr. Kurz does his back leg raises his knee is bent a bit with toes pointed towards the end of the movement but I have a tendency to lock my leg with toes back (like in a back kick) 뒤차기. Is either way fine or is it preferable to do it the way shown by Mr. Kurz in the video?

[mat]

Thank you guys for your comments. I've been going over the video tape and books meticulously and I've started doing dynamic stretching in the morning again (following the morning exercises shown on the video tape). I've read most of Mr. Kurz's columns and have gotten a lot of the answers I was looking for (thanks to whoever recommended them). As I said, I started doing the dynamic stretches (front, rear, side) and I feel good after doing them.

If you are feeling good and not in pain then they are working.

Here are my questions. First, is it normal for your body temperature to go up and you start to sweat a little or is that an indication that you are working too hard and fatiguing the muscles?

It is a warm up exercise - so you are doing them properly if you find your body temperature goes up slightly. If you are doing 10 reps on each leg and sweating a lot then this is just lack of fitness and you should find them less strenuous the more you practise them. If you are doing a lot more reps then you are probably overdoing it. As leg raises are essentially warm-up exercise, you should only do them until you have reached your full range of motion. beginners may take a couple of sets of 10-15 reps each leg each direction, more experienced people may only need 5 reps on each leg (in each direction, of course). There's little benefit in doing more leg raises than needed to reach your full range of motion.

Second, I noticed on the video that when Mr. Kurz does his back leg raises his knee is bent a bit with toes pointed towards the end of the movement but I have a tendency to lock my leg with toes back (like in a back kick) 뒤차기. Is either way fine or is it preferable to do it the way shown by Mr. Kurz in the video?

I am not sure of the technicalities but I find I get the best stretch when I keep my leg as straight as possible WITHOUT locking it out, ie, very slightly bent and fairly relaxed. If I lock out my leg it limits my range of motion too much to make the stretch effective.

Hope this helps.
Mat