Felipe
Oct-15-07, 08:11 AM
Ok this guide will be useful for you trickers, martial artist in general and every sport that require both strong and flexible legs.
Guide to Kicking Exercise
By Felipe - Version 1 (15/10/2007)
FAQ
1) What is passive/dynamic/active flexibilty? What are the stretch for a split?
The mystical Jujimufu wrote a very good guide on this argoment. It's here. (http://www.trickstutorials.com/index.php?page=content/flexibility)
2) What do you want to demonstrate?
Two things mainly:
-kicking is a very complex movement, that involve lots of muscles
-there are some muscles for this movement that you didnt even know you have (or ignore in your training)
3) How much time to get cold split/high kicks/slow kicks?
It really depends, if you train the right way a year would be enough. If you are out of shape, two years is more realistic. If you are a kicks practioner, in six months you will get them all.
4) Why I have to train for gaining higher kicks?
You want both to have a better range of motion and to use it. Example: if you sprain your deltoid, even if you could extend your arm on a wall like previously you couldnt use it, because the muscle cannot generate force at that angle of motion. This type of flexibility is quite useless. Instead you want FULL power at FULL range of motion.
INTRODUCTION
http://www.extremestunts.se/Eng/prof/hanu6.jpg
These specific muscles are required for practising kicks:
-abdominal
-lower back
-leg muscles: quadriceps, hamstrings, ileopsoas, adductors
They have to be strong-and-long.
If you're out of shape, don't do kicks. They are a really demanding exercise. Kurz wrote that for practising kicks with full power and without any problem, you need a pacefull 2xBW deadlift.
This should be the proper order for long-term training (meaning that the firsts muscles must be stronger than the seconds):
abdomen > lower back > biceps,quads and glutes > ileopsoas > adductors
This doesn't mean you should spend little time with adductors and more on abdomen, because you need to compare this power order with the actual size of the muscles. Also you want to know that you will damage poor trained muscles if you don't respect this order.
TRAINING
Abdominal
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/absbig.jpg
You want a great abdomen. It is the most important muscle in your body, the main in the anterior chain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anterior_chain). They link upper body with lower body. There are a lot of exercises for it. Start with simple calisthenics like sit-up and reverse crunch. Do tons of them (100,200,500...) then start to do advanced exercises like l-sit holds, dragon flags (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjCMq2zkbOo) and (if you have good ileopsoas) hanging leg raises.
Lower back
http://www.clinicalsportsmedicine.com/_images/chapters/18/Bruckner-2e_18._b.jpg
It's better for you to train your lower back. It is part of the posterior chain (http://weighttraining.about.com/b/a/000011.htm), the engine of your movements. It helps stabilizing your body when you kick. All people on earth suffer lower back pain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_back_pain). Why? Because of the nature of our vertebral column and because...nobody trains it.
Start with back extension on the floor for high reps (3x50 is good).
Then do back extension on the bench (up to 20 rep), and add weights (hold it with your arms).
When you can hold more than 1/3 your BW, you can start training with deadlift.
Quadriceps
http://www.bodybuildingforyou.com/Images/exercise-workout/legs-muscle-chart-front.jpg
Everybody has quads. You know how to train them: squats, lots of them (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmXtOuvIqzY). Actually it is not required to have a good squat for kicks, 1xBW is sufficient. But If you want to jump higher, they are your objective.
Hamstrings
http://www.bodybuildingforyou.com/Images/exercise-workout/leg-muscle-back.jpg
No one has hamstrings good as quads. They come from deadlift and leg curls, which many people skip/ignore in training. We spent our lives sitting on chairs: because of that harmstring are very hard to elongate (remember the typical school stretch that hurt like hell?). Try to train them more frequently, and you will know how much you neglected them.
Start with simple leg curls, then add deadlift.
Hamstring Raise is one the best exercise, but it's difficult to start with.
Ileopsoas
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Anterior_Hip_Muscles_2.PNG
This little muscle is the one that burns inside your upper part of the legs. It is very important and easy to train.
Learn the right exercises (http://www.stadion.com/column_stretch23.html)
Adductors
See above for the picture
Oh, adductors. Love them or die. They need time and specific conditioning. A good progression for training them is given by Kurz:
-100 free-weights adductors flyes (start by doing 3x20 sets, then increase the number until you reach 100)
-add 1/2 pound and re-start to increase number (3x100)
-add up to 3-5 pounds and cut the number of repetition (3x30)
-add weight and decrease the number of repetition to 15
-start to do adductor pulldowns to the station machine. This should be the first exercise you do at the gym (quoting Mr. Kurz) because of the great stress it puts on lower back.
LINKS
Exrx.net Great Resource of weghts exercises (http://www.exrx.net/Exercise.html)
Free info on flexibility and training for MArtists (http://www.stadion.com/column.html)
My other tutorial for bodyweight exercise (http://www.trickstutorials.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33607)
Guide to Kicking Exercise
By Felipe - Version 1 (15/10/2007)
FAQ
1) What is passive/dynamic/active flexibilty? What are the stretch for a split?
The mystical Jujimufu wrote a very good guide on this argoment. It's here. (http://www.trickstutorials.com/index.php?page=content/flexibility)
2) What do you want to demonstrate?
Two things mainly:
-kicking is a very complex movement, that involve lots of muscles
-there are some muscles for this movement that you didnt even know you have (or ignore in your training)
3) How much time to get cold split/high kicks/slow kicks?
It really depends, if you train the right way a year would be enough. If you are out of shape, two years is more realistic. If you are a kicks practioner, in six months you will get them all.
4) Why I have to train for gaining higher kicks?
You want both to have a better range of motion and to use it. Example: if you sprain your deltoid, even if you could extend your arm on a wall like previously you couldnt use it, because the muscle cannot generate force at that angle of motion. This type of flexibility is quite useless. Instead you want FULL power at FULL range of motion.
INTRODUCTION
http://www.extremestunts.se/Eng/prof/hanu6.jpg
These specific muscles are required for practising kicks:
-abdominal
-lower back
-leg muscles: quadriceps, hamstrings, ileopsoas, adductors
They have to be strong-and-long.
If you're out of shape, don't do kicks. They are a really demanding exercise. Kurz wrote that for practising kicks with full power and without any problem, you need a pacefull 2xBW deadlift.
This should be the proper order for long-term training (meaning that the firsts muscles must be stronger than the seconds):
abdomen > lower back > biceps,quads and glutes > ileopsoas > adductors
This doesn't mean you should spend little time with adductors and more on abdomen, because you need to compare this power order with the actual size of the muscles. Also you want to know that you will damage poor trained muscles if you don't respect this order.
TRAINING
Abdominal
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/absbig.jpg
You want a great abdomen. It is the most important muscle in your body, the main in the anterior chain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anterior_chain). They link upper body with lower body. There are a lot of exercises for it. Start with simple calisthenics like sit-up and reverse crunch. Do tons of them (100,200,500...) then start to do advanced exercises like l-sit holds, dragon flags (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjCMq2zkbOo) and (if you have good ileopsoas) hanging leg raises.
Lower back
http://www.clinicalsportsmedicine.com/_images/chapters/18/Bruckner-2e_18._b.jpg
It's better for you to train your lower back. It is part of the posterior chain (http://weighttraining.about.com/b/a/000011.htm), the engine of your movements. It helps stabilizing your body when you kick. All people on earth suffer lower back pain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_back_pain). Why? Because of the nature of our vertebral column and because...nobody trains it.
Start with back extension on the floor for high reps (3x50 is good).
Then do back extension on the bench (up to 20 rep), and add weights (hold it with your arms).
When you can hold more than 1/3 your BW, you can start training with deadlift.
Quadriceps
http://www.bodybuildingforyou.com/Images/exercise-workout/legs-muscle-chart-front.jpg
Everybody has quads. You know how to train them: squats, lots of them (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmXtOuvIqzY). Actually it is not required to have a good squat for kicks, 1xBW is sufficient. But If you want to jump higher, they are your objective.
Hamstrings
http://www.bodybuildingforyou.com/Images/exercise-workout/leg-muscle-back.jpg
No one has hamstrings good as quads. They come from deadlift and leg curls, which many people skip/ignore in training. We spent our lives sitting on chairs: because of that harmstring are very hard to elongate (remember the typical school stretch that hurt like hell?). Try to train them more frequently, and you will know how much you neglected them.
Start with simple leg curls, then add deadlift.
Hamstring Raise is one the best exercise, but it's difficult to start with.
Ileopsoas
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Anterior_Hip_Muscles_2.PNG
This little muscle is the one that burns inside your upper part of the legs. It is very important and easy to train.
Learn the right exercises (http://www.stadion.com/column_stretch23.html)
Adductors
See above for the picture
Oh, adductors. Love them or die. They need time and specific conditioning. A good progression for training them is given by Kurz:
-100 free-weights adductors flyes (start by doing 3x20 sets, then increase the number until you reach 100)
-add 1/2 pound and re-start to increase number (3x100)
-add up to 3-5 pounds and cut the number of repetition (3x30)
-add weight and decrease the number of repetition to 15
-start to do adductor pulldowns to the station machine. This should be the first exercise you do at the gym (quoting Mr. Kurz) because of the great stress it puts on lower back.
LINKS
Exrx.net Great Resource of weghts exercises (http://www.exrx.net/Exercise.html)
Free info on flexibility and training for MArtists (http://www.stadion.com/column.html)
My other tutorial for bodyweight exercise (http://www.trickstutorials.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33607)