Kicking cont.
On days you have your workout, do these dynamic stretches in the warm-up before kicking. Starting slowly, you should gradually raise the legs higher, and then you should increase the speed of your movements. Doing the actual combat kicks in this morning stretch is not necessary to be able to do them later in the day without a warm-up.
Eight to ten weeks is sufficient time to develop maximal dynamic flexibility.
Yes, you can have great dynamic flexibility in a matter of a few weeks and then display it even without a warm-up. All it takes is the right stretching method. Spending several months on developing your flexibility and not being able to use it without a warm-up indicates either that the stretching method you use is incorrect, you are chronically fatigued, or both.
There are several explanations for failing to make progress and being fatigued:
1) Incorrect methods of teaching skills, which may result in too many repetitions of a given exercise and chronic local fatigue.
2) Training loads that are too great and not enough rest. If you begin your workout still fatigued or even sore after the previous one, you are asking for an injury, or at least you hamper your further progress.
3) The wrong sequence of efforts. If you use the wrong sequence of efforts (exercises) in a workout or in a set of consecutive workouts, it may double or triple your recovery time (Kurtz 1994, p. 64).
Now, how about all those static stretches—splits, for example—so many people try to do before kicking?
Don't! Never do static stretches before dynamic stretches, kicking, or any other dynamic movements. For several seconds or even minutes following any type of static stretch, you cannot display your top agility or maximal speed because your muscles are less responsive to stimulation—your coordination is off. Static stretches reduce the force production of the stretched muscles. This was shown by subjecting calf muscles to several 30-second stretches and measuring their force afterward. Maximal force production is impaired for several minutes after strenuous static stretching. If you try to make a fast, dynamic movement immediately after a static stretch, you may injure the stretched muscle.
