I think that I am pretty flexible, I can't do the splits but I can touch my toes with relative ease. But I can hold a kick any higher at staight angle how ever If some one holds my leg up i can get my foot a little above my chest. Do i need to stretch more or is this a matter of strenght. If it sabout my muscles what are weightless exercises i could do to strenghtne my legs for hold high kicks.
I think everyone can stretch further with the aid of a partner. I know this is very true when we do that thing where we sit and try to do the splitz and your partner gently pushes on your back. I would say this is definitely a flexibility thing. It's not that your not strong enough to hold your leg up, it's that your leg resists going that far. I would work on stretching?!
I saw a program many months ago about the dancers body. It showed ballet dancers and how high they could extend their legs and hold them there. They clearly had stronger muscles in certain areas that allowed them to do this. Take ballet classes! Well might not be as daft as it sounds, as I think that some of the exercises that they do could help you. You might have to try something else though. Could you see yourself trying it?
Active stretching. It builds strength during your stretch so you can hold it. Hold your leg up, as high as you can for a count of 10. Bring it down, and then do it again. Lift it three times. 2-3 times Everyday. Each time you should feel strain in your thigh, maybe even in your hip. After a week you'll notice you can hold your leg up higher and longer.
Yeppers, leg raises have worked for me but rather then thowing your leg up lift it slow and use the weight of your legs, hold it there then lower it slowly. I'd go for 3 sets of ten reps. If you dont have the balance hang onto the back of a chair until you get it. Also rather than taking ballet, even though it is not that bad an idea, try Pilates. This builds long lean muscle which allows speed, not bulk.
I'm definately trying those leg raises... cuz' I have goood static flexibility, but I've always felt as if my dynamic flexibility was under par with what it should be... I can do a full split... I can round kick well over my head, I canax kick with my knee touching my head if I wanted, but, I can't side kick higher than about an inch over my head, and I can't hold my kicks as high as I can kick them...
A quick note on bio-mechanics, if you are properly flexible you should be able to 'kiss' your shoe with straight legs and a straight back. This requires the pelvis to be allowed rotate. If you can kick higher than your head, this indicates that you are bending your back and have bad kicking posture (get a friend to video you if you don't believe me). Back to the point, weight-lifters build up their strength by tearing their muscles. As you raise a weight it strain and tears some muscle strands. As you lower it you tear considerably more (hence the popularity of negative training). The body then 'fills in the gaps' with more muscle cells thereby increasing your strength. A good stretch will also tear muscle strands, this time to allow the muscle to grow to its full intended length. Therefore, you not only become more flexible by stretching, but stronger as well. Work on doing the splits, touching your toes with your head and, of course, kicking. This is the best way to achieve your aims. Also, remember that the bad guy doesn't care if you hold your leg in the air after you've kicked him. Flexibility and strength are ultimately working towards faster, more fluid yet devastating kicks.
The reason a lot of people (at least in my martial arts school) can't hold their kicks out is mainly one reason. They have no control and their hip flexors are very weak. The best way for me personally to work this is to hold my leg out at it's highest point that I can hold it out for maybe 30 seconds. Gradually, your hip flexors will strengthen from just the weight of your leg, allowing you to hold your leg up higher (if you're flexible enough).
That's what I don't like about crunches - they don't strengthen your hip flexors, unlike some other ab exercises.
I totally agree "Ghost". I followed Kurz's suggestions for building hip flexor strength which invloves lying leg raises (feet together). I can do sets of 100 now. I recently tried a similar exercise where you have a partner hold his/her arms out. shoulder width apart and then extend your leg as in a front kick, mid section. You then move the leg in a figure of eight over and under the arms without dropping the leg. I managed about 4 seconds. But gradually got better and my kicks have improved ten fold.
Muscles! In order to kick high in a controlled way one needs to do more that just stretch. Muscle control plays an important role.
