I need more flexibility .. HELP!

[clake16]

I seem to keep tweaking little things here and there, and I'm missing time working out.  I think the underlying issue is my flexibility.  So, I need some direction where to go to find a good program.  For stretching, I need something that is very laid out for me as I've never really "studied" it very much yet.  Hopefully someone has a good site or something they can recommend from experience.

Thanks,
Chris

[Rachel421]

http://www.lifeevents.org/5-tibetans-energy-rejuvenation-exercises.htm    im not in to all the hocus pocus on this site, but i do intend on getting the 5 movements down at least once a day (21times) as soon as i stop spinning from all my new kb training.

there are five, so far i've only done o n e .  lol.

[Theo]

http://www.thehappybody.com/

that's a really good site, and there are a reduced flexibility section giving only what is necessary i might add a lunging stretch to that selection though as i deem it to be important in a lot of movement.

you will notice that most of the stretches are similar to exercises you have probably used before.

sighing a breath of relief at the end of the movement reduces tension and allows you to stretch further, you can make dramatic flexibility gains in this way.

In the case of an eccentric contraction, or strength stretching you should not sigh as the tension is necessary to keep the muscles tight.

examples of a normal stretch and a strength stretch would be 'the table' from happybody.com and the negative of a stiff egged deadlift respectively.

[Dano3000]

On top of what Wolf has stated, make sure you stretch each muscle continuously for at least 40 seconds. That is how long the stretch takes on average to signal the brain to let said muscle relax. My moms a physical therapist, she was taught that info in school so I trust it.
It also makes me stretch longer, which isn't a bad thing....

[clake16]

yeah dano ... I remember a thing I started reading from an AF Spec. Ops guy on their forums: Everything You Never wanted to know about stretching.  I forgot about that thing I had until you mentioned that ... looks like I'll be getting that back out!

Everyone-

Thanks for all the suggestions!

[fotakou]

http://www.trickstutorials.com/index.php?page=content/flexibility
Good luck doing this
http://photos-b.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v283/41/49/601224174/n601224174_1040609_3165.jpg
 

[ChenZhen]

IMO, the book "stretching scientifically" by tom kurz is by far the best on the market!
i used his method and got my splits within a few months.

here's an old video of me using his horsestance to sidesplit method:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRDoufkhJ8c&feature=channel_page

you can order it at www.stadion.com
the (free) articles there are also very good! 

good luck

[clake16]

I found the article/post I was looking for!!  It has some great info that one of the operators in the Air Force.  I highly recommend giving it a look:
http://www.specialtactics.com/documents.shtml

if you look under the documents an articles most of the way down, check out the definitve guide to stretching .. my comp is being EXTREMELY SLOW atm, so I can't send the exact link.

There are also some intersting workouts you may want to check out that they have put out there.