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Happy Birthday to Easton and Kaylee Christine!
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The Top 5 Stretches that improve your performance for MMA.
Getting athletes to stretch can sometimes be like pulling teeth.
Go into a locker room at any amateur mma event and you will find fighters either make a half hearted attempt to stretch or maybe not all.
How about a most mma gyms? The same story here.
So if stretching is so important to a great mma game why do so many combat athletes overlook it?
There may be a variety of reason why, but let’s explore why you should…
The goal of stretching is to be more flexible. How does that help in MMA?
As a flexible athlete, you are faster because your muscles do not work against each other when performing a technique.
Being flexible also helps you to maintain good posture which helps with balance. When your muscles are supple and elongated to where they should be your body maintains a better overall alignment, which keeps you balanced.
When your flexible you reduce the risk of injury. Most of the time in Combat sports, you are using the same muscles. This will lead to a tightening of certain muscle groups making them more susceptible to tears as well as over use type injuries.
Lastly, being flexible will allow you to be more agile and pull of techniques that non flexible athletes can’t pull off.
Now that we understand WHY it’s so important to become flexible through stretching, let’s go through the top 4 MMA stretches
Lunge – many activities in mma work the hip flexor and tend to make these tight.
Start with your feet a bit wider than shoulder width apart turn to the right and pivot both feet so they are facing right, now drop down on your left knee, keep you back straight and arch your back slightly. Bring your left hand straight in the air and hold for 30 seconds and repeat on the other side.
4 wall stretch – This stretch hits the glutes that are always being overworked in MMA.
Start with on your back close to a wall, put both feet on the wall so there is a 90 degree bend in your knees. Then lift you hips and cross your left ankle and place it on your right knee. Complete the stretch by lowering your hips back to the floor until your back is flat again and place your left hand on your left knee giving it a slight push. Hold for 1 minute and switch sides.
Upper Back – Many combat athletes complain of “Knots” in their upper backs. This will elongate the muscles that cause these symptoms.
Standing, extend your right arm in front of you and turn your hand so your palm faces right, extend your left arm on top of your right arm and grab your other hand palm to palm – know pretend someone has a rope and is pulling your arms forward. Hold 30 seconds and switch sides.
Ankle Blade – Let’s face it your feet take a beating and do a lot of the grunt work. Try this stretch that will increase your balance
Standing, turn your right the outside of your foot to the ground (take some weight off of it putting more weight on your left foot) then slowly lean more weight on your right foot until you feel a stretch on the outside of your right ankle. Hold for 30 seconds and switch.
There you have it! These are not the run of the mill stretches, but they work common areas that get a lot of work from MMA and often are the culprits of poor performance and injuries.
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The Top 5 Stretches that improve your performance for MMA.
Getting athletes to stretch can sometimes be like pulling teeth.
Go into a locker room at any amateur mma event and you will find fighters either make a half hearted attempt to stretch or maybe not all.
How about a most mma gyms? The same story here.
So if stretching is so important to a great mma game why do so many combat athletes overlook it?
There may be a variety of reason why, but let’s explore why you should…
The goal of stretching is to be more flexible. How does that help in MMA?
As a flexible athlete, you are faster because your muscles do not work against each other when performing a technique.
Being flexible also helps you to maintain good posture which helps with balance. When your muscles are supple and elongated to where they should be your body maintains a better overall alignment, which keeps you balanced.
When your flexible you reduce the risk of injury. Most of the time in Combat sports, you are using the same muscles. This will lead to a tightening of certain muscle groups making them more susceptible to tears as well as over use type injuries.
Lastly, being flexible will allow you to be more agile and pull of techniques that non flexible athletes can’t pull off.
Now that we understand WHY it’s so important to become flexible through stretching, let’s go through the top 4 MMA stretches
Lunge – many activities in mma work the hip flexor and tend to make these tight.
Start with your feet a bit wider than shoulder width apart turn to the right and pivot both feet so they are facing right, now drop down on your left knee, keep you back straight and arch your back slightly. Bring your left hand straight in the air and hold for 30 seconds and repeat on the other side.
4 wall stretch – This stretch hits the glutes that are always being overworked in MMA.
Start with on your back close to a wall, put both feet on the wall so there is a 90 degree bend in your knees. Then lift you hips and cross your left ankle and place it on your right knee. Complete the stretch by lowering your hips back to the floor until your back is flat again and place your left hand on your left knee giving it a slight push. Hold for 1 minute and switch sides.
Upper Back – Many combat athletes complain of “Knots” in their upper backs. This will elongate the muscles that cause these symptoms.
Standing, extend your right arm in front of you and turn your hand so your palm faces right, extend your left arm on top of your right arm and grab your other hand palm to palm – know pretend someone has a rope and is pulling your arms forward. Hold 30 seconds and switch sides.
Ankle Blade – Let’s face it your feet take a beating and do a lot of the grunt work. Try this stretch that will increase your balance
Standing, turn your right the outside of your foot to the ground (take some weight off of it putting more weight on your left foot) then slowly lean more weight on your right foot until you feel a stretch on the outside of your right ankle. Hold for 30 seconds and switch.
There you have it! These are not the run of the mill stretches, but they work common areas that get a lot of work from MMA and often are the culprits of poor performance and injuries.
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