FightingArts.com - Stretch Yourself - 5:Right Stretches for High Kicks with No Warm-Up
Below is the standard dynamic stretch series <-- the "WALKING STRAIGHT LEG KICKS"
I do about 10-15 repetitions for each leg, 2-3 sets, at morning when i get up and in the evening before going to bed. But i guess anything in the 10-30 repetitions range is ok. If done right, it is also a nice addition to your normal cardio (fast pace). Not saying it can replace cardio, just give you a little extra exhaustion if you do it after training.
I also do about the same thing, but sideways for sidekicks and also for roundhouse kicks. It's really the same, hold your arm out horizontal to you side, raise the leg sideways to your hand and go back down again. Just watch that your upper body is upright (well, a little tilt to the other side for balance purposes doesn't matter) because there is no tendon connecting both legs. that means if you shift your body to the side, even if that way you get more height, as far as stretching is concerned, you should really just move the one leg you're training at the moment to the max.
Dynamic stretching is really the way to go for higher kicks, as that way you can kick high without warming up, which is basically what a fighter wants. And the progress is just amazing.
Just watch that you don't overdo it, especially when you do it for the first time. The key to this sort of stretching is that the momentum of your leg will pull the leg a little further than the maximum range of motion for a short amount of time, contrary to static stretching, when you don't raise the leg as much but for a longer amount of time. But because dynamic ones are momentum driven, if you just jerk that leg up as fast as you can, you could seriously injure yourself or at least it could be counter-productive. So start slow and look how fast you have to kick to get it just to that point where going further would seriously hurt. That's also what raising your hand is for, to better target that point.
Of course if you want to do the splits, it's a different story.
I have had hamstrings that are a little to short for as far as i can think back and half a year ago stumbled upon dynamic stretching... now i can almost kick myself in the face
If only i'd knew earlier that progress could be that fast.
Oh about keeping flexibility up, i read somewhere that while dynamic stretching can get you results faster, you will also lose flexibility faster (compared to static one), so you have to do it regularly to keep it up. I don't recall the source for it, but it seemed quite scientifically founded.
