Seeking advice on flexibility

[anaconda69****]

Ok, so I would like to start training jiu-jitsu in the near future, (when I am recovered from my most recent shoulder surgery enough to feel safe in doing so) and I was wondering what the best stretches were that I could do to prepare my self for BJJ.

My hips and groin are very flexible for a normal person, as I can fairly easily touch my knees to the ground in a butterfly stretch or touch either heel to the top of my head, but my hamstrings have not responded the same way to the stretching I have done. Any ideas?

When I do begin BJJ I would like to already have as much flexibility as possible so in the meantime I have been stretching a lot and will devote a good deal of time to this, I just want to be sure I am stretching in the appropriate manner.

 

[Bruce Calavera]

I am the exact same when it comes to flexibility. My hips are pretty loose but my hams are tight. You just have to start stretching them as much as you can. Stretch to the point that your body gets conditioned to believe you need this flexibility (in frequency not intensity). You'll start to feel the effects pretty soon but don't forget to warm your legs up before you stretch with some light jogging or something.

Just stand in an upright position, cross your legs, and reach for your toes. Once you've got as far as you can go without strain, contract the muscle without moving, when you let go of the contraction exhale all the air in your lungs and see how much further you can go. Stand up and switch legs. Rinse and repeat.

 

[bjj_ninja]

I am at work so I cant get on there, but youtube has a good video called eddie bravo on flexibility, also if you can find it from training for warriors shaolin shows his stretch routine. It is not going to be expected that you have freakish flexibility when you first start and once you get going you'll be able to see what you need to work on. The butterfly stretch is always a good one. I know after really hard rolling sessions my hips will be sore the next day. Keep that shoulder stretched too, you don't want to reinjure it.

 

[redaxe]

hamstrings are the easiest thing to stretch, just touch your toes.

i'm jealous of you, i have the opposite problem, loose hamstrings but my hips are so tight, they're like dog hips. My maximum side split is like 90 degrees. Stretching doesn't make them any more flexible, it just makes them sore.

 

[oyaji poi]

I followed the programmes laid out in Pavel Tsatsouline's "Super Joints". The video and book explain very well what you should be doing. His other book "Relax into Stretch" explains the science of stretching. Super Joints I follow his recommendations and do one programme every morning, and another programme from the book 2-3 nights a week.

After I do slow stretches for my hips and back.

 

[anaconda69****]

Thanks, I'll investigate all this stuff. I believe that I am genetically capable of being very flexible, "back in the day" - high school, I was able to do full splits, but that was a long time ago. I'll keep at it and hopefully the you tube video and books as such you guys mentioned will help as well.

 

[Rowan11088]

hamstrings are the easiest thing to stretch, just touch your toes.

i'm jealous of you, i have the opposite problem, loose hamstrings but my hips are so tight, they're like dog hips. My maximum side split is like 90 degrees. Stretching doesn't make them any more flexible, it just makes them sore.

Same way here...though I definitely haven't given up on stretching them. I think it's made some improvement, and I know I had a lower split before college when I was doing karate. Any advice on stretching groin muscles would be appreciated too, the butterfly stretch doesn't work for me because I'm actually too tight to effectively stretch myself...and I'm a pretty strong guy. I've tried doing the upside down version where your knees are on the ground, but that seems to hurt my knees

 

[MisterRay]

Just a little tip, it's good to be flexible and all but try not to use it when rolling. Flexibility, like brute strength, can hinder your progress and be used a crutch for lack of technique. Something I get called in every now and then... lol