hello i need to know what are some good strectching exercises because i am not that flexibal, i cant even bend over and touch my toes. So i need to improve that so I can be ready, because i catch cramps very easy in my calfs and stuff. so if yall can hook a brother out that would be very good.
Bend over and try to touch your toes. Relax. Repeat frequently until you can touch your toes. Best of luck.
Dont stretch before a warm-up. Warm-up properly first by exercising THEN stretch. There are many types of stretches you can do, most people only do static stretching which is limited in it's effectiveness. http://www.bath.ac.uk/~masrjb/Stretch/stretching_4.html You can also improve flexibility through general sports and weight training.
You don't need to be super flexible to excel at grappling, sure it helps but I don't think it's an obligation. I can't even touch my ankles when doing sitting toe touches. If you have really tight calves then you should use a wooden wedge. We have these at my weight room and they have really loosened my calves. All you gotta do is get a wooden block and cut it in a 45 degree angle so it's like a ramp. Just step on it and you should instantly feel the stretch.
Jodogido has good advice Marine, fo real. Here is my tip: Only attempt to stretch after you have a really good sweat going. Also, don't bounce when you stretch ( this is called " Dynamic stretching " and can be dangerous for anybody, especially a beginner.), never stretch out, flex, then stretch further ( known as PNF stretching.) Imagine your muscles as taffy, warm taffy is pliable and stretches easily, cold taffy snaps in half.
Did you just say that he should never do PNF stretches? Why? They are known as the most effective way to stretch.
I would recomend Superfit by Royce Gracie, he goes over all the streching you can and should do. I was kinda disapointed when I bought the book since I already had a pretty good strech going, but it did help add somethings that I didn't have that I think have helped, perhaps not astornomically, but I'm over-all more strechy.
Here's a good website that breaks down stretches (and resistance work) by body part. http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html I'm stiff as a board--always have been even though I managed to get a TKD BB (say what you want about TKD, but most of those guys tend to be pretty flexible). I find hip stretches to be the most important for me, along with legs (groin, hams, quads, calves). Back flexibility isn't a bad thing to have, either.
Yeah never ever bounce. You have this thing in your body called the golgi tendon. When you stretch the golgi tendon naturally reacts by tightening up (natural reaction from the body to protect itself), you need to keep the stretch prolonged to get past this and complete the actual stretch. If you bounce then you continually reset the golgi tendon getting yourself nowhere.
