Heaven forbid I post something useful on Sherdog, but I'm going to.
I've wrestled since I was in high school, and I've NEVER had an injury (knock on wood). I have no idea why flexibility is not on the top of everybody's list. Flexibility increases power, increases your ground game, increases your reach on the standup, and most importantly, it PREVENTS INJURIES.
So I thought I'd recommend something I do that I've never seen others do, and probably why I have decent handspeed and no injuries.
Before I even warm up, I do my "joints warmup". I go from head to toe.
I start by rotating my head, full circle, 5 circles clockwise, 5 counterclockwise, 5 clockwise, and 5 counterclockwise. What this does, is it "lubes" up your joints, and reduces stiffness.
I then move on down the body. Just remember, top to bottom, outside in.
I then stick my arms out like I'm flying, and rotate my wrists. Again, I do 5 clockwise, 5 counterclockwise, 5 clockwise, and 5 counterclockwise.
I'll give the list of the joints I rotate in order:
Neck, Wrist, Elbows, Shoulders (shoulder rolls with arms to the side),Shoulders (swinging the arms in circles forwards and backwards), Waist (hands on hip), Knees, Ankles, and at the end, I fold my hands in a praying position, extend my hands up so I'm extended as long as possible, and I rotate my whole upper body.
This gets the blood flowing, your body produces lubrication which lubes up the joints, for greater and smoother rotation, and it warms up the tendons, giving you more reach. It also reduces injuries.
Special Wrist exercise:
Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, and raise your arms so they are parallel to the ground in front of you, hands up, palms down.
Now without moving your arms, spread your fingers as wide as possible apart, and cock your wrist upwards as much as you can, so you should be staring at the back of your hand, fingers wide spread. Hold for 5 seconds. Now, make a fist, and cock your wrist downward as much as you can, again, without moving your arms. Hold for 5 seconds. Repeat a few times. You might feel "sore" on the tendon on the back of your hand if it's your first few times. This exercise strengthens the wrists, increases tendon flexibility in your wrists, prevents "basketball style finger jams", and will prevent wrist injuries on jabs and hooks.
Just remember, regardless of who your opponent is, INJURY is ALWAYS an opponent you face in the cage or in the ring, or even just in practice; but ESPECIALLY in practice.
All bullshit aside, it saddens me to see good athletes get injured, because they don't do good warmups. I will contribute to this forum what I can, as in the last 13 years, I've not had one single injury. Hope I can help you say the same thing.
Anything that I'm unclear on, please let me know!
I've wrestled since I was in high school, and I've NEVER had an injury (knock on wood). I have no idea why flexibility is not on the top of everybody's list. Flexibility increases power, increases your ground game, increases your reach on the standup, and most importantly, it PREVENTS INJURIES.
So I thought I'd recommend something I do that I've never seen others do, and probably why I have decent handspeed and no injuries.
Before I even warm up, I do my "joints warmup". I go from head to toe.
I start by rotating my head, full circle, 5 circles clockwise, 5 counterclockwise, 5 clockwise, and 5 counterclockwise. What this does, is it "lubes" up your joints, and reduces stiffness.
I then move on down the body. Just remember, top to bottom, outside in.
I then stick my arms out like I'm flying, and rotate my wrists. Again, I do 5 clockwise, 5 counterclockwise, 5 clockwise, and 5 counterclockwise.
I'll give the list of the joints I rotate in order:
Neck, Wrist, Elbows, Shoulders (shoulder rolls with arms to the side),Shoulders (swinging the arms in circles forwards and backwards), Waist (hands on hip), Knees, Ankles, and at the end, I fold my hands in a praying position, extend my hands up so I'm extended as long as possible, and I rotate my whole upper body.
This gets the blood flowing, your body produces lubrication which lubes up the joints, for greater and smoother rotation, and it warms up the tendons, giving you more reach. It also reduces injuries.
Special Wrist exercise:
Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, and raise your arms so they are parallel to the ground in front of you, hands up, palms down.
Now without moving your arms, spread your fingers as wide as possible apart, and cock your wrist upwards as much as you can, so you should be staring at the back of your hand, fingers wide spread. Hold for 5 seconds. Now, make a fist, and cock your wrist downward as much as you can, again, without moving your arms. Hold for 5 seconds. Repeat a few times. You might feel "sore" on the tendon on the back of your hand if it's your first few times. This exercise strengthens the wrists, increases tendon flexibility in your wrists, prevents "basketball style finger jams", and will prevent wrist injuries on jabs and hooks.
Just remember, regardless of who your opponent is, INJURY is ALWAYS an opponent you face in the cage or in the ring, or even just in practice; but ESPECIALLY in practice.
All bullshit aside, it saddens me to see good athletes get injured, because they don't do good warmups. I will contribute to this forum what I can, as in the last 13 years, I've not had one single injury. Hope I can help you say the same thing.
Anything that I'm unclear on, please let me know!
