Stretching in Muay Thai

**Kru_Kawalski** · Posted On: 8/07/2011 9:18pm

Many Muay Thai camps in the west start off training with stretching exercises, but I also know a tone who don't.

My question to everyone: Should a Muay Thai class include stretching, or should it skip over the stretches for more work on perfecting technique and proper form?

FYI, I do both. Sometimes we stretch, and sometimes they do it in their own time.

**Kru_Kawalski** · Posted On: 8/10/2011 10:32am

Josh Aldridge just showed me a trick.

Here we go: Kick the heavy bag, low, medium, high, both sides of 5 count, then step back from the bag and box stretch. Anyone who does this properly will immediately notice results in their higher roundkicks.
If anyone has a good stretching exercise, please let me know. Thanks in advance.

**WorldWarCheese** · Posted On: 8/12/2011 2:35am

Not sure if this helps or what you're looking for, but...

My trainer sometimes gives me time to stretch, sometimes doesn't. Never showed me any specific Thai stretches and never stretches himself. I personally try to get it in before and after class as I've always struggled with flexibility, however after the first couple weeks of practice I was able to kick much higher than I thought I could without much effort.

**CrackFox** · Posted On: 8/12/2011 3:17am

I believe the current recommendation is to do dynamic stretches and sport specific warm up before your physical activity and then static stretches afterwards. Static stretches have the effect of temporarily weakening your muscles and increasing your chances of injury, so I wouldn't do any myself until right before it's time to get changed and go home.

**Kru_Kawalski** · Posted On: 8/12/2011 5:59pm

Thanks to both of you. Thanks Crackfox, I have heard that dynamic stretches are the way to go before, but wasn't sure due to the fact that other styles seem to static stretch before workouts/ class.
Many years ago, many Thai boxers stopped stretching and started focusing more on technique, at the time I thought that it was across the board concensus; however, some camps still start off the workout/ class with stretches.

**JSK_83** · Posted On: 8/13/2011 9:41am

At my gym, we get very few minutes of stretching, and this is during a class. It is mostly dynamic, though. It's best to come in early and try to do more stretching, but we barely do any static stretching being that it raises your chances of injury. If you don't have much time during a class to stretch, you could stretch before and/or after class.

**Ketsueki** · Posted On: 8/13/2011 10:51am

I usually go to the gym a while before class begins for stretching. I put a leg up on the edge of the ring while I wrap my hands, and after that I'll jump up into the ring if it isn't in use. In there I alternate round kicks over the ropes with some front kick stretching against the corner posts. Doing no other stretching, but plenty of sparring and bagwork, my leg flexibility has gone up quite a bit in the last few months.

**Gypsy Jazz** · Posted On: 8/14/2011 10:14pm

Originally Posted by CrackFox

I believe the current recommendation is to do dynamic stretches and sport specific warm up before your physical activity and then static stretches afterwards. Static stretches have the effect of temporarily weakening your muscles and increasing your chances of injury, so I wouldn't do any myself until right before it's time to get changed and go home.

Static stretches do indeed have a temporary effect in reducing power output before performance, but I've seen absolutely 0 evidence to suggest that this increases injury even in the slightest.

Though merely an opinion, I'd advised static stretching chronically tight muscle groups before and after activity because they're often overworked to begin with. Changes in tissue happen best when localized tissue temperature has been increased, so static stretching post-exercise is almost always a good call.

To the best of my knowledge there has been some limited research on dynamic stretching/warm ups before activity in reducing injuries. A good dynamic warm up is absolutely worth the time investment.