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ROUGHDRAFT

Contents 1 My Legs Feel Like Stale Twizzlers 1.1 Workout 1.1.1 Warm-up 1.1.2 Strength Training 1.1.3 Romanian Deadlifts 1.1.4 Sumo Deadlifts 1.1.5 Barbell Good Mornings 1.1.6 Single-leg Stiff Legged Deadlifts 1.1.7 Ham Glute Raise 1.1.8 Flexibility Training 1.2 Disclaimer

[edit] My Legs Feel Like Stale Twizzlers

Hamstring Conditioning for the Wushu Athlete

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One of the most common injuries in wushu is the hamstring strain. Line drill of endless straight, inside, and outside kicks-not to mention landing tornados and butterfly twists in splits-really takes a toll on the athlete's legs. Strains and even pulled hamstrings are a part of every wushu athlete's life, but they don't have to be.

Conditioning consists of two parts strength training and flexibility training. I suggest you approach each as their own stand alone form of training. A lot of martial artists put stretching and strength training into a before or after class quick exercise. A few static stretches before class and some body exercises afterwards, which can lead to the wrong mindset when you set out to improve your game.

[edit] Workout

[edit] Warm-up

Start the workout (or the day) with dynamic stretching. You do not want to warm up with static stretching for this workout. There is no benefit to it at this point, it does not make the muscles more playable or increase blood flow, so we should go the effective route and build up slowly to your full range of motion with dynamic stretches. Stretch kicks starting at knee high and building up waist, shoulder, head and full ROM will not only feel easy but leave you (and your muscles) energized and ready to do some work. I also like the swing back and to the sides to get the hip flexors and abductors nice and loose as well.

[edit] Strength Training

Time to lift. There is nothing as effective as weight lifting to improve strength. It will not make you bulky. It will not make you tight. It will not ruin your Wushu. Wu Bin, one of Jet Li's coaches, used it to build the Beijing Wushu Team into a dynasty. We should use it too, at the very least, to help prevent injury.

For our hamstring related program, I would recommend the following exercises to be done in a 5x5 format. 5 reps in 5 sets. The exception for this would be the bodyweight only drills and people new to strength training. If you are new you should: A.)Get a coach who can teach you properly and B.)Start with high reps and low weight until you are in adequate shape to begin the real training. You will not want to move onto any isometric stretches until you have a solid strength base. A good rule of thumb for most strength training exercises is to try to lower the weight more slowly than you bring it back up.

[edit] Romanian Deadlifts

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/issa63.htm

[edit] Sumo Deadlifts

http://www.weighttrainersunited.com/sumo.html

[edit] Barbell Good Mornings

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Hamstrings/BBGoodMorning.html

Please be careful with this exercise as it places some unnecessary stress on the upper spine and neck. Stiff legged deadlifts are recommended in place of the Barbell Good Mornings for people not looking to majorly stress the spine and neck.

[edit] Single-leg Stiff Legged Deadlifts

Do not confuse these with standard Stiff Legged Deadlifts. This is similar to the Romanian Deadlift. Use a dumbbell, kettle bell, or a gallon milk jug full of water. Stand on one leg and extend the other leg behind you to steady you. Concentrate on going down slowly. Visualize your hamstrings contracting as you come up. This is a great drill for scales as well.

[edit] Ham Glute Raise

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Hamstrings/WTGluteHamRaise.html

You can do this at the special ham-glute station at a gym. Alternately, you could also get a buddy to hold your feet and do them over a pommel horse or a sturdy stool. I would recommend laddering your sets by starting with a low number of reps on the first set and steadily work your way up to a few high rep sets.

With all of these exercises, it is recommended that you:

1. Take a deep breath in as you lower the weight
2. Lower the weight in a controlled manner
3. Exhale forcefully as you push the weight back up in an explosive manner

Don't overlook Squats and Deadlifts. Even though they emphasize the quadriceps and glutes, they will hit the hamstrings as well. In my opinion, they are simply the best all around lower body conditioning tool out there.

[edit] Flexibility Training

After you have done your strength training you can move onto flexibility training. This is different than the earlier stretching; you are trying to make the muscles longer now. While many people have been able to do this with static stretching, I personally hit a plateau and was forced to look into more sophisticated methods of stretching. I made my serious gains with Isometric and static stretching (PNF stretching). If you are unfamiliar with this method please refer to the stretching faq or one of the many great books on the subject.

For our case I would suggest isometric splits, or if you are comfortably in a split elevated splits with a folded mat or kick shield. After the warm-up and strength training the hamstrings should be in good condition to perform the stretches. For hamstrings a few sets of hold-relax-contract splits should be plenty. Three reps of 5 second contractions with 15 seconds between contractions for 3-5 sets should be plenty.

[edit] Disclaimer

Warning The author and WushuWiki take no responsibility for injuries caused by attempting these exercises. WushuWiki recommends that you always learn new exercises under the guidance of a professional.