Fitness

Kicking in kung fu, martial arts, dance, and soccer requires you to have flexibility in your legs and coordination so you can kick high and reduce injury risk. If have trouble with kicking due to tightness in your legs, here’s a routine that will help.

1. Leg lower #1

This helps you stretch the muscles on the back of your thigh of the top leg. Keep the knee of the top leg straight and toes pointed towards your shin. If you have trouble keeping the knee straight as you lower the other leg to the floor, hold the top leg closer to the floor. Eventually, work towards being able to perform this with the top leg vertical. Perform 2-3 sets of 10 reps. Do more as needed to improve flexibility.

2. Leg lower #2

This is almost like leg lower #1 except you need to hold the top leg in position without assistance. You’ll feel your abs work! Take rests as needed. Perform 2-3 sets of 10 reps.

3. Controlled front kick

This move requires you to actively extend the leg, which will stretch the muscles on the back of the thigh as well as active muscles on the front of the thigh. It also requires you to balance on one leg. Fully straighten the knee as you kick and avoid using momentum. Perform 2-3 sets of 10-15 reps.

4. Romanian deadlift (stiff-legged deadlift)

You will make great progress simply by doing the 3 exercises above. I love this exercise because you are strengthening muscles as you stretch them, and lifting heavy weight will help you get stronger, build muscle, and strengthen your bones. When done correctly, the muscles on the back of the thighs and the butt will be doing most of the work, but you will also be strengthening your core and back. This exercise can be performed with dumbbells, a kettlebell, a barbell, or odd objects like a bag of rice. If you are not sure how to perform this correctly, get guidance from a qualified professional such as a personal trainer, kinesiologist, or physiotherapist. Perform 3-5 sets of 8-12 reps with good form.

How often?

The more often you do these exercises, the faster you’ll improve. The first 3 exercises should be performed in the order listed and can be performed daily. If not daily, doing them about every other day will yield noticeable improvements too. I recommend doing them as part of a warm up for the main activity.