hip joint problem

[Little_Dragon]

I get sore almost every time I do side splits(i do them every day),in my hip join.My adductor muscles are in good shape so they don't get in the way.What should I do to strenghten/losen my hip joint,so they won't fell sore the other day,because that soureness affects my kicking also.

[dragon]

The first things you should do is cut back on the activities that cause the pain and find the cause of the problem.

It could be anything from simple over training to structural problems.

Dragon.

[Little_Dragon]

Well I don't think it's a structural problem because the flexibility test showed that my hip structure can do slips...maybe I am training too hard.maybe i should cut pasive stretching out of my training program for a week or so and just do dinamic stretches.What do u think?in this period(1 week) will i lose some of my flexibility in static stretches?

[patrick_brooks]

Sounds familiar to me... What kind of warm-up are you doing? Are you performing static stretching every day? I know that if I don't warm up properly I get the same thing. Following this site and Dragon's advice, I cut back on static (PNF) stretching to every other day, jog 3 or so miles (5km) before each stretching sessions, and use PNF stretching, which really warms my muscles and connective tissues up so that I don't feel pain in the stretches. Just a humble contribution/input to this thread, but it works for me, my hips/knees actually haven't been hurting after the last few stretching sessions I've done.

-Patrick

[dragon]

Missing a week of static stretches shouldn't affect your flexibility.
Just make sure you only do static stretches(relaxed,isometric) at the end of your workouts.

Dragon.

[patrick_brooks]

Yeah, missing a week of static stretches may actually help you at this point. If you're anything like me, you tend to get overzealous and kill your progress, so relaxing for a few days will maybe help you loosen up again. Just speaking from personal experience, but your problem does sound similar to mine... you would do well to heed the advice on this site and the advice Dragon has to give!

-Patrick

[Moe]

Little Dragon I know exactly what you have been through because that problem plagued me for a long time too.

Here's the scoop:

I used to do relaxed stretching everyday just like you, both splits. Front and side. Particularly its the side split that causes this problem. After about 2 weeks of everyday relaxed strecthing (note this is not even isometric and still causes some damage if practied too much) I started o get very sore in the hip joint after that, even attempting to kick or slide into a side split was painful. So what I did is cut back my stretching to every other day, and ultimately I felt ok doing stretching 3 times a week.
So what you want to do it take a week off to let your hips recover then start by doing it every other day.

I guess this problem depends on your body too and how fast it recovers, just once piece of advice: Dont overtrain

[Little_Dragon]

Thanks for the advice guys

[Little_Dragon]

Mates I have another question.What about dinamic stretching?Can I continue doing them 2 times a day?or will they do more harm than good if I am sore?should I cut all kind of stretches from my workout or just the static ones?

[dragon]

If you feel so fatigued you would be best to take a week off from doing anything at all and then coming back with a more efficient workout plan.

Dragon.

[Little_Dragon]

Guys....I'm still sore...i can kick high without much pain now but still can't reach my full flexibility in side splits.Do you think that Pavel Tsatsouline's "Super joint" video and book would help my hip joint?I tried some of them for 2-3 days but the sorenes didn't go away so i stoped.Do you think that those exercices are stresing my hip joint to much or should i trie doing them again?

[dragon]

Guys....I'm still sore...i can kick high without much pain now but still can't reach my full flexibility in side splits.

When you say you can't reach your full flexibility do you mean your flexibility is deteriorating and you can no longer reach the level of side split you used to perform, or do you mean you just aren't able to do the splits even though the splits test says you should be able to?

Do you think that Pavel Tsatsouline's "Super joint" video and book would help my hip joint?I tried some of them for 2-3 days but the sorenes didn't go away so i stoped.Do you think that those exercices are stresing my hip joint to much or should i trie doing them again?

There is nothing overly strenuous in Super Joints,they're just joint mobility drills.
However,you shouldn't perform any activity that causes pain.

Dragon.

[Little_Dragon]

I can no longer reach the level of the side split that I used to perform,beacause of the hip soreness.And with kicks,I have to stretch a little before performing them or else they hurt.The ideea is that after i loosen my hip joint with lite stretching i can drop further in the side split...but if i do that after a few hours i become very sore.I have to regain my flexibility(dinamic and static) in about 2 week because i have a tornament.And if I kick it will hurt me more than the oponent:)),and I realuy don't want that.Got any tips?what should I do?

[dragon]

And with kicks,I have to stretch a little before performing them or else they hurt.

I'd advise stretching before kicking even if you didn't have hip problems.THe "kicking from cold" isn't something that should be abused.

The ideea is that after i loosen my hip joint with lite stretching i can drop further in the side split...but if i do that after a few hours i become very sore.

If there are no other problems(injuries,structural,etc) then i say it sounds like a strength/conditioning issue.
If this is the case,it will take longer than 2 weeks to see an improvement.
One tournament isn't worth risking the future of your martial arts training.

Dragon.

[Little_Dragon]

hmmm you are right.But what kind of exercise should I do to strenghten my hip ligament?adductor flyes?