♪ Bob and Brad ♪
♪ the two most famous ♪
♪ physical therapists on the internet. ♪
- Hi, folks, I'm Bob Schrupp, Physical Therapist.
- (claps) Brad Heineck, Physical Therapist.
- We are the most famous physical therapists
on the internet.
- Right, in our opinion of course, Bob (laughs).
Alex kind of threw me off.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
By the way, this is Alex.
He's gonna help us demonstrate today.
He works with us by the way.
- I had to beg to get back on the channel they wouldn't
- That's right. - Bring me back.
- Yeah, last night he has texting me all night long,
"I wanna be on, I wanna be on."
- It's been a while.
And by the way, you wanna join Alex and his wife
on his channel, on their channel.
- Right. - Not his channel.
- No, it's her channel, her channel.
- It's her channel, the Family Product Channel.
Let me just demonstrate real quick.
- There you go, look at his moves.
- Yeah, there it is (mumbles).
They do a lot of videos on product reviews for a family.
- Yap, that's right. - A young family.
- There you go.
- So today we're gonna talking about how to kick higher
as we have specific stretches that will make your,
what's that, head level?
- Head level kicks Bob.
- Oh, head level, what does that mean?
- If you're in karate, you wanna be able to kick
to someone's head. - Oh, okay, head level.
- Or over their head to really impress people.
- And this is expert advice because Brad has, what?
Many years of expertise. - I have 17 years in karate,
second degree black belt, and I'm a physical therapist.
I joined the knowledge together
and actually wrote a book on it.
So if they want to-- - Yeah, it's called
Martial Arts Manual for Stretching,
Strengthening and Treatment of Common Injuries.
We'll have a link down below. - Yeah.
- So it's actually it's a Kindle book though.
- Kindle book, yeah.
- You can't get the actual paper form.
- Not yeah, we're working on it.
- I won't get into my credential this is your channel.
- (laughs) All right, thank God.
By the way, if you're new to our channel,
we're always giving something away too on our channel.
Are you giving anything away on your channel?
- My wife she's for sale.
- Oh, there we go, she's for sale.
- You're in trouble on that one.
- I know.
- So, I don't know what we're gonna give away.
We don't even know what,
we don't know where we're giving away yet, so--
- Sounds like something really good.
- Go to bobandbrad.com (laughs)
and well, go to the giveaway section you'll find out.
It's kind of a secret now.
- Right, or you could go to the Facebook.
- Yeah, go to the Facebook,
it's pinned to the top of the page.
I'll bet you it's something nice.
- I'm sure, knowing you guys. - Can we get to the program?
- Yeah, let's get to the program.
- So,
in martial arts, people are always stretching,
and they're doing things and they wanna kick higher.
Like I said, head level kicks or above head level kicks
are just so much fun to do,
but you don't wanna rip a muscle doing it,
and you wanna keep your joints healthy.
So these are the stretches from my background as a therapist
and background of as karate as I mentioned,
I put them together.
And actually, in the book every kick that we have,
the basic kicks, will show you not only how to stretch
specifically, like we're gonna show you
but like if you're an instructor,
you get to learn the muscles you're stretching.
So we went through before
if you're gonna do the hamstrings,
which we're gonna show because it's a primary muscle group
to get your front kicks higher, the muscles are?
- Semitendinosus, semimembranosus, biceps femoris.
- Yeah, so you can, and that's all in the book
and it's nice to impress people when you have that--
- Thank you sensei.
- Yeah, there you go.
Okay, so let's get to the front kick.
So for throwing that front kick,
and I haven't practiced martial arts for a number of years
so my flexibility has gone down hill, I've gotten an older,
but at one time, I'll show you what the flexibility I did
as we go through these hamstrings.
The nice easy way to stretch hamstrings is
Alex and I are gonna demonstrate, bob you wanna get in?
If you just got a cupboard about this height,
depending on your flexibility
this is the way you can do it all by yourself standing,
you get your heel up there and it's really important
that this knee is straight, fully extended.
And it's important that your back is straight,
because we wanna stretch the hamstring muscles,
we don't wanna hurt our back doing it.
So if you round you're back over like I used to do
before I got into therapy, I'd go like this
thinking if I could touch my nose to my knee,
ah, like that I was doing something good,
which actually I'm just wasting my time.
So if we do it properly, straight knee, straight back,
and lean forward, I can already feel isolation
in the hamstring stretch and--
- And this is about, this is all I got Brad,
I'm gonna be honest.
- [Bob] Now, would he maybe start with a chair Brad if he?
- That's a good point, yeah.
You may only start with,
and I've had people that were in their 60s and 70s,
and they were pretty tight, or anybody that's really tight
you may start at something this level,
I wouldn't use a moving stool of course,
but with Alex it doesn't bother him.
- [Bob] Or staircase maybe,
and then you can work your way up the steps.
- Right, and you can hold for 30 seconds,
which in the martial arts,
I would say that would be really beneficial
or stretch on and stretch off
about this type of a cadence and do 10 of 'em, okay.
- And keep those toes up, right Brad?
- Well, you can keep your toes up.
Actually, I don't care about the calf muscles
so if you point down like this, it doesn't matter,
we're isolating hamstrings. - Okay.
- It's a good point though.
- [Bob] And make sure you're breathing.
- Right, and, you know, if you're in martial arts,
you know the ramifications of relaxed breathing
is gonna allow you to stretch better.
So that's when you're by yourself.
Now if you really wanna get after those kicks to get higher,
the next step is you need a partner
or actually, if you have something like this
called the Stretch Out Strap.
It's made for stretching,
it has loops every six inches or so.
And this is kinda nice, 'cause you get to lay down
and actually relax.
It's a good one to do before or after you workout.
Actually, after you work out it's a good,
your muscles fatigue
and actually stretch better. - Actually for this Brad,
a dog leash would also work for this.
- Sure.
- A lot of people have said that,
they've been able to use their dog leash.
- Nice thing about this is you can put your hand in there
like this, and if you do have any problem with your grip,
or it just allows you to relax more,
I'm gonna adjust up to here.
And now again, back is straight on the floor,
so I don't have to worry about that.
My knee needs to be straight, and I'm gonna pull up
and I'm getting a pretty good stretch right now.
Now, if you're in the martial arts,
and you've been working on it,
or you're really flexible, maybe a gymnast,
this foot may come way up to here.
Again, I'm pretty tight right now,
in my prime back in my 20s I was going up there.
On the wall I'll show you where I used to be
'cause very clearly.
- [Bob] Which by the way was in the 1920s.
- And I was gonna say-- - Yes.
(laughing ensues)
- So again, stretch and hold for 30 seconds
and do three of those or you can do stretch and relax,
stretch, and I would recommend at least 10 of those.
If you wanna do something we call contract, relax,
that's even a step higher,
as I'm gonna pull up to where I feel the stretch
and I'm gonna hold it steady
and I'm gonna push down with my foot.
- [Bob] Yeah, so he's pushing. if he let go right now
it would go right down to the floor
so he's offering resistance,
and that actually helps the muscles stretch more.
So when you let it relax again,
you actually pull it toward you again.
- Yeah, then I go up a few more inches,
I'm gonna do like contract, relax, contract
for five to eight seconds and then relax.
And while you relax,
the muscle will go up a little bit higher
as a result of that maximum contraction.
It's like a nice symmetric,
we'll show you on the wall as well.
Alex, you volunteered for doing the wall.
- [Alex] I volunteered.
- And I would say this is probably the best way
to maximize your stretch.
You need a partner you need a wall.
Alex is gonna go back against the wall
with his butt hitting the wall, shoulders there.
Relax and breathe.
Now, you haven't been in the martial arts, right?
- No. - So this is all knew.
- Very poor flexibility.
- You'd be like a beginner, which is just fine
we like to work with people.
Straight knee, back is straight.
Breathe in, relax, and I'm gonna go up,
tell me when it's stretching.
- That's a good stretch right there--
- So we got a good stretch right there.
Now normally I'd hold this for about 30 seconds,
then I may give him a little bit of a break
and go up a little bit higher.
If you wanna do the next step and do the contract, relax,
I'm gonna go up now.
These stretches, you should not try to get a head level kick
all on the first day,
it's gonna take a few weeks or months for most people.
Contract relax, I get to the point where it stretches.
Now you push down as hard as you can, 1,001,
1002 and we'll go up to 1005,
and now relax.
And now I can go a little bit higher
and it doesn't hurt anymore, does it?
- No-- - Yeah.
So we got another couple inches using the contract, relax.
I would do that three times,
you'll get a few inches more each time.
And another thing it's really important to do both legs.
- [Bob] And right now--
- That's a joke.
- [Bob] Yeah, right now you can see that Alex
could probably kick a dog's head maybe.
- Maybe like a chihuahua maybe.
- [Bob] You're too tight (laughs),
- My wife's even laughing
at me now. - We wanna get to
the next kick is doing a sidekick
or you know, looking out this direction,
or there's a number of other kicks
that you need that abduction
and that covers a number of kicks.
So Alex, why don't you go there
and show the one on the floor.
If you're doing this by yourself this is a challenging
stretch to do independently by yourself.
But you can go like this, you're gonna turn sideways,
and Alex is keeping his back up straight.
I'm here, and you know, since I've been doing karate
back in my 20s, again, not the 1920s,
my back has gotten some problems with spinal stenosis,
so I don't do this very much,
it would be not good for my back.
So Alex is doing more of it.
Let's show you on the wall.
Again, you hold that for 30 seconds.
If you're really flexible, you'd go to a staircase
where you have steps and then you can put your foot
at each higher level step to progress.
On the wall, the partner stretch.
So he's gonna go like this, keep your shoulders square.
I'm going to come here-- - He's got his
arm all braced against the wall.
- Yeah, I'm gonna support at the knee joint.
If I support here, it puts stress on the knee joint
which we don't really need,
especially if there's a history of an injury there.
So I'm gonna go here with my good body mechanics.
Tell me when, and you're gonna straighten out
like this a little bit, there we go.
How you doing Alex, is it a stretch?
- Keep going?
A little more. - Impressive.
- Wow, good job.
- [Bob] Wow, you're better that way than you--
- That's pretty good. - You're there so,
now we're just gonna hold it.
So we're working a different group of muscles
the abductors, the groin muscles and--
- [Bob] He'll be able to ride a horse now.
- There you go (laughs).
- [Bob] A fat horse.
- I find on this one, I feel more in the hip joint itself.
- I was starting to feel it up in here.
- Oh, no kidding. - Yeah.
It's a different kinda stretch
than the hamstring stretch.
I'd be a little more cautious with this one as well.
- [Bob] These are easy muscles to get minor tears in 'em.
- Right.
- And the person receiving the stretch
you really gotta relax.
You can't be holding yourself up,
I tried to do that on the first attempt.
- Yap, so he's really-- - You just gotta breathe.
- You're a fast learner Alex.
I did wanna show one more thing go back to the front stretch
back up against the wall.
I was telling Alex this, and he said no way,
but when, and this is back in the 80s, I was 20s in the 80s.
- You're not gonna do this to my leg I hope.
- No, after about a year of karate,
I started about this level.
And by the time after a year of serious training,
my toe could touch the wall,
and I was kicking head level pretty easily.
- [Bob] We want pictures.
- Yeah (laugh). - We want proof.
- Yeah, it's true.
- They didn't have pictures back then.
- [Bob] Yeah, that's right.
- People out there that who study and train in karate,
they'll say yeah, that's not--
- [Bob] Are there cave drawings or etchings?
- Yeah.
All right, so a very good stretch way
to get those head level kicks, above head level kicks
make 'em look pretty, make 'em be fun.
Oh, and Bob's all excited
they wanna start kicking and punching.
Leave me alone.
- All right, thanks for watching folks.