Active Stretching 


Active stretching improves active flexibility, which is basically holding a kick out for an extended period of time. Including active stretches in your training will harvest some nice benefits. 

They strengthen your muscles greatly. 
They help you win over traditionalist judges at a tournament if you include them in a form. 
They give you abounding control over your kicks and movements. 
Overall, including active flexibility stretches in your training will not greatly aid in the execution of your tricks; However, they do give you greater control of your legs through increased strength. They will also increase your balance, which is always helpful. The two main stretches you can do for increasing active flexibility are a front kick hold, or a side kick hold.

Some factors you should keep in mind while practicing active stretches are as follow:

Do not hold the stretch for an abnormally long period of time, or your ass will be unbelievably sore. Moreover, if you hold it at a given height for a long time you will be improving holding the kick at "That" height. It's wiser to rest more and hold it higher for shorter periods of time to improve getting it higher. 

You should practice these stretches in timed sets. Which means you hold it for a period of time then rest. Then the next set you repeat or do the other side.

You should hold the stretch between 10-25 seconds and you should take rest in between each of your sets. I would advise 1:00 minute maximum rest between sets for one side.

Warm-up your muscles before doing hard-core active stretching, otherwise you could be putting stress on your lower back and your lift won't be as high.

The point of this is to get it high. So hold it as high as you possibly can, then rest. Try to work on height not duration.