What should you pay attention to in flexibility training

Don’t chase the pain, match the basics, and proceed step by step. The remaining details are extended around these points. Don’t be distracted by the various training standards on the Internet. A while ago, there was a young man who was just starting to practice strength training at the gym I frequented. He saw that the girl practicing yoga next to him could lower his waist easily, and he pushed himself down, straining the erector spinae muscles on his lower back. He had to apply plaster for nearly two weeks before he dared to bend down normally. This is a typical example of applying "other people's standards" to himself, without taking into account that his waist is tight due to sitting for a long time, and his core strength is still weak, so he can't bear to move to a large extent.

There is a very noisy saying on the Internet now, saying that stretching must be done after warming up, and that cold stretching is completely wrong. In fact, it depends on the situation. If you are doing the kind of deep stretching that requires the maximum range of motion, such as doing splits or wide-angle shoulder openings, you really have to wait for the body temperature to rise and the viscosity of the muscles to drop before doing it. , otherwise it is like a frozen rubber band that is easy to break. But if you have been sitting at work for two hours and your shoulders and neck are stiff, stand up and stretch your legs for 30 seconds, or wake up in the morning and stretch your thighs twice. This kind of low-intensity stretching does not require special warm-up at all, but can quickly relieve muscle tension. There is no need to stick to the rules too hard.

Many people's misunderstanding about stretching is that "no pain, no effect." In fact, effective stretching is a bit sore and swollen, but it is completely tolerable, just like when you pull a new elastic band until it is fully expanded and starts to tighten with a little more force. It is enough to stop there and hold it for 15 to 30 seconds. If you have to pull hard until it hurts, the muscles will activate the self-protection mechanism to contract. Not only will it not be stretched, but it will also be easily injured. Another detail that is easily overlooked is, don’t just focus on the parts that you think are “tight”. A running friend I led always said that his calves were tight. He spent 10 minutes every day stretching his calves, but the more he stretched, the more likely he was to get cramps. Later, he discovered that his hip flexors were too tight. When running, he relied entirely on his calves to compensate. Simply pulling on his calves cannot solve the problem. The muscle tension on both sides is imbalanced, and the more he pulls, the bigger the problem will be.

I used to be unable to squat while doing weightlifting, and my hips always got stuck. At first, I pressed my hips blindly every day, and it was so painful that even pumping had no effect. Later, I went to see a rehabilitation practitioner and found out that I had poor mobility in one hip. Before each exercise, I used a foam roller to roll the tight muscles in my hips for 5 minutes, and then did 3 sets of dynamic hip circles. If you have old injuries, such as lumbar protrusion, rotator cuff injury, or old joint diseases, it is best not to follow the videos on the Internet to practice blindly. First, find a professional rehabilitation practitioner to evaluate which positions can and cannot be stretched. Don't want to practice flexibility, but relapse the old injury, which is not worth the gain.