What are the precautions for flexibility training

The core principle is actually not to blindly pursue extreme flexibility. All training ranges must match your sports needs and physical foundation. There is no "universal standard movement" at all.

When I was teaching classes at a fitness studio, I met a young girl who had just graduated. She watched other people's movements through short videos and her waist was particularly beautiful. She signed up for a yoga class and followed the instructor to press the crossbar on the first day. She didn't feel any pain at the time. When I got home at night, my inner thighs were swollen. I went to the hospital to find out that the medial collateral ligament was partially torn.

In fact, there are many different opinions on the arrangement of flexibility training in the industry. In the past, everyone agreed that no matter what kind of exercise you do, you must stretch the ligaments throughout the body before training to be safe. In recent years, more and more sports physiology studies have proved that for sports that require explosive power such as strength training and sprinting, if you do static stretching for more than 30 seconds before training, it will reduce the output power of the muscles. I myself don’t do long-term static pulls before I practice weight lifting. At most, I do a few sets of dynamic circle movements on my hips and shoulders. I do all the in-depth flexibility training after training or on a separate rest day. After a few pitfalls, I know that old experience is not always correct.

There is another thing that many people tend to overlook. Don't hold your breath when stretching. I once met an uncle with high blood pressure. When he pressed his legs, he clenched his fists and his face turned red. He almost fainted. Just keep breathing normally and evenly. If you feel the soreness and stretch in your muscles, just stop there. If you feel a tingling sensation, it is your body sending you an alarm. Don't hold on. Many people always feel that the back of their legs is tight after sitting for a long time, so they hold their hamstring muscles and stretch them every day. Regardless of the quadriceps and hip flexors on the front, the tension of the front and back muscles becomes more and more different. On the contrary, it is easy to strain and wear the knees. To put it bluntly, it is like the two ends of a rubber band have different tension. If you always pull on the loose end, the tight end will collapse sooner or later.

As for whether children should practice flexibility and openness as early as possible, there are different opinions now. Coaches who follow the professional ballet and rhythmic gymnastics routes will think that the joints are flexible before the age of 12, and openness training is more efficient. Some experts in pediatric sports medicine also mentioned that the epiphysis has not closed before puberty, and long-term excessive compression of the spine and hip joints may affect bone development. If it is just for ordinary children to strengthen their body, there is really no need to force the child to cry and press the horse, as long as he can move normally.

I have been practicing flexibility for almost ten years. I have been pursuing the splits since the beginning. Now, as long as I can meet the training needs and my shoulders, neck and waist do not hurt, the most practical thing to note is not to compare with others, follow your own body feelings, and any standard will be reliable.