Do not exercise blindly for flexibility, stretching is not the more painful the more effective
Correct stretching exercises can improve flexibility and maintain a good range of motion for joints and ligaments.
However, tissue damage occurs when a sport moves the joint structure beyond the joint's maximum range of motion.
——Tan Sijie, Professor, Department of Sports Human Science, Tianjin Institute of Physical Education
◎Our reporter Chen Xi
Not long ago, the news that a woman was crushed by a gym coach with a broken leg was on the hot search.
According to reports, during the private training class, the coach stretched the woman, ignoring the woman's repeated reminders and beatings, and broke her left femur with excessive force.
In fact, not only in the gym, there are also many cases of injuries caused by improper stretching in daily activities.
There is an old saying in the folks, one inch long in tendons, ten years in life.
Therefore, many people like to stretch, hoping to make the body "soft".
In this regard, Tan Sijie, a professor of the Department of Sports Human Science of Tianjin Institute of Physical Education, said in an interview with a reporter from Science and Technology Daily that flexibility is an important indicator to measure the degree of human health, but there is no need to excessively pursue the "softness" of the body.
There are individual differences in flexibility
"The common people call the body 'soft' and 'hard', and in sports terms it is flexibility." Tan Sijie introduced that flexibility refers to the ability to make a certain joint reach the maximum range of motion, including the range of motion of each joint in the body and the ability to cross The elasticity and stretchability of muscles, tendons, ligaments, joint capsules, skin and other tissues of a joint.
On short video platforms, you can often see videos of people showing off "one-word horses", but for most people, the flexibility may be less than half of them.
"This is because there are individual differences in the flexibility of the human body, and many factors that affect flexibility are determined by innate." Tan Sijie explained that this difference is reflected in the different degrees of freedom allowed by each person's joint structure, and the surrounding joints. Muscles and connective tissues differ in their ability to elongate under structural constraints, among other things.
In addition, there are some acquired factors that can affect flexibility.
Flexibility is closely related to a person's age. Generally speaking, the younger the age, the better the flexibility. With increasing age, if you don't pay attention to exercise, the elasticity of the soft tissue around the joints and the stretchability of the muscles will decrease significantly.
"Having good flexibility is helpful to human health." Tan Sijie introduced that good flexibility can increase the mobility of muscles and joints, improve the function of connective tissue around muscles and joints; avoid joint stiffness and maintain good posture and posture ; Reduce muscle pain during intense exercise and improve the efficiency of physical activity.
At the same time, good flexibility can also improve people's quality of life. For example, people with "soft" bodies can more freely complete movements such as rotation, standing up and bending over.
"Correct stretching exercises can improve flexibility and maintain a good range of motion for joint ligaments." However, Tan Sijie reminded that when a certain exercise causes the joint structure to move beyond the maximum range of motion of the joint, it will lead to tissue damage.
Determine the appropriate stretching action according to the goal
So, what is the right stretch?
How can we stretch effectively?
"Different types of stretching exercises are suitable for different parts of the body or different muscle groups. For ordinary fitness enthusiasts, if they want to find a stretching exercise that suits them, they must first determine the goal of stretching." Tan Sijie said.
There are four main types of stretching exercises that are closely related to fitness, including static stretching, dynamic stretching, contraction-relaxation stretching, and partner-assisted stretching.
Dynamic stretching is best used as a warm-up before exercise, by doing a series of specific movements to activate the corresponding joints and muscles to warm up the body.
"It should be noted that this kind of stretching as a warm-up exercise should not be too intense and the movements should be gentle." Tan Sijie added.
Static stretches can be used to increase flexibility or perform certain difficult movements.
The specific method is to stretch the joint to a position where it cannot continue to stretch, and then hold it for a certain period of time.
Generally, the more often you do this static stretch and the longer you hold it, the faster your flexibility will improve.
"It needs to be reminded that when performing static stretching, it is necessary to ensure that the strength of the stretching is appropriate, because in some cases excessive stretching may cause physical damage, which will not be worth the loss." Tan Sijie reminded.
People who hope to improve their posture and posture through stretching can achieve better results by doing dynamic stretching and static stretching.
Tan Sijie introduced stretching exercises that can improve posture. The focus of stretching is usually on the neck, upper back, shoulders and hip joints.
In addition, in the process of stretching, the body may send out some "alarms", we should pay special attention.
"Usually you shouldn't feel pain when you stretch. It's normal to have a slight discomfort, but if you have obvious pain, you should be extra vigilant, and it's best to stop immediately." Tan Sijie reminded.
In addition, "certain stretches, especially neck stretches, may affect the blood vessels that supply blood and oxygen to the brain. When you experience symptoms such as dizziness during stretching, stop stretching in time and avoid doing similar stretch." Tan Sijie emphasized.
Last but not least, be sure to keep breathing while stretching.
"Holding your breath reduces oxygen levels in your muscles and brain, and maintaining smooth breathing can help reduce muscle tone and enhance the effect of stretching muscles." Tan Sijie explained.