Flexibility training several times a week

For ordinary healthy adults, maintaining basic flexibility 2-3 times a week is enough； For people with special needs such as dance, yoga, and fighting, the training can be adjusted to 4-6 times a week according to the training goals, and even short-term low-intensity flexibility exercises every day are completely feasible.

When I first came into contact with flexibility training, I encountered a lot of pitfalls. A personal trainer who had just applied for a fitness card told me that training only once a week would be effective until it hurts every time. I followed the training for three months, sitting and bending forward with my toes. I couldn't even touch it. Later, I talked to a brother who practices Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the gym. He said that he practices flexibility five times a week, otherwise he would not be able to avoid being hit by a heel hook during competitions. Then I realized that this number is not a template for everyone.

Let’s just say that most workers who work from 9 to 5 are typing on the computer for 8 hours a day. After get off work, they slump on the sofa and check their mobile phones. At most, their shoulders and necks are stiff, and it is difficult to bend down to tie their shoelaces. This kind of thing is really something that cannot be tolerated every day. Do it 2-3 days a week for 15-20 minutes each time. When you practice, you can feel obvious soreness but not stinging. My colleague who sat across from me previously had a problem when he turned his head. He went to the hospital and was told that the curvature of his cervical vertebrae had straightened. Then he practiced shoulder and neck stretching for 20 minutes every Tuesday and Thursday in the company’s yoga room during lunch break. After just over a month, he said his neck was no longer stiff when he woke up in the morning. For the first two years when my father was in his fifties, he had to lift his legs up on a stool to put on socks, which caused back pain when he bent over. Later, he danced square dance with my mother twice a week, and after that, he did leg exercises for 10 minutes with his uncle and aunt. After only two months, he can now sit cross-legged on the sofa and watch football for two hours, and he can even do somersaults with my little nephew when he has nothing to do.

Speaking of which, the fitness circle has actually been quite noisy about this frequency issue, and there is no absolutely unified standard answer. Most coaches in the strength department do not recommend high-frequency flexibility training, especially the hamstrings and hip flexors of the lower limbs, which are responsible for force production. Training too much will make the muscles too extensible and unable to hold up when exerting heavy weight. I used to know a friend who competed in powerlifting competitions. In order to squat deeper before the competition, he stretched his hamstrings for 20 minutes every day before training. As a result, when he squatted at 180 kg on the day of the competition, his legs suddenly became weak and he almost lost his waist. Later, he moved all flexibility training to after training and only practiced 3 times a week. Instead, he squatted steadily at 190 kg in the next competition.

But on the other hand, practitioners of sports such as gymnastics, yoga, and dance mostly support daily low-intensity flexibility exercises. A best friend I know who has been teaching yoga for 7 years does 15 minutes of flow yoga every morning to open the hips and shoulders. It is a very gentle dynamic stretch and will not be stretched to the limit. After practicing for so many years, she has not had the problem of joint instability that others have said. On the contrary, when the seasons change, she never has back pain like other people. She always said that many people are afraid of hurting their joints if they practice too much. In fact, they confuse "extreme stretching" with "daily stretching". If you stretch to the limit every day, you will definitely get injured, but if you just stretch your muscles, you can practice every day.

I now do formal flexibility training three times a week, all after strength training, for 15 minutes each time, mainly stretching my shoulders, back and lower limbs. Because I write in front of the computer every day, the trapezius muscles become stiff at every turn, so I stretch the trapezius and sternocleidomastoid muscles for 5 minutes every day before going to bed. This short-term relaxation is not actually a formal flexibility training, and it does not impose any burden. After practicing this for almost a year, I have never had pain in my shoulders and neck, and I can now bend forward half the joint of my hand in a sitting position.

Some friends told me before that they were born with hard bones, but practicing was useless. To be honest, I used to think that I was born with strong bones. When my mother was young, she could push -5cm while sitting and bending forward. My first physical test in college only pushed 1cm. However, after practicing twice a week for half a year, I can now push up to 15cm. There is nothing that I can't do naturally. It just depends on the frequency and method. Some people think that the more painful the stretch, the better the effect. Don’t be stupid. If you feel a sharp sting when you pull, it means you have overstretched it. If you pull again, you will strain it. The soreness and tingling sensation from flexibility training are completely different things. Don’t carry it blindly.

In fact, there is really no need to count the number of times. If you feel that your whole body is stretched after the exercise and you feel no discomfort the next day, it is absolutely fine to practice one or two more times. If your joints hurt and your muscles are sore that you can't lift the next day after the exercise, then the frequency is either too high or the movements are done wrong. Just make adjustments quickly. After all, we ordinary people don’t practice flexibility just to do the splits and win awards. It’s enough that it’s not stiff, pain-free, and comfortable when moving.