Fitness Together

< strong>Back training tips: Relax your chest muscles before doing back training!

Have you ever tried to practice rowing, but you can’t find the feeling of exerting force in your back muscles at all, or the feeling of your back muscles is very poor?

In various rowing (horizontal plane) exercises, the main joint movements involved are shoulder abduction and extension!

But if the shoulder abduction and extension functions are inhibited, it will be difficult to effectively exercise the back!

First let’s get to know: Reciprocal Inhibition )

In our bodies! Muscles are also paired. The muscles that mainly complete the action are called agonist muscles, also known as agonist muscles. The muscles that cooperate with relaxation to complete the action are called antagonist muscles. The roles of action muscles and antagonist muscles are opposite to each other, and they must work together to produce action. For example, the chest muscles and upper back (trapezius and rhomboids) groups are a pair.

Alternating inhibition refers to the process of "when the agonist muscle contracts, the antagonist muscle must relax." That is to say, when you abduct your shoulders, the muscles responsible for shoulder adduction must relax; when your shoulders extend, the muscles responsible for shoulder flexion must relax!

But: What will happen if the antagonist muscles are too tight and too active to cooperate with the relaxation of the agonist muscles normally?

The answer is: the function of the agonist muscles is inhibited! Unable to function normally!

Many people have tight chest muscles when sitting for long periods of time in daily life or during training!

In rowing training: the agonist muscle is the back, and the antagonist muscle is the chest. Too tight chest muscles will often prevent your back from functioning!

So the suggestion is: relax and stretch your chest muscles before doing back exercises to help your back do its job better!

You can use tennis balls to massage your chest muscles, and then stretch your chest muscles