What does joint mobility training include

From the practical experience of clinical rehabilitation and sports training, the current mainstream joint mobility training is mainly divided into three categories: passive training, assisted training, and active training. Many practitioners also classify functional joint mobility training combined with daily scenes into a separate category.

When I was helping at a sports rehabilitation center a while ago, I met a high school student who had just undergone ankle fracture surgery. He did not dare to use his feet at all in the first two weeks after the surgery. The rehabilitation therapist would wear sterile gloves to hold his feet every day and slowly help him do hooking and stretching movements. This kind of movement completely relied on external force. Passive training does not require exertion by oneself. In addition to the techniques of rehabilitation practitioners, such as the CPM joint continuous motion device commonly used after orthopedic surgery, and the manual release with the help of family members, they all fall into this category. They are mainly used in the acute stage of injury, severe insufficient muscle strength or severe joint adhesions.

When the swelling around the joints has almost subsided and the muscles have gained some strength, you no longer need to rely entirely on others to support you. At this time, you will use assist training. For example, the high school student I just mentioned can use a little force to hook his foot in the third week after the operation, but he loses strength halfway up. We put an elastic band on his instep. When he hooks up, we gently pull the elastic band to use the handle, or use a suspension device to lift the calf to reduce the gravity burden. He also exerts his own strength, and the outside world also provides some assistance. This will not put too much force on the joints, but also slowly activate the surrounding muscles to help expand the range of motion.

When the follow-up recovery is better and there is no obvious pain or adhesion, you can enter the active training stage, relying entirely on your own muscle power to drive joint movement. The shoulder rotations, leg presses, and cervical vertebrae exercises that we ordinary people usually do in warm-up are actually active joint movement training. There is no external assistance. They rely entirely on themselves to control the range and speed of activities. This can not only maintain normal joint mobility, but also strengthen the stability of the muscles around the joints.

There are actually different voices in the industry regarding the classification of these categories. Many rehabilitation practitioners and physical fitness coaches feel that there is another type of functional joint activity training that needs to be separated from the previous single-joint training - for example, when training hip joint mobility, it is not necessary to Instead of simply turning your thighs while lying down, it combines daily movements such as squats and lunges, and simultaneously practices the coordinated activities of the three joints of the hip, knee, and ankle, which is more suitable for the needs of real life and sports; but some people think that this is just an extension of active training, and there is no need to classify it separately.

To be honest, if there is no injury or need for postoperative rehabilitation, ordinary people don't need to go through such a detailed classification in their daily life. During the warm-up, just move each joint a few times more and don't freeze for a long time. If you really have an injury and need rehabilitation, just follow the rhythm of the professionals. Don't break the joints blindly, which may easily cause secondary injuries.