Yang Wei2014-02-05 09:28:00 From： New Sports
—— Dr. Chen did systematic training on Yang Wei. He felt that his calf muscles became stronger, so he confidently went to the World Championships in October, and brought back three gold medals for the men’s team, individual all-around and parallel bars.
● From the March issue of New Sports, 2012, dictated by Bob Chen, Written by Bai Qiang
The thickest, biggest and longest ligament in the human body is the Achilles tendon, and it is also the part that bears the most weight. In addition to weight, jumping, running, vacating, rotating, somersault, and especially landing, anyone of these that gymnasts do would create great pressure on their Achilles tendons, not to mention the fact that they are also barefoot. According to the laws of biomechanics, in doing the vault, when an athlete lands from 6 meters high in the air, with a variety of actions and whirlwind speed, the impact force the feet receive when they hit the ground is six times of the athlete’s body weight. What is meant for Yang Wei to get injured here is self-evident.
Yang Wei’s feet, especially his right foot at that moment, even walking was painful, let alone running and jumping. However, using only conservative treatments, feet soaking and other methods cannot guarantee his normal training. Some sports medical experts also express clearly that all high-intensity training actions must be stopped. To the gymnastics team and Yang Wei, who were about to set off for the upcoming 2006 World Championship Games, this was undoubtedly difficult to accept, so they wanted to seek answers in physical rehabilitation.
What we were facing, however, was a choice between rehabilitation concepts: the traditional concept, which was training after resting; or recovering during training, improving the ability of his Achilles tendon to withstand greater amounts of exercise. After much research, we decided to adopt the unconventional one, the latter.
This is an interlocking systematic solution that required coaches, and the team doctor to cooperate with us, combined with medical treatment, special training and sports training and rehabilitation. This required the coach to control strictly the amount of Yang Wei’s special training, and the increases in intensity had be small, especially landing training, it should follow the order of pressure on the feet (pommel horse, parallel bars ... floor exercise), also following the principle of progressing from small to large, low to high, and easy to difficult. After training, the doctor should promptly do ice treatment, and control the inflammation that appeared during training. In the evening, the doctor should then use physical therapy, wax therapy, and other medical practices for the Achilles tendon recovery to ensure that Yang Wei could resume normal training the next day. Sports training and rehabilitation focuses on enhancing the strength of the legs and heels and improving the tensile capacity of the Achilles tendon, which is the best method for restoring and protecting it for later. The main method we used was the “barbell toe lifts” exercise, and in the meantime, we did a lot of stretching exercises, ankle point stability training, such as stepping on balance mats, etc.
Since Yang Wei had never been through this kind of high intensity physical rehabilitation training, coupled with inadequate attention, his initial cooperation level only reached 60-70%. The “barbell toe lift” goal we set for him was 165 kg, 2.5 times of his weight, which was the cut-off line of force variety for his Achilles tendon to withstand. During training, we wrapped sponges around the barbell to reduce the discomfort that he bore on his shoulders, but he could only do up to 70 kg. The result was, we tried everything, but could not raise his capacity, and with that lack of capacity, the injuries would most certainly be repeated.
Sure enough, in March and May, after attending several competitions at home and abroad, the situation of Yan Wei’s injury had worsened. We decided to push physical training forward, and also suggested that he bandage the injured part to help his Achilles tendon withstand the force. With the support bandages, Yang Wei discovered that he could run when doing vault, and he could also do floor exercises. He was so happy that he got himself into another blind zone unconsciously: relying on the support bandage to the point that without it, he would not practice. But I told him that this was only an auxiliary means; the key to solving his problem was to improve his physical function.
Yang Wei actually learned a lesson on this once. One day, the team doctor, who usually put the support bandages on Yang Wei, was absent, so they found a temporary helper. The high-spirited Yang Wei worked out based upon his usual training intensity. But unexpectedly, he suffered a relapse in the inflammation because the bandages were not bound properly. This was a great blow to him, and several days’ training was for nothing.
The facts had gradually helped Yang Wei to realize the importance of physical training, and from the beginning of August, he started to cooperate fully with us; even when encountering with some risky moves, he would boldly take the initiative to do them. Take vaulting horse training, for example: it is similar to most difficult high score “twist down” action, what the experts called the action of halting, which requires jumping down from a high point, and then rapidly bouncing up. Every week, we added on 10% of intensity, and every month, we added one layer on the vaulting box. After each training session, Yang Wei’s Achilles tendons would experience some discomfort, but he still continued on, and finally the height of the vaulting horse was the same height as the pommel horse.
After going through this systematic training, Yang Wei felt his calf muscles became stronger, and the force of gravity was no longer just on the Achilles tendons. The weight of the “barbell toe lifts” was also basically raised to the standard 160 kg. He confidently went to the World Championships in Denmark in October, and happily brought back three gold medals for the men’s team, individual all-around and parallel bars.
Since then, physical training has become Yang Wei’s daily routine. Before and after special training, he was often seen at the venue’s corner doing barbell toe lift exercises, and we also promptly gave him advice and guidance. The lengthy physical rehabilitation paid off once again in 2008: Yang Wei won two gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, catching glory once again.
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