When doing a static(?) stretch, ie box splits, I've seen a couple of students legs begin to shake. Apparently it's not painful but does seem to restrict them as they are unable to stretch any further. My question(s)............... Is it a bad thing to carry on with a stretch if your shaking? Will it do any harm? Is there a way to stop it? Any thoughts and info would be most welcomed!
I believe it is muscle fatigue. Strengthen the muscle!! There is a cracking thread by Van Zandt, please excuse the speling Have a search Cheers BBB
I'm sure I remember reading something about this. I think there are two reasons it could happen. 1. There muscles are near the point of fatigue due to long isometric contractions or 2. it has something to do with the golgi tendon reflex when muscles are over stretched too quickly...I cant find the specific reference I'm sure I have read right now but will try and have another look for it later. You mention that it occurs during static stretching so my guess would be they are trying to stretch too far too fast without a thorough enough warm up for the specific muscles? Does this occur at the beginning or end of the class?
Spasms, or muscle tremors, are an indication of lack of strength, or fatigue, or both. Find out what limit your students can reach before the onset of spasms; have them spend some time (weeks or even months) at this limit in order to train their nervous system to get comfortable with it. If old enough, they should also do several sets of isometric stretches a couple times per week. They should focus on long, intensive contractions (30 seconds to 3 minutes up to 100% maximal voluntary contractile strength) and not exceed their limit until they feel the spasms start to ease off.
