What is the Achilles tendon? The Achilles tendon is a tendon that connects the heel bone to the soleus and gastrocnemius muscles. It is the largest and most important tendon in the human body. It is responsible for the flexion and extension of the ankle and determines the jumping and running of the human body. The length is about 15CM.
From this we find the first point of controversy, which is the length of the Achilles tendon.
According to the scientific definition, the length of the Achilles tendon is basically about 15CM, which means that this has nothing to do with nature. Maybe A's Achilles tendon is 15.6CM and B's is 14.8CM, but there is not much difference between the two. The actual gap is far from what we usually hear about Kobe’s 28CM and Jordan’s 30CM. Attached below is a portal's analysis of Achilles tendon and Liu Xiang's injuries when Liu Xiang was injured in the 2008 Olympics:
The length and position of the Achilles tendon can be clearly seen from the picture. I don’t think anyone will say that the 15CM long Achilles tendon only refers to the length of Liu Xiang’s own Achilles tendon, because everyone who has watched his game knows Liu Xiang’s height. Everyone also knows what Liu Xiang’s calves are. As for the location of the Achilles tendon, we can see from the picture that the Achilles tendon is wrapped by the outer layer of skin. That is to say, if your calf muscles are relatively developed or there is a lot of fat, it cannot be directly detected with the naked eye. Observe the length of the Achilles tendon. So why do we still have the view that the Achilles tendon is 28CM and 30CM? I think there are probably two reasons:
A. Inferiority mentality: Use this kind of data to make excuses for your own incompetence or lack of effort
B. Wrong understanding of the relationship between the Achilles tendon and the tendon: Many friends define the distance from the heel to the calf, that is, the gastrocnemius muscle, as the length of the Achilles tendon, so we found out from this
The 15CM Achilles tendon is born the same, so is there any way for us to change or lengthen it the day after tomorrow? This leads to the second misunderstanding, that is, the Achilles tendon can be lengthened.
Can the Achilles tendon be lengthened?
The answer must be no, because we know that the soleus and gastrocnemius muscles, especially the soleus muscle itself, cannot be lengthened by training or external force. Therefore, the Achilles tendon connecting the heel will naturally not be stretched. In our daily life, we think that Kobe, McGrady, and Iverson have long Achilles tendons. As mentioned above, it is actually the tendons that are long, not your Achilles tendon. In other words, the Achilles tendon cannot change, but the tendon can indeed change. However, it must be reiterated here that the soleus, gastrocnemius and other tendons themselves do not directly determine the running and jumping of the human body. The most direct decision of the running and jumping of the human body is the Achilles tendon. This is why in martial arts novels, useless people have to pick off the martial arts. Hamstring, the so-called hamstring is the Achilles tendon. Have you ever seen someone pull it on their calf when they are doing martial arts? And we can change the tendons through certain training, such as calf raises. Many people find that their so-called Achilles tendon length has changed after calf raises. In fact, this is just an illusion, because the length of your Achilles tendon has not changed. It has become the gastrocnemius muscle of your calf, that is, the length of your calf has become stronger due to muscle training. Compact and more knottyIn fact, it naturally results in a visual increase in the calf, but as mentioned before, the length of the Achilles tendon is not the distance from the calf to the heel bone, so this increase is naturally an illusion and a mistake. In addition, we mentioned earlier that the Achilles tendon lengthening surgery can lengthen the Achilles tendon, but many young people should not have any illusions about this, because it is targeted at people who are born with club feet, club feet or Achilles tendon contracture. People, and the age for this surgery is generally lower. If you are over 12 years old, it is very complicated and difficult to do this surgery. So stop believing that the Achilles tendon can change, or is determined innately. Don’t use the argument that black people are born with longer Achilles tendons than yellow people, because the Achilles tendon is difficult to judge with the naked eye. Have you checked it yourself? How do you know that black people have longer Achilles tendons than you?
Now that we understand the innate factors and acquired factors of the Achilles tendon, let’s take a look at the role of the Achilles tendon.
The role of the Achilles tendon:
The Achilles tendon is the most basic part of the human body that determines running and jumping. Even if you have strong thighs and sufficient hip muscles, if there is no Achilles tendon, your force cannot be transmitted to the feet, and you cannot even perform the most basic movements. Neither can be completed. This also explains why many people complained that Liu Xiang should have kept running down during the Olympics, but his results were not ideal. But Achilles tendon injuries are like this. Once there is a problem with the Achilles tendon, you cannot persist if you want to. Even if your other muscles and joints are normal, one Achilles tendon can ruin an athlete's career. Therefore, the Achilles tendon is the foundation, and the Achilles tendon naturally plays a role in bouncing, because this is not necessarily mutual. You will not be able to jump without the Achilles tendon, but the relationship between how high you jump and the Achilles tendon itself is not necessarily the same. .
The significance of the Achilles tendon for bouncing:
Here we must first understand a concept, that is, the relationship between the Achilles tendon and bounce is different from the relationship between the thigh and core muscles. Thighs and core muscles are mutually determined. If your core muscles are strong, your thighs must also be strong, because if your core muscles are strong and your thighs are weak, you will not be able to support a strong torso, because the quality of your thighs directly determines your knees. of wrapping and protection. Similarly, strong thighs must also have strong core muscles, because if you want to develop good thighs, you must have sufficient core strength, otherwise you will not be able to perform at a high level such as full squats and deadlifts. But there is no such relationship between the Achilles tendon and jumping. If the bounce is good, the Achilles tendon must be good, because if you want to jump high, the Achilles tendon must be strong and strong enough. But a good Achilles tendon may not necessarily be a good bounce. This is what we will introduce below:
In fact, I don’t know when the concept that the Achilles tendon is related to bounce was introduced or produced. I have known about such a concept since I first came into contact with basketball, so I raise my heels every day, but I always mentioned that I was in France.There was no qualitative change in my jumping ability after I was selected by the team, or it was much better than others. On the contrary, during team training, there is basically no need to raise the heels to train, and the bounce has been greatly improved. From this, I thought, why is it better not to practice it? What is the connection between it and bouncing? Let’s analyze the process of bouncing: As we all know, the fundamental source of bouncing force in the human body is the thigh muscles. There is no doubt about this. . So if you want to jump high, the first step you must meet is that your thigh muscles must have a certain level; secondly, when your thighs exert force, the force is directed downward and is transmitted to the ankles and insteps through the Achilles tendon. If the ankle joint and heel joint If the tendon is not strong enough, it will not be able to withstand the force exerted by the thigh, which will naturally remove part of the force, resulting in less force being fed back to the ground. Therefore, people who bounce well generally have relatively strong ankle joints; then due to the reaction force, the force is transmitted upward to the buttocks, driving the body off the ground, so the quality of the buttocks is also the key to determining a *River Crab* jump; finally, through arm swing, Stretching the arms and other actions will drive the upper body to extreme extension and achieve the maximum reach. From this point of view, in bouncing, the Achilles tendon mainly plays a transmission role, and the true level of bouncing is inextricably linked to the thighs, hips, and ankle joints. Therefore, we cannot say that if the Achilles tendon is good, the bounce must be good.
Careful friends may find a question about this. Since the Achilles tendon plays a transmission role, does the quality of the Achilles tendon have an impact on the jumping speed? The answer is yes, the stronger the Achilles tendon, or the stronger the calf muscle, then you Naturally, the faster the force is transmitted, the correspondingly faster your running and bouncing speed will be. All sprint athletes, or long jumpers, and high jumpers must have very strong Achilles tendons. The strength of the Achilles tendon can be improved through training. Note that what is mentioned here is the strength of the Achilles tendon, not its length.
I believe that everyone has a certain understanding of the Achilles tendon at this time. Let us introduce several misunderstandings and opinions about the calf. The training methods of the Achilles tendon will also be explained together with the calf after introducing the calf.
1. Slender calves = well-developed bounce:
This concept cannot be said to be wrong, but it cannot be said to be right either. Why? Because it is suitable for different groups of people. For the majority of amateurs, this is definitely a wrong view, but for NBA and other professional players, this view should be viewed relatively separately. First of all, the reason why the calf is slender is because this person has extremely low fat content in the calf. With low fat content, he naturally weighs less. If he weighs less, he will naturally be able to move quickly, and his ability to move quickly will lead to a higher jumping height. This inference seems to have no problem, but if we think about it carefully, we find that it ignores the two most important points, namely the strength of the Achilles tendon and the quantity and quality of the muscle. NBA stars have slender calves, but their Achilles tendons are strong enough and their calf muscles are well developed. This is because they improve them through professional training methods. What about amateurs?I believe that 90% of calf training methods are calf raises, or various variations of calf raises. This is enough for bodybuilding enthusiasts, but it is far from improving the strength of calf muscles and Achilles tendons required by basketball players. Far from enough. And your Achilles tendon is not strong enough and your calf muscles are underdeveloped. What do you rely on to bounce? Moreover, the calves, like the thighs, are inextricably linked to the knees. Once the thighs are strong and the calves are slender, then what happens to the knees? Naturally there are big problems with pressure and support. You can just say that I don’t want my thighs to be strong. Then I can only say that you don’t understand basketball at all. Which basketball player have you seen who dares to slap his chest and say that I don’t need to train my thighs or have strong thighs? Therefore, whether it is from the perspective of movement, bounce or injuries, amateurs who blindly make their calves slim are tantamount to digging their own graves.
As for what I said about professional players such as the NBA, this point of view must be viewed separately and analyzed based on specific circumstances. As we all know, people have proportions. If your upper body is strong, your lower body will appear slender, or even look short. For example, many people say that Kobe has thin legs, but you have not considered his height. He was 198cm, and his current height is 201cm. For example, if I am 180cm, my calves are 40cm thick, and Kobe is also 40cm, then relative He must look much thinner than me. This is just like crumpling a piece of paper into a ball, it will naturally look thicker than pulling it apart. Of course, we do not rule out that some people do have very thin legs, such as Allen Iverson, Du Rand, T-MAC, etc., but you can find a problem with these players, that is, they are not big in size. If you have friends who have studied medicine or clothing, you may know that the thickness of human calves, arms, and necks is generally 1:1:1, so you can find that AI’s calves are very slender, but AI’s overall body is not large. ; In addition, there are some people in the NBA who have thicker calves, but it does not affect their athletic ability. The most typical one is Nate. Of course, you can say that he is short, but in terms of proportion, he may not be. So thick. You can look for examples that are more suitable than him, such as Paul and Deron. I believe no one will say that Paul or Deron are not athletic. Therefore, it is relatively one-sided to simply say that slender calves mean strong jumping or excellent athletic ability.
2. Slender calves = nature & skin color
This view is also quite ridiculous, because some people compare it to the slenderness of black people’s calves. I still say the same thing, have you personally measured how thin the black people’s calves are? I remember when we did the pre-season physical examination. Because I had to make protective gear for each player, I measured all dimensions such as leg circumference and arm circumference. I remember that my calf was 41cm at the time, and a black friend in the same position as me was 2cm taller than me. It was much thinner than me, but when I took it over and took a look, it was 1cm thicker than me. I wondered, how could it be still thicker than me? Could there be something wrong with the ruler? Later I thoughtI understand, because this has something to do with skin color. Think about it, why do ten women have nine silk skins, nine silk skins and eight black women? Because black makes people look thinner. This is the same concept as putting on greasepaint in a bodybuilding competition. Especially for white and yellow people, if you don't touch oil paint, look at the muscles and they are completely different. Therefore, the idea that slender calves equal skin color is obviously problematic.
As for the idea that slender calves are born, it is easier to explain. Try not eating very much or dieting, and see if you lose muscle and weight. Muscle loss does not mean losing part of it, it means losing it all over the body. Then your calves will naturally lose weight, and the idea that you are born slender will naturally be self-defeating.
3. Explosive power of the calf
This view cannot be said to be ridiculous or wrong, it can only be said to be one-sided, because this view takes a one-sided look at the issue of explosive power. What is explosive power? Explosive power is the release of maximum force at the fastest speed in the fastest time. Strength is the foundation. If you don't have strength, what you release is the fastest speed. Therefore, when some friends see this, they go to practice heavy heel raises, but you ignore the issue of speed. Heel raises do not improve speed much, and what you train can only be absolute strength. Therefore, when some friends see this, they go to practice fast and heavy heel raises, but you ignore the original meaning of speed. What you improve is only the speed of heel raises, which has nothing to do with the speed required for explosive power. So some friends go to practice sprinting after seeing this, but you have never thought that in sprinting, you only get horizontal explosive power, which is very different from the vertical explosive power you think of like jumping. Some people may object, look at Bolt, do you look at other people's jumping? I ask the same question, have you seen Bolt practice power cleans? Do you think they only practice sprinting every day? Who has the most explosive power? Good? It should be weightlifters, because they have jumping height, short distance speed, and strong strength level.
Explosive power is a comprehensive skill, a product of whole-body muscle and nerve control. You cannot simply talk about calf explosive power. This is obviously one-sided. Therefore, those who practice 90% of calf explosive power practice heel raises. This method is naturally wrong and ineffective. Because you have practiced calf raises, calf raises are not explosive movements at all. If you want to gain explosive power, you must train explosive movements:
4. Explosive movements
Explosive movements must meet a certain weight, speed, and high coordination to be completed or not out of shape. In particular, speed and high coordination are very important. Therefore, the heel raise is obviously not an explosive movement, because the speed of my lift has absolutely nothing to do with whether I can lift it. Therefore, the several jumping plans I wrote never included heel raising training separately. Calf raises are enough for calf training for bodybuilders, but they are far from enough for the explosive power and Achilles tendon strength we need to play basketball; therefore, squats and bench presses are not explosive movements, because squats and bench presses only require It's not a heavy weight, so speed doesn't matter.The sound is completed and the coordination requirements are not high. So what are explosive movements? You can try snatches, high grabs, wide pulls, clean and jerks, push presses, high cleans and other weightlifting movements. You will find that even if the weight is not heavy, if your speed is not fast and your coordination is not good, Then you won't be able to complete the action at all, and even if you complete it, you will still be out of shape and go to the United States. This also explains why many people who have learned weightlifting for three months are still unable to get started, because the requirements for strength, speed, and coordination are too high. Explosive power itself is a very high skill. It is the most difficult and complex of all skills to practice.
Some trainers may faint after seeing this. What if you don’t practice calf raises? Below we will introduce the training methods of Achilles tendon and calf from the two perspectives of explosive power and injury. Two points should be noted here: 1. The Achilles tendon and the calf are inseparable. It cannot be said that if I train the Achilles tendon, I will not train the calf. 2. Bounce is classified as explosive power. You should all understand this. Because there are two types of explosive power, vertical and horizontal, and bounce is only vertical. I think everyone doesn't want to have explosive power in the horizontal direction.
Explosive calf and Achilles tendon training:
1. Full squat: This seemingly unrelated action must be done, because without a full squat, there is no leg strength. Without leg strength, the following training is impossible to talk about. This is the basis.
2. Deadlift: The principle is the same as training 1
3. Wide pull and narrow pull: Wide pull and narrow pull play a great role in turning, grabbing and thrusting, and are the introductory movements of explosive training. Trainers are required to exert force suddenly when the barbell is pulled to the buttocks, shrugging the shoulders, and raising the heels. Naturally, it is of great benefit to the training of the calves and Achilles tendon. If this action is not done quickly and coordinately, it will basically look very ugly. Attached is a video of narrow pulling:
4. Power clean: After the pulling movement has been trained to a certain level, you can add power clean. The main point of power clean is that you must not be able to turn over. Instead of relying on your body to swing up, you must get yourself off the ground instead of extending your toes. Heel raise. This is good for the explosive training we need. Attached is a high clean training video: