Almighty Coach

Chapter 295: Rehabilitation Training

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Don't stop! Cheer up! Another five!" Dai Li urged Anshan Wang.

In the training yard, Wang stood in front of a pneumatic resistance chest expander, doing cross-pulling exercises with his arms continuously. The chest expander was relatively advanced. The most prominent feature of it being the precise adjustment of the training load.

Traditional fitness equipment is gravity-weighted, that is, the free weight is changed by the addition or removal of iron weight stacks. For example, a weight stack of the fitness equipment used in Europe and America mostly weighs 10 pounds usually. Five-pound stacks are not so commonly seen. The lightest ones weigh 2.5 pounds. That's to say, the minimum free weight added or removed in the training is 2.5 pounds.

However, even the most commonly used pneumatic resistance fitness equipment is able to adjust the free weight by an accuracy of 1 pound. The products of top brands, such as KEISER, can change the weight by 0.1 pound, which indeed is the best to meet professional athletes' demands for precise training.

In addition, such equipment can change the free weight separately. For instance, when doing weight training for both arms, one can use different free weights for each arm respectively. So, it's particularly effective when used in the training of sports, such as table tennis and badminton, where the players' two arms are used differently.

Anshan Wang clenched his teeth and tried to do his utmost. His expression showed that his training load was very heavy, and that he had almost reached his limit. Although every single action was a challenge for him, he insisted on finishing, and didn't give up.

"Come on, just four more! Grit your teeth and hang on! Perseverance brings you final victory!" Dai Li encouraged him again, standing next to him.

Zhizhong Gu and Bin Wang stared at the scene nearby, standing side by side.

The training up to one's physical limit is something of torture for the athletes. No doubt they will reject it. Although Dai Li was not a top-notch coach across the globe, he somehow could convince a top athlete in the world to accept such extreme training. This skill had explained his success.

"It took him only a few days to nail it. We have all underestimated him," Bin Wang said of Li.

Zhizhong Gu nodded in agreement, saying, "Yeah. I never expected that. I thought that he might need a year or so, to get acquainted with his athletes, before he could smoothly carry out his training plan. But in no more than a week, Anshan Wang was willing to follow his instructions to train himself that hard. It's really beyond my expectations. That's good. It means that it's now safe to ask him to handle Xiangxian Zuo."

Wang was amazed at Gu's words, and he said, "But the doctor has recommended him to rest for a few days."

"Rehabilitation training is one of the jobs of a fitness coach." Gu stopped and then continued, "The Swedish Open is about to begin. We can't wait any longer. It's a must for us to have Zuo recovered. He is the only left-handed athlete we have. We need to count on him, at least for the double."

…

"What's the matter?" Dai Li was summoned to the office by Zhizhong Gu.

Gu motioned him to sit down, and then he said, "Xiangxian Zuo has rested for five days, and tomorrow he will return. I hope you can take on the task of Zuo's rehabilitation. Any problem with that?"

"Me? Take charge of his rehabilitation?" He was surprised at first, then accepted with no hesitation, "Okay."

Gu said, "The Swedish Open is coming, and we're short on time. I hope you can help Zuo recover, get him back to training as soon as possible. We have a lot to do before the match begins. We cannot afford to delay anything."

Xiangxian Zuo twisted his ankle during his training five days ago. Nothing serious was found in the medical examination. However, he was asked to stay in bed and not do anything intense. His training had to be stopped as a result.

When professional athletes get injured, it's impossible for them to recover slowly like common people. They will take rehabilitation training after they have recovered to some extent. Through training, they can recover much faster, and rebuild their capability.

So, it was imperative for Zuo to take his rehabilitation training. Li had not expected that he would be assigned such an important task.

He had been in the national table tennis team for no more than a month, and had only been in the first team for more than a week. This task concerning the top athletes should have been assigned to experienced coaches, rather than new coaches, like him. But Zhizhong Gu decided to choose him.

Li didn't worry about himself, as firstly, it was his job as a fitness coach, and he had plenty of professional knowledge about that, and secondly, he had a magical weapon, rehabilitation massage.

…

Xiangxian Zuo took off his socks and shoes, exposing his swollen purple ankle.

"There is still much extravasate blood," Dai Li told him to wear his shoes then.

The purple part in his ankle was a sign of that said extravasate blood, which also brought pain. Therefore, the first step of rehabilitation training was to remove the blood.

At the same time, Li also noticed some muscle atrophy in the left leg, as it looked different than his right leg.

"Both five days' rest and the injury have affected the blood circulation in his calves. That's why the slight muscle atrophy has occurred."

He frowned a bit. Extravasate blood removal and rehabilitation was easy to deal with. With muscle atrophy, rehabilitation training would not be that easy.

"Balance pedal and BOSU ball are needed." Li made a training plan accordingly in his mind.

Balance pedal is a piece of common fitness equipment. It can create an artificial slope and change the slope gradient by the adjustment of the height of pedal.

The BOSU ball consists of two parts: the upper part is half a rubber ball, the lower part, a plastic platform. It can also be regarded as half a yoga ball.

The BOSU ball is unstable. It is difficult to do exercise movements on it, and thus, increases the amount of exercise. It is fitness equipment for static muscle training, and an absolute necessity for gyms or yoga rooms.

…

Xiangxian Zuo stood on the BOSU ball on one leg, his body swinging constantly in order to maintain his balance. For an athlete with an injured ankle, it was quite difficult to maintain balance while standing on one foot. When he was on the BOSU ball, it was even more difficult for him to find the force application point. He had to change the center of gravity through his body movement to keep balanced.

Such training was particularly effective for Zuo. When he was adjusting his center of gravity, he had to twist his ankle, which, in turn, would accelerate the blood circulation in the area around the ankle. Thus, it would eliminate the extravasate blood more quickly. At the same time, he also had to use the muscles of his legs to maintain balance. His muscle atrophy was eased, too.

The rehabilitation training, together with Li's rehabilitation massage, helped return Zuo back to normal in just five days.

…

Zhizhong Gu was walking to the training room merrily.

"Ouch!" a shriek was suddenly heard. Gu found immediately that it was Xiangxian Zuo.

"Xiangxian Zuo injured his ankles not long ago. Did he get injured again?"

Gu walked faster for a few steps and rushed into the training room, only to see that Zuo was lying on the training bench, with Dai Li massaging Zuo's waist.

"Xiangxian Zuo's waist is injured. Dai Li may have touched the injury." Gu thought. He then decided to tell Dai Li to pay more attention to Zuo's injury in the waist during the massage.

But the next moment, an expression of great enjoyment appeared on Zuo's face.

"Well, I should go to the medical room first. Doctor Chen is waiting for me." He thought, as he moved across the training yard, heading towards the medical room directly.

…

In the medical room of national table tennis team, with the latest examination report in hand, the doctor showed a serious face.

"Doctor Chen, how is Xiangxian Zuo's injury in his legs? Can he resume training?" Zhizhong Gu asked nervously.

Doctor Chen put down the report and adjusted his glasses, then said, "According to the examination result, Zuo has recovered. There is no problem for him to resume training."

"That's reassuring," Gu said, relieved.

"But..." Doctor Chen said, "I think he is recovering too quickly. According to my estimation, such a sprain takes over fifteen days to recover. Sometimes it takes a month. It has been just ten days, and yet he has recovered…a total recovery."

"This may be owing to the rehabilitation training! We have hired a new physical coach named Dai Li," Gu said casually.

"I have met that young man," Doctor Chen nodded and said, "Besides, I checked his old injury in the waist, and found it much better."

"Is that so? What good news! I will not worry about the lack of competent athletes for this Swedish Open then." A tinge of happiness shone in Gu's eyes.

Doctor Chen then continued to say, "We have talked about his waist injury before. His injury was considered to be irreversible, unless he went through an operation. We will have to thank god if it is not worsening any more. But my examination report shows that it is recovering! If he had been resting every day, such a case could be explained. But taking the intensity of our team's training into consideration, it is almost impossible to be show such a result as this."

"You mean Xiangxian Zuo's injury is getting better?" Gu asked.

"You can understand that in this way," Doctor Chen nodded and continued to say, "I have been a doctor for more than 20 years. To be honest, it's the first time I have witnessed the recovery of an irreversible injury."

All of the sudden, Gu thought of the scene he had seen just now. Dai Li was doing waist massage for Xiangxian Zuo...

"Is it because of him?"