As a middle schooler, one of my life goals was the Presidential Fitness Award-an honor given to those who passed a series of gin-class tests that included doing a number of pull ups, running a mile, and, among other things, the sit and reach(another version of toe touching). That's where things went wrong for me. I could never reach quite far enough.
Toe touching is an easy way to begin or end any sort of workout, For most people, it is among the easiest stretching exercises to do. But for me(and any of my classmate)it's complete suffering. Why? “The two biggest factors are the flexibility of your hamstrings(腿筋) and the range of motion of your hip(髋) joints,” says Jeffrey Jenkins, a physiologist at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. “But another big factor is the relative length of your arms and your torso(躯干) to your legs, which unfortunately can't be changed.”
Ienkins says that although there are sore unjust aspects, overall the toe touch is not the worst measure of flexibility. But if you are flexibility clumsy like me, there are some things you can do to improve the flexibility of the body you have. Whenever you stretch then, your muscles contract, tighten, and resist the force to be stretched, resulting in that annoyingly painful feeling that most of us get when we first reach down to touch our toes or attempt to stretch other muscles. However, Jenkins says, if you are patient, this too shall pass.
If you hold the stretch for a minimum of six seconds, you can actually overcome the re flex (反射). In fact, Jenkins says, there's some evidence that holding still stretches for 30 seconds results in greater improvement in flexibility than holding it for 15 seconds, and just as much improvement as 60 seconds. But for some people, the pain that accompanies those sixty seconds is just too severe. If you can get past that pain, then you can probably improve your flexibility However, Jenkins cautions against tolerating too much pain; you could be tearing a muscle.
【小题1】What can be inferred about the author from the text?| A．He is a P. E. Teacher in a junior school. |
| B．He improved a version of toe touching. |
| C．He can't pass the tests of the Presidential Fitness Award. |
| D．He was envied by his classmate for his academical achievements, |
| A．How we can practice touching toes, |
| B．Why some people can't touch their toes. |
| C．What is the most important to an athlete. |
| D．Why people begin and end exercises by touching toes. |
| A．Muscle pain. | B．Clumsy moves. |
| C．Body flexibility. | D．Attempt to stretch. |
| A．to seek professional help |
| B．not to stand the severe pain beyond limit |
| C．to hold the still stretch for at least 15 seconds |
| D．not to quit at focus on the pain from the muscles |
