The Olympic Training Secret for Functional Flexibility

When Olympic superstar swimmer Dara Torres became the fastest American woman swimmer of all time at the age of 41, she called resistance stretching her "secret weapon". Dara's trainers, Steve Sierra and Anne Tierney (and my instructors and good friends), stretch and "mash" (a type of massage using the feet) Dara every day, even between races. The concept of tensing a muscle and then forcing it to stretch while maintaining the tension was developed by Bob Cooley and has been used by Olympians as well as NBA, NHL, MLB, WTA and other athletes. But it works great for everyone. I've used it to train NCAA Division I athletes as well as 86 year olds who wanted to maintain their autonomy and regain lost capabilities, and all kinds of people in between.

Let's try a resistance stretch and you'll see and feel how it works.
1.Kneel with right knee and left foot on the floor, or sit or stand.
2. Raise left arm and bend it at elbow so that arm is bent 90° and forearm is perpendicular to ground. Inhale deeply.
3.Put right hand on left elbow and pull left elbow across body to opposite shoulder, while resisting with your left arm. Exhale through the full range of motion.
4.Use your left arm to pull both arms back to the start position while you resist with the right arm, inhaling deeply.

Did you feel the stretch in your left shoulder? And the strengthening as you returned to the start? You also may have felt the strengthening and stretching in your right shoulder, as you are always working both sets of muscles through both movements. And if you try it again, you'll feel the major core workout you are getting as your body stabilizes itself resisting the opposing forces.

Resistance stretching improves the efficiency of your workout. In normal strength training, machines, weights, bands or your passive body weight generate resistance and you generate the force to overcome it. With resistance stretching, YOU generate the resistance, as well as the force to overcome it. You control every aspect of the exercise: speed, range, resistance, force, etc. It's very safe. The muscle tension stabilizes the joints and prevents muscle damage and over-stretching. And the system automatically adjusts to the participant's fitness level. Weak people can't generate much force, but they won't need much, because they can't generate much resistance. Strong people can generate lots of both. And if you like, as you get tired, you can still work at your maximum without having to change weights or machine settings.

Your flexibility will increase much faster than with other stretching techniques. By resisting, you generate a stretch through the full range of motion. In fact, you can improve range of motion without going to your limit, because as long as you're resisting while stretching, you're getting a great stretch. And you are building strength in the muscle while stretching. This is functional flexibility: increased power through an increased range of motion.

And now you can start aging in reverse. Ever wonder why those aches and pains seek you out? Actually, it's probably your fault. Repetitive motion, repetitive non-motion, bad posture and chronic stress or trauma condition muscle tension. Unbalanced muscle tension will distort joints, causing premature wear and tear, restrict movement and cause weakness and pain in the antagonist muscle (muscles are paired up to enable and control movements). By using 16 different resistance stretches - which you can do in about 35 minutes - you will target all the major muscle groups and discover where you are tight and where you are weak. Then you can start dismantling your issues by dealing with the cause! What a concept!

If you'd like to know more about the physiology involved, or anything else, please drop me a line. I'll be happy to tell you more than you want to know. Try it and you'll be hooked. Your body will tell you right away, "it's about time! Thanks!"