Patrick Burns was a mechanical engineer in Phoenix in the late 1990s when he first tried Active Isolated Stretching.

“In one 60-minute session, the flexibility in my hamstrings improved more than in six weeks of physical therapy,” said Burns, 36, a graduate of King William High School and Virginia Tech.

For the survivor of a traumatic car accident, that was huge.

He started signing up for more of the stretching sessions, looking for relief from his many physical challenges, such as back spasms that occasionally dropped him to the ground. His body seemed to respond to this treatment.

“It touched me in such a way that I knew it could help other people,” Burns said. Meanwhile, he became certified as a personal trainer, hoping to help people in ways that he was being helped.

By the time he moved back to the Richmond area in 2005, he was ready to learn even more about this particular stretching technique. He attended a clinic conducted in Florida by Aaron Mattes, the creator of this stretching method, then went on to take training sessions with Mattes.

Last year, Burns quit his engineering job to found Motion Momentum, a flexibility training company specializing in AIS. He meets clients at Endorphin Fitness, an endurance athlete training company here, as well as at the Richmond Athletic Club, where he also leads a weekly stretching class. Apart from Motion Momentum, Burns is a part-time employee at the Country Club of Virginia, where he conducts stretching sessions by appointment.

His clients range from well-trained athletes looking to improve their performance through increased flexibility to elderly individuals whose flexibility has been reduced, sometimes because of surgeries.

Iris Johnson takes the AIS class at the RAC and has done a one- on-one session with Burns.

“It just improved my quality of life,” she said. Johnson, who is in her 60s, suffers from lower-back problems, which she says have been greatly relieved by these stretching sessions.

What makes AIS different from other stretching methods? This technique isolates muscle groups so that only one is stretched at a time, Burns said. Most stretches in AIS are done lying down, so that the muscles are unloaded with no weight on them. The stretches are held for only two seconds, so that the body’s natural protective reflex doesn’t kick in and work against the stretch, he said. Repetitions, accompanied by steady breathing to get lots of oxygen to the muscles, allow for a gradual increase in flexibility.

Burns said he’s not the only AIS practitioner in the Richmond area. However, he is the only one listed on the AIS Web site (www.stretchingusa.com).

Most of his clients come in to the Richmond Athletic Club or Endorphin Fitness for one-on-one stretching sessions. For an hour, he charges $60. At the RAC, he also conducts a weekly class for members on how to perform the stretching themselves.

But for individuals with specific problems, he recommends one-on- one sessions. “Assisted stretching sessions are where you get the big release,” he said.

That’s what he found when he first tried AIS. Burns had all sorts of tight spots in his body, leftovers from a rollover accident when he was a teenager that put him in a coma for 3 1/2 weeks and led to 10 hours of surgery on his head. As Burns explains it, doctors were worried about him walking and talking. They couldn’t worry as much about his other, less serious injuries.

So after he graduated from college, he began experimenting with alternative treatments that would help his mobility. Many, including physical therapy and chiropractic sessions, helped. He just happened to get hooked on AIS. Now, he’s hoping to help others in a way they might not have tried before.

“Movement is important to everyone,” Burns said. “Flexibility is a daily concern.”

WANT TO TRY AIS?

CONTACT: Patrick Burns at (804) 873-1215 for more information and to make appointments for one-on-one AIS sessions. Contact the Richmond Athletic Club at (804) 355-4311 for information about Burns’ AIS class.

Maria Howard is a group exercise instructor for the YMCA of Greater Richmond. Her column runs every other week in Balance. Contact her at balance@timesdispatch.com or c/o Balance, Richmond Times-Dispatch, P.O. Box 85333, Richmond, VA 23293.