Active Isolated Stretching, an Introduction
Optimal flexibility is a major factor in many of life's activities, but is not attainable with the static stretching we learned as kids. There is a better method! This article will provide an introduction to Active Isolated Stretching (AIS).
Your time is valuable. You need an efficient method to improve and maintain your mobility. The traditional static stretch, held for 15 to 60 seconds, has proven to be ineffective for most of us. Athletes and therapists have used AIS for many years and you can use it to improve your health this year.
Active Isolated Stretching works with the natural rules of the body to increase range of motion, improve performance, reduce injuries, decrease muscle soreness and accelerate recovery. AIS uses precise movements and repeated 2-second-stretches to safely and efficiently improve flexibility. “Stretching through the pain” should not be part of your training as this is not safe or effective. Flexibility training prepares your body for motion and should include moving, not forcing, the muscles to achieve a greater range of motion. Let’s take a closer look at the fundamental aspects of AIS.
Sherrington's Law of Reciprocal Innervation states that for every neural activation of a muscle (agonist), there is a corresponding inhibition of the opposing muscle (antagonist). This is necessary for the coordination that allows movements such as running. Fortunately, it’s not an action we have to think about for normal activities, but it is at work. AIS takes full advantage of this situation to improve the results of your stretching exercises. For example, contraction of the quadriceps (agonist) will initiate relaxation of the hamstrings (antagonist), preparing the hamstrings to be stretched and allowing optimal lengthening.
Active Isolated Stretching requires identification and isolation of the target muscle. Stretching one isolated muscle at a time will provide safe and effective results. To understand the importance of isolation, let’s examine the hazards of the standing toe touch that has been used to stretch the hamstrings. In this position, the calves, hamstrings, glutes, back and neck muscles are feeling the pressure. In reality, this chain of muscles will primarily lengthen in only one place – the most flexible (or most vulnerable) muscle, which probably isn’t the hamstring. With AIS, once you decide which muscle you want to stretch, the body will be positioned to isolate and align this muscle for optimal lengthening.
Relaxation is the proper condition for stretching. Relaxation requires oxygen. If this isn’t obvious to you, try holding your breath and see if you are able to relax. To relax and lengthen our muscles, the oxygen must be delivered from our lungs to our muscles. Oxygen is transported through our body in the blood and working muscles are the primary motivation for increased blood flow. Utilizing a series of 2-second-stretches, AIS will warm the muscles, provide a constant supply of blood (and oxygen), and gently allow for progressively deeper stretches.
In addition to positioning for isolation, the muscle to be stretched should be positioned such that it is unloaded (not weight bearing) and therefore truly free to relax. In contrast, many popular stretches use our body weight to force a muscle to lengthen. Consider the calf stretch done by many before a race: toes on the curb, body weight forcing the heel lower. Doesn’t that position look a lot like an exercise we use to strengthen our calves? The calves are contracting to support our weight. The calf muscle may be lengthening, but it’s still contracting – an eccentric contraction. “Eccentric contractions are primarily implicated in the development of delayed-onset muscle soreness and muscle damage.”1 This is an important component of weight training, but has no place in flexibility training and certainly not in a pre-race warm-up.
Muscles are equipped with special receptors (muscle spindles) that communicate with the central nervous system (CNS) about conditions in the muscles and movement of the body. The function we are concerned with here is their input to the CNS that may lead to the protective stretch reflex to avoid muscle damage resulting from stretching too far or too fast. The result is contraction of the muscle being stretched. If this response occurs, there is no chance for an increase in flexibility. An effective solution is to avoid the potential of triggering the stretch reflex. AIS uses controlled movements to the end of the existing range of motion where application of gentle pressure moves the stretched muscle to a point of “slight irritation.” This point is held for only 2 seconds before releasing back to the starting position. The stretch reflex is not activated and multiple repetitions of these movements lead to steady improvements in range of motion.
If your current flexibility training program does not follow these natural rules of the body, you are not achieving optimal flexibility or optimal fitness. Use Active Isolated Stretching to work with your body to increase flexibility, improve performance, reduce injuries, decrease muscle soreness and accelerate recovery. Expect results. If your current flexibility training method is not contributing to your success, it’s time to change programs.
Patrick Burns, Owner/Manager
Motion Momentum, LLC
REFERENCES
- Earle, R.W. and T.R. Baechle. 2004. NSCA’s Essentials of Personal Training. p.89.