By Chris Watts

The British Post Polio Society will be familiar with the name Aaron Mattes, the founder of Active Isolated Stretching. He was invited 3 years ago to come to London from his home town in Sarasota Florida to do a workshop on his pioneering work in the field of “Core Flexibility”.

This new and exciting method of stretching your muscles, connective tissue and especially your joints has recently hit the shores of the United Kingdom with one of Aarons top teachers, Chris Watts. '

Stretch Therapy UK opened its doors at the end of April 2006. Chris has been stretching his way through Hong Kong’s busy corporate world and due to its overwhelming success and results in managing pain and increasing range of motion has decided that London was finally ready for Aarons work.

Flexibility explained

Many people don’t realize that muscles can be stretched 1.6 times their rested state before you tear the tissues. But what if the tissues are already overworked, tight, short and contracted?

 It is very easy to check every single joint and assess the natural distance and direction of  movement commonly called Range of Motion (ROM). This is the maximum unrestricted movement of each and every joint. Notice I mention joint and not the muscle. Flexibility is determined by the free movement of the joint as the muscles are designed to assist and cushion the joint in movement. To me having worked 10 years in the field of Structural rehabilitation, ROM as it is called, is the best way to find out what you can and can’t do with the mobility of your body and how good your circulation is at the deepest fascial planes. When we feel for that barrier or resistance at the end of range we also look at the quality of the tissues at that end point. Is it elastic and supple? Is it like hitting a concrete wall? Is there pain and discomfort from nerve impingements or scar-tissue form previous injuries? Or is it that the body has never been asked to go that far and its neurological programming and its inbuilt memory is saying don’t go any further. For the muscles and tissues this is new territory and it will need to be very gently encouraged to change its length.

 Let’s take the most mobile joint of the body; the shoulder. The anatomical structure of this joint enables it to have incredible freedom of movement. The full ROM is vital to allow the shoulder to move in a wide variety of directions or arcs for complete functionality for demanding sporting activities for example.

Too much mobility will come at the expense of decreased joint stability so therefore anyone can experience shoulder problems. Stiff joints can and will cause pain and with ensuing wear and tear can cause deformity and degeneration at the deeper joint structures making it hard to do your normal daily activities. Remember that any pain you may be experiencing, however niggly, is a sign that there is structural or functional dysfunction somewhere in the body.

3 levels of range of motion

1.Hypo range - which is what most people present with. I.e.: stiff, tight and full of resistance.

2. Hyper range - this is common in people who do mostly flexibility work and little strength work. The joint range is more than it should be and can result in joint instability.

3. Athletic Range - this is what we should be aiming for. For example, for full ROM your neck should rotate 85 degrees to the left and right without pain or discomfort. For thigh muscles, your heel should comfortably be able to draw into the buttocks without much discomfort with you standing upright. Remember the 640 muscles we are strung together with, represent our largest organ of the body. Since nerves travel through muscles and get entrapped by them checking muscle length occasionally is important.

Range of motion: tips

Never force, jerk or over-stretch a muscle. This will hurt the joint.

Standing or sitting bolt upright will help you to breathe better when exercising. It will also make your back, neck and stomach much stronger.

Move the muscle slowly and rhythmically to the point of light resistance and then put slow and steady pressure on the joint, hold the stretch for 2 seconds and release back to start or anatomical neutral position.

Stop ROM exercises if the person feels pain or the muscles start twitching.

Make ROM or flexibility exercises a part of your daily routine. Stretch in the bath or in front of the TV! Have fun with it.

Repeat each ROM exercise 10 times to pump blood, nutrients and oxygen into those tight tissues.

Please see your health professional to learn about your own range of movement.

>> read more about Active Isolated Stretching

>> read more about range of motion

>> watch Active Isolated Stretching in video