Book Excerpt: 'The Genius of Flexibility'

Sept. 12, 2005 — -- Flexibility guru Bob Cooley, who founded The Moving Center in 1974, has discovered that by increasing the flexibility and strength of specific muscles you can experience improvements in your physiological and psychological health.

His new book and video, both titled "The Genius of Flexibility," highlight a unique method called "resistance stretching," in which you contract your muscles while lengthening them. Although it seems contradictory, Cooley has discovered this technique brings out remarkable results.

Stretching can bring changes to your body in surprising ways. For example, if you have back pain you should stretch out your hamstrings. And, you should lengthen your quads to lose hip fat.

"Stretches are both preventative and rehabilitative," said Cooley, adding that any time you stretch out a muscle on one side, you must stretch it on the other.

Below you'll find an excerpt from "The Genius of Flexibility." You can find more information about the Meridian Flexibility Center at www.meridianstretching.com.

Chapter 2: The Inside Secret to Stretching

The discovery that will change the way you stretch forever

WHY AREN'T PEOPLE AS FLEXIBLE AS THEY WANT TO BE? Is it thata handful of fortunate people are simply born flexible, while most of us aredoomed to live the life of the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz -- perpetuallytight, stiff, creaky, and getting worse with age? What is that secret somethingflexible people just naturally do when they stretch, that special knowledge that'sso obvious to them yet remains a mystery to the rest of us? What's happeninginside of them that is somehow not happening inside most of us?

Give Me Ten Minutes!

Give me just ten minutes. That's all I need to show you that you can be moreflexible than you ever imagined. What I am about to teach you is not somethingyou already know. It is something completely new, something that you've neverbeen told before.

Trying something new isn't always easy. You may feel uncertain anddoubtful or think that you already knowwhat I'm about to tell you. But if you hangin there for only ten minutes, I'm confidentthat you will realize that what I've discoveredis truly transforming. I know that afteryou see how much more flexible you becomeafter trying only a few simplestretches, you are going to say, "Ahhh,that's unbelievable. A new, organic way tostretch."

Discovery Exercise 1: Hamstring Stretch

Benefits of this stretch
Stretches the muscles on the back of yourhip, thigh, lower leg, ankle, and foot.

Getting into this stretch
Lie on your back and bring your right thightoward your chest. Then bend your rightknee so that your right heel is near the backof your right hip. Your left leg can be eitherstraight or bent.

Resisting: how to create a great stretchwithout pain

Grab hold of your right foot with bothhands. Contract the muscles on the back ofyour thigh (your hamstrings) so that yourheel pulls toward the back of your hips.

Keep contracting your hamstrings, but simultaneouslyuse your hands to pull yourheel upward, unbending your knee andstraightening out your lower leg as youlengthen your hamstrings. You are lengtheningbut also contracting your hamstringsat the same time. Yes, you can contract andlengthen a muscle at the same time! Andyes, you must maximally contract to discoveryour true flexibility range.

Return tothe starting position and do 6 to 10 reps. Nowchange to the left leg and do the samestretch. Stand up and check out your flexibilityafter the complete set.

What You Discover

Did you discover that you are more flexible?Most people do. Why? Because youtraditionally only lengthen a muscle to tryto stretch it. But this time you lengthenedand contracted your hamstring to stretch.You've probably never done this before. It'scalled resistance stretching.

The Secret Your Body Already Knows

Contracting while lengthening a muscle atthe same time may seem contradictory. Butin fact your body does this all the time -- unconsciously and naturally. Isn't that whatyou do when you wake up in the morning?Don't you reach up over your head, elongatingthe muscles in your torso, shoulders,and arms, and then contract them at a certainpoint? It's natural to resist when youstretch. (And it feels good, too!)

Have you ever watched a cat get up afterher nap? She reaches forward with herpaws, arches her back, then pulls backwardand contracts the same muscles she wastrying to elongate by reaching forward. Animalsinstinctively understand the need tocontract muscles when stretching. And theydo it so well. Let's be as flexible as cats!

Resistance stretching is contractingand lengthening a muscle at the same time,something you were never told to do. Youalso must maximally contract while lengtheningto see your true range of flexibility.This is the secret to real stretching and permanentchanges in flexibility.

You know that in strength training youcontract a muscle while shortening it simultaneously.But could you have guessed thatin stretching you also need to contract amuscle while lengthening it at the sametime? The harder you contract a musclewhen stretching -- by pushing or squeezingsome part of your body against the floor, awall, yourself, or someone else -- the moreyour flexibility will improve. It may surpriseyou to learn that your muscles need tocontract in both strength training and instretching. And that it takes twice the forceto stretch a muscle than to strengthen it!

Get Immediate Results

All right, now let's really go somewherewith stretching! Let's use resistance stretchingfor your lower body involving the muscleson the front of your thighs (your quads)and then for your upper body involvingmuscles on the back of your shoulders (yourtrapezius). You'll also learn how you canchange each stretch into a strengtheningexercise for the same muscles.

Remember: In resistance stretching,you always start in a position where themuscles you want to stretch are shortenedas much as possible. And then to stretchthese muscles, you contract and lengthenthem at the same time by moving some partof your body. The process of contractingand lengthening a muscle at the same timecauses those muscles to stretch in a new andpowerful way.

Once you see how the resistancestretching technique works, you'll discoverthat you can become as flexible as you wishanywhere in your body. I'll show you howto choose the stretches for the parts of yourbody you want to make more flexible. You'lldo several reps of the chosen stretches,noticing a remarkable increase in flexibilityafter each stretch. It's fun to have other peoplewatch you while you do these stretches.They can observe how much more flexibleyou look, while you can observe how muchmore flexible you feel.

You pull yourself together when you use resistancestretching, instead of yanking yourselfapart as you do in traditional stretching.

Discovery Exercise 2: Front of Thigh Stretch at Wall

Benefits of this stretch

Stretches the muscles alongthe front of your hip, thigh,lower leg, ankle, and foot.

Getting into this stretch

Kneel on all fours with the walldirectly behind you. Bend yourleft knee and bring your leftleg up against the wall, restingthe top of your foot against thewall (you can use a towel orsmall pillow to protect yourfoot). Step up onto your rightfoot, lunge deeply forward,and slant your torso slightlyforward.

Resisting: how to get a stretchwithout pain

While leaning forward in a lunge, pushagainst the wall with your left foot by contractingthe muscles on the front of yourleft thigh. As you continue to push your leftleg and foot against the wall, bring yourhips back to your foot against the wall bypushing yourself forward with your rightleg. Moving your body backward lengthensthe muscles on the front of your thigh, butbecause they are also contracting, theystretch. That's right! You're getting it!

Remember, the same muscles thatare being stretched are being contracted.Stretching and contracting a muscle are notmutually exclusive endeavors.And you must maximally contractwhile lengthening to seeyour true flexibility range.They work together to createthe most powerful stretchespossible.

What you discover

This use of resistance resultsin greater flexibility -- musclesbegin to stretch farther thanbefore. In principle, to generategreat resistance in anystretch, you need to oppose orfight against the stretch, so tospeak.

Now you are learninghow to resist in a stretch byfeeling how your body naturally does it. Youabsolutely need to resist maximally sometimesin order to make any muscle reallyflexible.

After resisting only once, you shouldbe able to bend your knee farther andget your ankle closer to the back of yourhips: instant flexibility! After repeatingthe stretch 6 to 10 times, you'll notice evengreater increases in your muscle's elasticity.

Let's add strengthening now.

Don't stop with stretching -- strengthenthe same muscles. Switch sides. You canstrengthen your quads by starting in theposition where you finished your stretch,where the muscles are as long as possible.

Continue to contract your quads by pushingagainst the wall with your ankle and foot, asyou push yourself forward into a lunge. Resistyour forward lunging by pushing yourselfbackward with your front leg. That'show you strengthen your quads. You need touse maximum force here also.

To reverse any stretch into a strengtheningexercise, simply reverse the starting andending positions, and reverse how you createresistance -- but in both cases always keepcontracting the muscles you are stretchingor strengthening.

Let's try a stretching exercise for yourupper body now.

Discovery Exercise 3: Grapevine Arms

Benefits of the stretch (and strengthening)

Stretches the muscles on the back of yourshoulders, neck, arm, and index finger.

Getting into this stretch

This stretch can be done standing, sitting,or lying on your back-- whatever feels mostcomfortable to you. Cross your arms, twistyour lower arms around each other, andclasp your hands together. This lengthensmuscles on the back of your shoulders anddown your arms into your index finger.

Resisting: how to create a stretchwithout pain

Press and twist your arms against eachother by pulling your elbows against eachother and pressing your hands together.This causes the muscles on the back of yourshoulders and arms that have been lengthenedto contract and stretch. You can tiltand turn your head to either side to createmore stretch in your neck. Keep resistingfor 6 to 10 seconds, then switch sides. Rememberto maximally resist in order to seeyour true flexibility range.

What you discover

As unbelievable as it may seem, usingresistance gives you immediate changes inflexibility. You'll find that the increasesin your flexibility accumulate and eventuallybecome permanent. Repeat the threestretches in this chapter. They should feel alot different during and after the secondand third sets -- repeats of the exercises. Youexperience immediate changes in flexibilityand strength after just a few exercises usingresistance stretching (and strengthening).

What's Next?

There's a lot more to resistance stretchingthan simply contracting and stretching amuscle simultaneously. This kind of stretchopens the door to a whole new way ofthinking about your body. As you learnmore and begin to experience what is availableto you through resistance stretchingand strengthening, you can create a wholenew way of being.