Sport & Fitness

Stretching is a bit like flossing our teeth. We don’t do it as much as we should. At the end of a gym session, we invariably head straight for the shower (or the bar) without taking advantage of the warmth in our muscles, ligaments and tendons that could help us maintain and extend our range of movement. If that’s how we go on, flexible joints that once allowed us to touch our toes with ease become tighter. Eventually, even everyday movements grow difficult as our bodies literally seize up. Feature continues

Why is flexibility so ignored? Because it can often seem like hard work for little benefit. Surely the strain of trying to get your fingers to reach your toes far outweighs the possible gains in the length of your hamstring? If you tighten six muscles in order to stretch three, is it worth it?
Chris Watts begs to disagree. The founder of Stretch, the first centre in the capital devoted to flexibility and postural realignment, Watts teaches a technique known as Active Isolated Stretching (AIS). He opened a centre in Hong Kong and has now brought this distinctive approach to the UK.

There are as many theories of stretching as there as stretches themselves. For most of us, though, stretching means ‘grab and hold’ for up to 30 seconds. Watts is not an advocate of such static stretching: ‘It prevents blood flowing to the muscles, it creates a build-up of lactic acid – and it can hurt.’ In AIS, in contrast, a therapist isolates a specific muscle and holds the stretch for just two seconds, then repeats the manoeuvre eight to ten times. This pumps oxygenated blood into the muscle without triggering the protective reflex that kicks in after about three seconds. It also helps to flush out waste products and can break down scar tissue from old injuries.

Watts worked with sports teams in Hong Kong and believes players here can benefit from AIS: ‘Take football, for example. Most problems occur at the end of your range of motion. So if you kick a ball at full knee extension, your hamstring will be fully extended. If you have to stretch through your muscle’s natural barrier – the point at which it starts to resist – and you haven’t warmed up properly, your in-built stretch reflex could engage, causing a contraction when your muscle is at its most vulnerable. The result is an injury that might keep you out of action for weeks.’

A session at Stretch begins with an anatomy lesson as the therapist conducts a full postural analysis: a short quadratus lumborum here, pelvic torque there. Then it’s on to the couch to be manipulated – not passively, as in massage, but in a collaborative manner intended to unknot tight body structures and realign the skeletal system. The result is a wonderful sense of release, and an indefinable feeling of ‘rightness’. Finally comes advice on how to continue the good work at home.

Like any other gym activity, stretching is a skill that improves and develops according to your attitude towards it. ‘Find five or six stretches that suit your lifestyle,’ says Watts, ‘and do them each day. It only takes ten minutes – but it’ll be time very well spent.’

Stretch, 18-22 Queen Anne St, W1G 8HU (020 7034 3340 / www.stretchasia.com). A one-hour session costs £115.