The Stretch Zone Method® addresses flexibility from a neurological perspective. This is achieved by dealing with the muscle’s nervous tension (“tonus”) to reach an optimal active range of motion. The goal is not to make a person more “flexible” or “elastic,” but rather enable you to move more functionally by re-establishing a more ideal resting muscle tone. By re-educating the associated nerve-muscle reflex, the Stretch Zone Method® leads to movement becoming easier and more efficient.
Rather than creating soreness by pulling on our limbs to extremes, the Stretch Zone Method® works through the nervous system to achieve lasting gains in flexibility and range of motion. The method rests on the notion that changing and re-educating our muscle’s nervous energy is a major factor in unleashing our body’s intended function. This nervous energy, known as the stretch reflex, is our body’s automatic defense against the dangers of over-stretching. Any movement that goes too fast or too far, or is held for too long, will cause your body to resist with the stretch reflex. Once the reflex is activated, your body has effectively said “no more” and resists the stretch. Any further attempt at stretching becomes counter productive and may even cause long term damage.