Assisted stretching: The new trend in town with multiple benefits

Move, meditation.

Step aside, Pilates.

There is another health/wellness/fitness trend that is catching on in South Louisiana. It’s called assisted stretching, and there are now several outlets in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Lafayette that are dedicated to the method or at least include these types of sessions in their offerings.

Its name is self-explanatory: Unlike stretching, say, before a race, assisted stretching involves a trained practitioner stretching your body for you beyond what you can accomplish alone.

Individualized stretching plans target specific problem areas or can cover muscles from head to toe with 26 different stretches. Clients range from agile teenage athletes to less active retirees, and their reasons for choosing the assisted stretching route are equally varied.

The story of a client

Patrick Miller, 69, of Baton Rouge, was one of StretchLab’s first clients when the studio opened in Towne Center, 7350 Jefferson Highway, in June.

Miller was experiencing severe hip pain to the point of being unable to sleep at night, along with chronic lower back problems.

“Now, I can walk without pain most days. I can even climb steps. I can tie my shoes, a lot of things,” said Miller, an attorney specializing in real estate closings, before one of his stretches last week.

Miller said the experience goes beyond 25- or 50-minute assisted stretching sessions.

“They’re giving me some tools to do better. It’s not just about stretching here. They’re showing me some things that I can do that help with the pain that I have,” he said.

Miller said he would encourage skeptics of the new trend to give it a try.

“I mean, after the first session or two, you’ll know, and I did,” he said. “I could tell pretty quickly that I was feeling some relief, and that’s what it’s all about.”

Miller added that he is working toward a maintenance phase, at which point his sessions will be less frequent, with the goal of retaining his newfound mobility and flexibility.

about the process

Typically, using a technique called proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, trained staff members or flexologists assist the client in a three-step process that WebMD explains as: first, stretch a muscle group; second, contract this muscle group against resistance while still in the stretched position; and third, it stretches the muscle group again.

The result? A measured increase in how much a person can comfortably stretch, leading to increased flexibility and range of motion.

“It should never hurt,” said Calder Reed, a flexologist at StretchLab.

Reed and StretchLab manager and flexologist Meagan Delatte cautions first-time clients that they may feel sore the day after a stretch, but as they progress, the aftereffect lessens.

Beyond stretching sessions, which are typically once or twice a week, flexologists also provide instruction on exercises that can be done at home to promote client progress toward whatever their goal may be.

“Let’s say someone wants to run a marathon, we’ll help them get there,” Delatte said.

Reed said the process can not only improve an athlete’s performance, but also decrease the likelihood of injury.

“When you think of flexibility, you think of gymnastics and things like that. So why is that important, say, in football or baseball? If you have tight muscles all over your body, the ones that they’re actually performing the action they have to work twice as hard to push against a tight muscle,” Reed explained.

“Think about a marathon sprinter, if you have really tight hamstrings, every time the quad contracts to move the leg forward, it has to pull on the hamstring, right? So not just stretching and flexing, You know, you’re increasing hamstring flexibility, you’re decreasing your risk of injury.”

Others seek out assisted stretching simply to help with the challenges of everyday life, according to Delatte.

“We have a man who could barely lift his leg. Now he can fully cross his leg and walk up the stairs without using the handrail,” he said. “We also have another member who couldn’t sit up without help. Well now he can sit up completely without our help.”

Assisted stretching can also help with:

• Posture, especially for those who work sitting at a desk all day.
• Typical aches and pains
• strength with flexibility
• A post physical therapy plan, which takes you beyond your previous baseline.

The best results correlate with multiple visits each month, so membership plans are more cost-effective than one-time walk-ins, Delatte said.