In the page on Isometric Stretches I mentioned holding the tension on the final stretch. The idea being it helps to reinforce the new “safe” length as far as the stretch reflex is concerned. If I had my doubts before, I’m a believer now, and here’s why.
Over the last few days I’ve had a cold, so my stretching has been limited. Rather than doing isometric stretches I’ve just been doing some short reps of each stretch. Although my final position is comparable, I’ve noticed that my initial flexibility is quite poor. I know being ill directly affects your flexibility, but this difference seemed a little too extreme. As a result, I threw in an isometric session, and sure enough, my initial flexibility improved. I’ve still not shaken this cold, so improvements are non-existent, but I now firmly believe in holding the final tension to retrain the stretch reflex.
Cheers
Tim…