Active Isolated Stretching

A good friend of mine put this together for his clients so I thought I would post it for all to view!

Thanks Curt.

Active Isolated Stretching

(by Curt Town, R.M.T.)

Active Isolated Stretching was created and developed by Aaron L. Mattes, a Kinesiotherapist, Licensed Massage Therapist, lecturer, and author, in Sarasota, Florida.  He has extensive experience in sports and health instruction, rehabilitation, athletic training (he worked with the U.S. Olympic Team), adapted physical education, sports medicine, training and prevention programs. (See www.stretchingusa.com)

One of the key intentions with Active Isolated Stretching (AIS) is to get the muscle or muscle group that is being stretched to be in as relaxed a state as possible.  The premise being that the most effective stretch happens when the muscles are in their most relaxed state.  Therefore stretching, regardless of the method, should never hurt.  If it hurts, then the muscles being stretched will become reactive, guarded and contracted to some degree.  In this guarded state they will not achieve the most efficient and effective stretch.

To relax the muscles, AIS utilizes two physiological dynamics.  The first dynamic occurs when we contract a muscle or muscle group, which causes the opposing muscles to relax.  For example, if you pinch your shoulder blades together (contracting your ‘parascapular muscles’) to pull your shoulders back, simultaneously your chest muscles (‘pecs’) would relax so they don’t inhibit the shoulders from moving backwards.   This example is the ideal setup for initiating an AIS stretch for the pec muscles because they become more relaxed.  (You don’t need to know your anatomy to know what the opposing muscles are.  Just go into the stretch position without assistance, as in the above pec stretch example, and you automatically contract the muscles needed to relax the ones that you are stretching.)

The second dynamic occurs when we lengthen a muscle.  There is a protective contraction mechanism that is initiated to prevent the muscle from lengthening too much; it is part of what lets the brain know when to stop a movement.  This reflex takes approx. 2-3 seconds to be activated as the muscle starts to lengthen.  When we reach the maximum stretch position and sustain it, the protective contraction reflex remains active for approximately 18–20 seconds.  At that point the brain determines that the muscle isn’t going any further and it is safe to release the contraction.  (When you focus your awareness on this you can feel the muscle(s) relax.)  When the position is sustained further, it takes approx. 30 seconds, or more depending on the muscle size or group, for the brain to register that as the new muscle length.  Persistent, and regular stretching will encourage a consistent lengthening of the muscles.  Shorter durations are effective for warming up muscle tissue prior to an activity to prevent injury, but, it will not maintain the same consistent long term lengthening effect that the 30 seconds or more will do. That’s why older ‘static position’ stretch techniques suggest holding the position for 30 seconds or more.  

The concern with the older ‘static position’ stretch methods, as  Aaron L. Mattes states:  “Prolonged static stretching actually decreases the blood flow within the tissue creating localized ischemia and lactic acid buildup. This potentiates irritation or injury of local muscular, tendonous, lymphatic as well as neural tissues, similar to the effects and consequences of trauma and overuse syndromes”.

I asked Aaron about this and he elaborated further:  “Holding the stretch is an isometric contraction.  Isometrics decrease the blood flow and [which creates] oxygen deprivation.  The stretch reflex is activated in slightly over 2 seconds aggravating the tissue you are trying to lengthen.  Half of the stretches people do are eccentric contractions.  Muscles that are actually in contraction don't lengthen much beyond the current ability to lengthen during negative resistance.

If you want to move fluids and gases, many repetitions are advantages.  The program of Active Isolated Stretching is about stretching muscles & fascia simultaneously and moving scar tissue, joint capsules, etc.  Repetitive movements of this nature change the tissue to the cellular level.  Problems such as Parkinson’s, Lou Gehrig's disease, diabetes, MS, etc. all change positively immediately.  We can get to tissues quickly and gently making changes rapidly to areas you can't touch with the hands in massage, etc. “

With the combination of contracting the opposing muscles, and only holding the stretch for two seconds, pulling out before the stretch reflex activates, the muscle being stretched is in the most relaxed state it can be in (relative to its resting tension, or “resting tone”, level at that time) for the entire duration of the stretch.  Therefore it will experience its most effective stretch results.  Repeating the process at least 5-6 times enhances the stretch; 10-12 times, with regular and persistent practice, establishes a new, longer, muscle length.

To  summarize, the procedure for AIS technique is:

A)       Contract the opposite muscle/muscle group to what you are stretching (do this by simply going into the stretch position without assistance.

B)       Assist the stretched muscle/muscle group to it’s maximum (pain free, ‘feel good’) length, (“Assisting” means to ‘lean into it’ or pull with a stretch strap or hands.  It is best to use a non-stretching material like a nylon rope, webbing, or leather belt, as opposed to an elasticized material such as a bungee cord or ‘Thera-band’.  Using a non-stretch material gives greater sensitivity of awareness to muscle lengthening.  With elasticized cords it can be difficult to discern the difference between the stretch of the material and your muscles).

C)      Hold for only two seconds, then pull out of the stretch (before the protective contraction reflex initiates), relaxing the opposing muscle momentarily.

D)      Repeat the process for 5–10 or 12 times. (5-6 times for a warm-up, pre-event, stretch; 10-12 times for the consistent lengthening, post-event, recovery, maintenance stretch).  (Note: The pause between each 2 second stretch is very brief, and it is not necessary to return to the start position; you can remain in the position where relaxing the opposing muscles leaves you).

One of the dramatic differences between AIS and the older ‘static position’ techniques that can be experienced immediately is that with the older ‘static position’ method you are usually only taking the stretched muscle to its maximum length once per session.   With Active Isolated Stretching, the muscle lengthens progressively  beyond the first maximum length with each successive two-second stretch.  I find that I achieve more muscle lengthening with 5-6 two-second warm-up stretches with AIS than with 60 seconds of one ‘static position’.  The effect is deepened further when I do 10-12 repetitions of AIS for a post-event or general maintenance routine.

For this reason it is stated that this method can result in stretching the muscles up to 1.6 times more than most other methods.  Elite athletes are said to experience in the 90’s percent less injuries, as well as an increase in performance using the AIS technique because the muscle tissue is working more efficiently. 

(Curt Town, a Registered Massage Therapist since 1994, and former Clinical Instructor at massage colleges in Ontario and British Columbia, is currently working at the Oasis Wellness Centre and Spa, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.  He can be contacted at: EverLoving@shaw.ca )

Resources:

Aaron L. Mattes related sites:

http://www.stretchingusa.com/aboutAIS.cfm-  (Brief info re Active Isolated Stretching)

http://stretchingusa.com/products.cfm - (Advertises Aaron Mattes’ books.  You can view pages from his books that demo AIS, but most of the text is too small to read easily.  But his books would be the best resource for further in depth information and routines regarding AIS.)

For the more technical inclined, the following may be of interest.

In response to the above article, a question was asked of me:

" [re A.I.S.]...how is this different than relaxation methods of PNF?".  I forwarded the question to Aaron, with which he responded:

"PNF ends up being Passive Stretching.  Pushing against my hands for 6-8 seconds is an isometric contraction.  Isometric contractions push the blood, oxygen and nutrition out of the region.  This is followed by a external movement by the therapist, trainer, etc.  This is a passive assistance for a number of seconds which does not involve the volitional contraction involving the nervous system.  This also ends up violating the stretch reflex.  Stretch beyond 2 seconds.  The agonist-antagonist relationship, blood, oxygen, nutrition, stretch reflex, irritation to the muscles, fascia and other connective tissue, aggravation, muscle memory violation, etc.  All of this make progress slow, with dependency on someone else to do the work, and violation of Sherrington's Law and other physiological principles.  Explain how Lou Gehrig's disease, Parkinsonism, Multiple Sclerosis, Post Polio Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Spinal Cord (incomplete) injuries all respond very rapidly to AIS Stretching and even faster when AIS Strengthening is concurrent part of program.

If you have further question call 941-922-3232."

Cheers,

Bouncelife