FT Questions....

[Scott Stevenson]

Thanks Scott. Maybe I'm dense, but I still don't fully understand the isometric stretches and I've watched your videos on them.

Can you potentially give an example of one for each bodypart or spell it out in more layman's terms? Apologies.

Sure.

Pec Stretches:

Flexibility Stretch: Stretch the pec against a stable object without an co-contraction, trying to loosen the muscle up. Give it 20+ seconds or as long as you need to feel the muscle relax and increase range of motion.

Occlusion stretch: Perform a stretch like the above for 60-90 seconds, but contract the pec while under stretch, but DON'T try to increase to the limits of your range of motion. Do this stretch shortly after training the pec. Maintain the pec contraction for the entire time. Stretch and contract the pec to create the pain sensation in the area of the pec just trained and/or where you didn't feel it well during the set (but wanted to) and want to see growth (e.g. upper pec).

Extreme Stretch: Use a pair of DB's about 30-50% of what you might use for a loading set of DB presses and lower the DB's slowly into the bottom of a normal range of motion for a DB fly. Hold the load in that stretched position for 60-90 sec. BE SURE that you can dump the weight safely. Do NOT try to increase to the extremes of range of motion or use an extraordinary amount of weight. You can progressively increase the weight on these as you get the hang of the extreme stretch, but NEVER at the expense of joint integrity or feeling stretch in the intended muscle. (If you feel joint or tendon pain or pain in muscles other than one one you're trying to stretch, the stretch should be ended and/or you should use less weight.)

-S