PNF stretching

(Polish version HERE)

Most people say that the main factors that make the nimbleness and flexibility bigger or smaller are: 

- The mobility of joints

- The length of the muscles,

- The length of the tendons,

- The length of the fascia ( connective tissue ) .

Surely these factors of anatomy of every single person have a significant impact on nimbleness / flexibility / stretching of the body , but there are other factors as well:

- Operation of the nervous system ,

- Complexes , experiences , prejudices , emotions, perceptions , feelings influence behavior , etc. , the whole complex human psyche .

Returning to the nervous system - specialized nerve endings located in the muscle ( neuromuscular spindle and Golgi organs ) are highly important . They perform the function of the body's early warning system. It can be described in this simple way : when the muscle or other tissues are stretched (or contracted ) to a dangerous extent , nerve impulse is sent , in order to stop further movement . Further extension is physically possible without breaking the muscle , but our nervous system defends itself , thus acting as a safety valve.

Human being that is unconscious of processes that occur in the body while being stretched will be thinking that when the moment at which the characteristic hardening around the tension and the impression that stretched area will break occurs , is the moment that shows the impassable boundary of their body stretching potential . At moment like this, reliable operation of our nervous system , which is designed to protect the body from custom receipts coming from inside or/and outside, can have irreversible effects on our psyche , because once acquired Prejudice and manipulate ourselves into the body limitations can affect us for LIFE !

Psyche is a very delicate matter, which needs to be treatedwith the greatest delicacy, especially when it comes to the perception of ourselves through the prism of our body. Certainly not once you met with situation that someone somedoby or even him/herself that is not good enough and it has been persuaded so well that he or she or that person believed in it . The same process “of believing that you are not good enough, that you can't do more” may occur during each stretching step - at the start and even when you already have achieved a certain level of stretch and it can also happen to a person, who returns after injury even if before was very very flexible and stretched. If you will be unaware of certain processes ,if you will persuade yourself that your body can't do more and maybe it use to be stretched and flexible but now it's not – well, most probably you will never stretch or go back to shape. I'm not saying that you can completely ignore the nervous system, but it certainly can be a little bit outsmarted in a clever way and thus unlock the head, and then stretch the boundaries of the body .

A completely non-magical trick to trick the nervous system is PNF stretching ( Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation ), a method of stretching that takes into account the aforementioned mechanism of action of nerve endings and turn it to our advantage.

You could say that using PNF , in a way we use defense mechanisms of the nervous system to relax muscles tension and extend their original length . There are many ways to use the idea of PNF , but in practice the most commonly used are of three types:

1 ) Contract- Relax ( CR) - tense - relax

The stretched muscle is brought to the end of its range of motion . Phase is followed by contraction of the muscle against resistance from the outside (usually the partner -force ) . During contraction you may allow muscle to shorten, for example let the leg that is being stretched go down a bit . Contraction phase takes at least 5-6 seconds. Then followed by relaxation of the muscle and putting it in a new range of motion .

2 ) Hold- Relax ( HR) - hold - relax

The method is very similar to the aforementioned Contract- Relax. The only difference is that the nature of this time is the isometric contraction - do not allow the muscle shortening .

3 ) Contract- Relax- Antagonist Contraction ( CRAC ) - tense - relax - tense the muscles antagonistic

Further development of methods of Contract- Relax. The first part of the cycle is identical ( passively movable boundary -> isotonic contraction -> relaxation ) , but we make to the new part , in which for a variety of antagonistic muscle contraction occurs . After 5-6 seconds they are loosened and the whole big cycle starts all over again .

PNF stretching is not the kind , but - as I mentioned earlier - is a method / technique of stretching , which is simply a combination of static stretching with isometric , and sometimes even passive or dynamic . This method moves in us a lot of strings , and most of these strings are in our head , not our bodies.

This all sounds very good , or very boring, and for a completely uninitiated probably sounds like black magic, and it is best that you just experienced , or at least see some examples , and one just below :

What can I do to make this static stretching magically change in stretching with PNF techniques ?

Static version of this exercise , which is not yet using PNF : I take a student a leg (raised foot is flexed ) , block the other foot on the ground (leg on the ground can be bend as it is on the picture – this version is good for quadriceps stretch, yet of course to concentrate on hamstring you can straighten the leg on the ground ) and slowly push the leg in the direction of the head , taking care to not twist students hip. Make sure student's backbone is not being lifted as well as shoulders ( raised from the ground shoulders shows the use of the abdominal muscles , which stoppes from proper stretching) , then gently " place " the leg back where it was

Now version using PNF techniques : After lifting leg to the its limit of motion comes the isometric contortion. How? Basically I am trying to move studnet's leg above the limit (not pushing hard, just slightly trying to move ) , and the student's task is to stop me , by trying to “place” leg with muscle force on the ground, yet of course he is not able to that. This position with full tension is held for hold about 5 seconds and then I moves student's foot a little further, but completely unnoticed , especially because usually I ask student to close eyes so the brain does not receive the impulse from the eye and therefor it is more likely that will not begin the process of blocking stretching process , because " what you do not see , the brain does not register . " Well, maybe not quite , but with stretching , try to stretch with your eyes closed to see if maybe it will work for you and when you don't actually see how far you went you will go further that you thought you are able to?

Ok, anyway this exercise repeat 5-7 times, but always with respect to the student's legs, which means in respect with current capabilities of student

Research and human experience say that PNF is most effective when the above-mentioned cycle is repeated 6-8 times , which makes about 90-120 seconds work. This is due , inter alia, the time needed to stretch the muscle fascia , which is longer than in the case of the muscle. Same time effective stretching can be assessed in another way : when the next cycle ceases to produce visible effects, you can simply finish the exercise.

Based on the above exercise and its description you can create a lot of exercises that will reflect the PNF method .Yet with being creative when it comes to any stretching I would propose to wait until you reach at least average initiation and before that please go to a trusted instructor.

Short repetition: PNF is not the kind stetchingu - is a method / technique of stretching , which is simply a combination of static, ismoteric, and sometimes even passive and dynamic stretching. . This is the method used most often in a very difficult cases , example.: when muscle mass is very large, or student is very stiff , but usually PNF is used in the rehabilitation of even the most difficult cases , as this method moves in us a lot of strings , but do not forget : most of these strings are in our heads , not our bodies.

ENJOY YOUR STRETCHING !!!