Assisted Stretching vs. Traditional Stretching: What You Need to Know

 

Ever woken up felt like a crumpled receipt, or hit the gym only to find your body protesting every single muscle group? We've all been there. That frustrating feeling of stiffness, of movements just not flowing as they should. For eons, our natural inclination has been to 'stretch it out' – the trusty, familiar solo stretches we learned in school or picked up from a fitness magazine. But lately, there's a new player commanding attention in the flexibility arena: assisted stretching.

So, what's the real stretch? Is one simply a better bend, or are we looking at two powerful allies in your pursuit of peak physical freedom? Prepare to untangle the nuances of assisted stretching vs traditional stretching, and discover how they can both help you unlock a more agile, resilient, and utterly comfortable you. Because let's face it, life’s too short for tight hamstrings and creaky joints.

Imagine your body not just as a machine, but as a finely tuned, bespoke sports car. For it to navigate corners with precision and accelerate effortlessly, every component – from the engine to the suspension – needs to move without friction. Your muscles, fascia, and joints are those critical components. Optimising their movement, their range, their very ‘give’, isn't just about avoiding injury; it's about enhancing your entire physical experience. Whether you’re a weekend warrior chasing a new personal best, navigating the graceful demands of aging, or simply aspiring to touch your toes without risking a hernia, boosting your flexibility and mobility is a non-negotiable step on your wellness journey.

The Familiar Comfort of Traditional Stretching: Your Personal Flexibility Frontier

We’ve all had our moments with traditional stretching. The quiet contemplation of holding a pose, the satisfying (or sometimes frustrating) reach towards an elusive toe. This is your personal stretching realm, often dubbed self-stretching. It’s the ultimate accessible workout – no fancy gear, no membership fees, just you and your own body’s potential. Generally, it neatly slots into a few key categories:

• Static Stretching: This is the grand old dame of the stretching world. You extend a muscle to its comfortable end range and hold it there, typically for 20-30 seconds (Page, 2012). Picture yourself gently easing into a hamstring stretch while perched on the edge of your bed – a timeless classic. It’s frequently recommended for cool-down stretches post-exertion, helping to lengthen muscle fibres and improve overall muscle flexibility and range of motion. The idea here is to encourage a gradual lengthening of the muscle and its surrounding connective tissues, promoting relaxation and reducing post-exercise stiffness.
• Dynamic Stretching: Forget standing still; dynamic stretching is all about graceful motion. Think leg swings, torso twists, or arm circles. These aren’t held positions but fluid movements that take your joints through their full range. They’re absolutely brilliant for warm-up stretches, serving as a physiological primer for activity. By increasing blood flow, warming up the tissues, and rehearsing movement patterns, dynamic stretches actually enhance athletic performance without compromising power output – a concern sometimes associated with static stretching pre-activity (Needham et al., 2009). They're your personal oil change before hitting the road.
• Ballistic Stretching: A bit of a daredevil in the stretching family, this involves bouncing or jerking movements to push the muscle beyond its normal range. While it can achieve results, it’s a high-risk, high-reward proposition often best left to highly trained athletes under expert supervision due to the increased risk of muscle strains. It’s definitely not for your everyday home stretching routine.
• PNF Stretching (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation): While often incorporating a partner, PNF can also be adapted for solo work. It’s a sophisticated technique that typically involves contracting a muscle against resistance (isometric contraction) immediately followed by a stretch. This clever interplay – engaging and then relaxing – helps ‘trick’ your nervous system into allowing a deeper stretch than normally possible by inhibiting the stretch reflex, specifically by activating the Golgi tendon organs which signal the muscle to relax when under high tension (Sharman et al., 2006). It’s powerful, but demands precision.

Many of us seamlessly weave these stretching exercises into our lives. It’s a fantastic starting point for stretching for beginners and a fundamental strategy for maintaining a solid baseline of physical freedom.

The Precision Power of Assisted Stretching: A Master Hand for Deeper Dives

Now, let's step into the realm of assisted stretching. Envision this: a highly skilled individual, a true professional, gently, expertly guiding your body through movements, coaxing your muscles and joints into ranges you didn't even know you possessed. This isn't just about being pushed further; it's about an intelligent, informed, and deeply personalised approach to movement enhancement.

Often referred to as stretch therapy or professional stretching, assisted stretching involves a certified stretch therapist collaborating with you to sculpt improvements in your flexibility, mobility, and overall well-being. They deploy a diverse toolkit of techniques, each designed for maximum impact:

• Passive Stretching: Here, you simply relax. The therapist takes your limb through its full range of motion. This profound relaxation allows for a much deeper stretch because your muscles aren't actively fighting or resisting, enabling the therapist to access deeper tissue restrictions. It leverages gravity and external force to lengthen soft tissues.
• Active Assisted Stretching: This is a dynamic partnership. You actively engage specific muscles (known as agonists) while the therapist provides precise assistance, helping you extend further into the stretch of the opposing muscles (antagonists). It’s about leveraging your own muscle power to facilitate greater range through reciprocal inhibition (Kage et al., 2017).
• Fascial Stretch Therapy (FST): This is a distinctly comprehensive form of assisted stretching that zeroes in on the fascia – the intricate, interconnected web of connective tissue that encases your muscles, bones, and organs. FST aims to release tension and improve glide within this system, which can significantly enhance overall movement patterns and reduce stiffness stemming from fascial restrictions. It’s like untangling a complex fishing net for better flow, focusing on traction, oscillation, and circumduction to decompress joints and lengthen fascial lines (Unalmis et al., 2023).
• Myofascial Release (Integrated): While often considered a massage technique, skilled stretch therapists often integrate elements of myofascial release. They use sustained pressure and stretching to release "trigger points" – tight, sensitive knots within the fascia that can refer pain to other areas of the body. This helps unwind deep-seated tension and improve tissue pliability (Wu et al., 2021).

The compelling logic behind assisted stretching is multi-faceted: a trained professional can pinpoint your individual limitations, apply the exact right amount of pressure, and ensure impeccably correct form. This translates into a far more effective and, crucially, safer stretching experience. It's particularly potent for sports stretching, achieving deep tissue stretch, and masterfully correcting stubborn muscle imbalances.

Is Assisted Stretching Better Than Traditional Stretching? The Ultimate Showdown

Ah, the million-dollar question, isn't it? The truth, much like a perfectly executed stretch, isn't rigid. It's fluid, nuanced, and utterly dependent on your personal ambitions.

Consider this analogy: traditional stretching is akin to maintaining your vintage car with basic home tools – perfectly fine for everyday upkeep. Assisted stretching, however, is like entrusting it to a master mechanic with a specialised diagnostic kit and precision instruments. They can coax out performance you didn't even know was possible.

Let’s lay out a clear comparison to help you weigh your options:

Feature	Traditional Stretching	Assisted Stretching
Control	Your own independent control, relying on self-guided precision.	Professional guidance and supervision, ensuring targeted application.
Depth of Stretch	Limited by your individual flexibility, strength, and neurological barriers.	Deeper and more nuanced stretches, often pushing past self-imposed limits through leveraging external forces and trained techniques.
Technique Accuracy	Depends on personal understanding, body awareness, and adherence to instructional guides.	Guided by the therapist’s expert knowledge of anatomy, biomechanics, and precise application, optimising form and targeting.
Safety	Generally safe with correct form; risk increases with aggressive self-stretching or poor technique.	Significantly safer under professional guidance, mitigating risks of overstretching or injury; discomfort is managed through constant communication.
Personalisation	Generic routines, one-size-fits-all approach unless highly experienced.	Highly individualised, dynamically adapting to your unique body, limitations, past injuries, and specific goals.
Cost	Free and readily available.	Involves a financial investment per session or package.
Time Commitment	Can be done spontaneously, anywhere, anytime.	Requires scheduled appointments, offering a structured approach to flexibility training.
Feedback	Self-assessment of stretch sensation; learning from personal experience.	Immediate, expert, and real-time feedback with hands-on adjustments from a skilled therapist, facilitating deeper understanding of your body.
Targeting Issues	Can be challenging to effectively address specific muscular imbalances or chronic pain points without expert knowledge.	Exceptional for addressing specific muscle imbalances, injury prevention stretching, and facilitating enhanced recovery by precisely targeting problematic areas.

 

While both methods contribute profoundly to flexibility and mobility improvement, assisted stretching often yields more substantial and accelerated results, particularly for those with specific, ambitious goals such as optimising athletic performance or facilitating meticulous injury recovery stretching. The direct neuromuscular feedback provided by a therapist's hands, often through subtle adjustments and pressure points, can profoundly alter how your nervous system perceives and allows stretch, leading to quicker adaptation and greater gains (Rees et al., 2007).

Can I Combine Assisted and Traditional Stretching in My Routine? A Synergistic Approach

Absolutely! In fact, for many, this isn't just an option; it's the optimum strategy. Think of your traditional self-stretching techniques as your daily ritual – the essential maintenance that keeps your muscles supple and your joints lubricated. Then, strategically weave in assisted stretching sessions periodically for those deep dives, to meticulously address lingering issues, or to gracefully shatter through a flexibility plateau.

For instance, you could diligently perform your warm-up stretches and cool-down stretches at home, ensuring your body is primed and then properly wound down. Then, perhaps once a week or every fortnight, visit a dedicated stretch studio like Stretch Masters (stretchmasters.co.uk) for a professional session. This intelligent blend gives you the unparalleled convenience of solo stretching alongside the profound, precise benefits of guided stretching. It’s like having a personal trainer for your flexibility.

Does Assisted Stretching Hurt or Is It Safe? Navigating the Sensation

This is a perfectly natural concern! Nobody signs up for voluntary pain. Here's the candid truth: a truly skilled stretch therapist operates in collaboration with your body, not in defiance of it. While you might certainly feel a significant intensity – a deep, almost therapeutic stretch sensation – as your muscles are gently coaxed into new ranges, it should never escalate into sharp, shooting, or truly unbearable pain. The feeling is often described as a "good hurt" – a sensation of release and lengthening, not of damage.

Open and continuous communication with your therapist is paramount. They should constantly check in, asking about your comfort levels and adjusting their approach based on your feedback. In terms of safety, when delivered by a certified and experienced professional, assisted stretching is remarkably safe. These experts possess a deep understanding of human anatomy, biomechanics, and the precise art of safely guiding your body into profound stretches. They're meticulously trained to recognise your physiological limits and adeptly avoid overstretching, which, left unchecked, can lead to injury. Always, always prioritise seeking out professionals with verifiable credentials and robust stretch therapist reviews.

How Often Should I Do Assisted Stretching for Best Results? Tailoring Your Regimen

The ideal frequency for assisted stretching is as unique as your own fingerprint, dependent on your specific aspirations, current flexibility status, and activity levels. For general flexibility and mobility improvement, a weekly or bi-weekly session might suffice to maintain progress and introduce new gains.

However, if you're an athlete navigating an intense training cycle, actively recovering from a specific injury, or diligently addressing significant muscle tension relief or persistent muscle pain relief, you might reap substantial benefits from two or even three sessions per week initially. Crucially, your dedicated stretch therapist will meticulously assess your body during your initial consultation and collaboratively devise a personalised schedule, ensuring optimal results tailored precisely to you. It's a journey, not a sprint, and consistency is key (Magnusson et al., 1996).

Can Assisted Stretching Help with Injury Recovery or Chronic Pain? A Beacon of Relief

This is precisely where assisted stretching truly comes into its own, transforming from a luxury into a powerful therapeutic tool! For injury prevention, facilitating swift and complete injury recovery, and masterfully managing persistent chronic pain, assisted stretching can be profoundly beneficial. By safely and progressively increasing the range of motion around an affected joint, meticulously improving muscle flexibility in chronically tight or compromised areas, and adroitly correcting underlying muscle imbalances, it can significantly accelerate healing, reduce compensatory patterns, and diminish pain signals.

Consider, for example, chronic lower back pain – a modern epidemic. Often, this discomfort isn't solely a back issue but is heavily influenced by tight hip flexors or rigid hamstrings pulling on the pelvis. A skilled therapist can use targeted stretching to meticulously release these contributing factors, alleviating indirect stress on the spine (Muyor et al., 2011). Similarly, in the wake of a sports injury, precisely guided assisted stretching can expedite the restoration of lost mobility, prevent restrictive scar tissue formation, and ensure optimal tissue remodelling, making it a critical component of recovery stretching.

However, it is absolutely imperative to understand that assisted stretching, while potent, should complement – never replace – the expert advice and treatment from medical professionals such as your GP, an orthopaedic consultant, or a chartered physiotherapist. Always secure their clearance, especially if you’re navigating an existing injury or grappling with a chronic condition.

Is Traditional Stretching Still Effective for Flexibility and Mobility? The Enduring Power of Self-Care

Unequivocally, yes! To underestimate the enduring power of traditional stretching would be a disservice. It remains an incredibly effective, universally accessible, and empowering method for cultivating and maintaining excellent flexibility and mobility. Consistent application of self-stretching techniques can yield a plethora of tangible benefits:

• Improved posture: By lengthening muscles that often become shortened by prolonged sitting or repetitive actions.
• Increased range of motion: Making everyday tasks easier and more fluid.
• Reduced risk of everyday aches and pains: By promoting better circulation and reducing muscle tension.
• Enhanced relaxation and stress reduction: The mindful aspect of stretching can be deeply calming.
• Optimal preparation for exercise (dynamic): Warming muscles and joints.
• Expedited post-exercise recovery (static): Aiding in the removal of metabolic byproducts and promoting muscle repair.

For many, a disciplined, regular home stretching routine is all that’s required to feel fantastic, move freely, and maintain that essential baseline of physical well-being.

Where Can I Find Assisted Stretching Services Near Me? Locating Your Flexibility Allies

With the undeniable surge in popularity of assisted stretching, locating these specialised services has become increasingly straightforward. You can typically discover them at:

• Specialised stretch studios: These are dedicated spaces, designed purely for stretch therapy sessions (like our own Stretch Masters, stretchmasters.co.uk, where the focus is solely on unlocking your body’s potential).
• High-end fitness centres or gyms: Many forward-thinking establishments now offer bespoke assisted stretching as part of their premium services.
• Physical therapy clinics: A growing number of chartered physiotherapists and sports rehabilitation specialists seamlessly integrate assisted stretching into their comprehensive treatment protocols.
• Progressive wellness centres or spas: Recognising the holistic benefits, these establishments often include stretch therapy as a cornerstone of their offerings.

A swift and targeted online search for "assisted stretching near me" should yield a treasure trove of local options. As a discerning individual, always make it a point to scrutinise stretch studio recommendations and diligently read client reviews. Verifying qualifications and experience is paramount to ensuring you select a reputable and expertly qualified provider.

What Are the Main Benefits of Assisted Stretching Over Traditional Stretching? The Edge You’ve Been Seeking

While traditional stretching is undeniably a powerful tool, assisted stretching provides a distinct and often transformative edge, particularly when aiming for profound changes:

1. Unparalleled Depth and Efficacy: With a therapist’s astute guidance and controlled force, your body can achieve ranges of motion that are simply unattainable through solo efforts. This leads to significantly greater, often faster, gains in flexibility and true tissue lengthening.
2. Surgical Precision in Targeting: Professionals possess the anatomical knowledge and palpatory skills to precisely identify and meticulously address tight muscles, fascial restrictions, or areas of chronic limitation, tackling the very root cause of discomfort or limited movement.
3. Flawless Form and Unwavering Safety: Under expert supervision, the risk of improper technique – a common pitfall of self-stretching that can lead to injury – is drastically minimised. You are guided through each movement with impeccable form.
4. Accelerated Recovery and Robust Injury Prevention: The deep, specific, and often passive nature of assisted stretching can dramatically expedite recovery stretching by enhancing circulation, reducing muscle soreness (DOMS), and fostering optimal tissue repair. Furthermore, by correcting imbalances and improving overall range, it serves as a powerful prophylactic against future injuries, particularly for assisted stretching for athletes.
5. Profound Relief from Chronic Pain and Deep Muscle Tension: By precisely addressing stubborn muscle imbalances and meticulously releasing deep-seated tension often residing in the fascia and deeper muscle layers, assisted stretching can offer substantial, sometimes life-changing, relief from persistent discomfort.
6. Invaluable Educational Insight: Beyond the physical benefits, a truly skilled therapist will often illuminate what they are doing and why, providing you with a deeper, intuitive understanding of your own body, its limitations, and its incredible potential. This knowledge empowers your own self-care practices.

Who Should Avoid Assisted Stretching? Prudent Considerations

While broadly safe and remarkably beneficial, assisted stretching isn't universally appropriate for every individual. Prudence dictates caution, or even avoidance, in certain specific circumstances. You should exercise particular discretion and always consult a medical professional first if you have:

• Acute (new) injuries: If you've just sustained a fresh muscle strain, ligament sprain, or fracture, stretching (assisted or otherwise) could exacerbate the injury. Your body needs time for initial healing, often requiring immobilisation or gentle movement prescribed by a doctor or physiotherapist.
• Recent surgery: Your body undergoes significant trauma during surgery and requires substantial time for healing and tissue remodelling. Strictly adhere to your surgeon's and physiotherapist's post-operative instructions.
• Certain medical conditions: Individuals with severe, unmanaged osteoporosis (where bones are highly brittle), specific neurological conditions affecting muscle tone, or inherently unstable joints (e.g., severe hypermobility or joint laxity) may find assisted stretching risky. Conditions like deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or acute infections in the area to be stretched are also contraindications. Always provide your therapist with a complete and candid medical history.
• Active inflammation or infection: Stretching an area experiencing acute inflammation (characterised by redness, heat, swelling, pain) or infection can spread the issue or worsen the condition.
• Severe hypermobility: While seemingly counterintuitive, individuals with excessive natural joint flexibility (hypermobility syndrome) need an exceptionally nuanced, highly controlled approach. Overstretching can actually destabilise joints further or strain surrounding tissues rather than support them.

Always initiate an open and detailed dialogue with any prospective stretch therapist regarding your complete health history, existing conditions, and any apprehensions you may harbour. Your safety and well-being are always the foremost priority.

What Techniques Are Used in Assisted Stretching Sessions? The Therapist's Toolkit

A highly skilled stretch therapist wields a diverse array of techniques, meticulously applied to achieve optimal results and cater to your unique body. Beyond the fundamental passive and active assisted stretches already discussed, they might seamlessly incorporate:

• Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF): As explored, PNF is a sophisticated, evidence-based technique that masterfully alternates between an isometric contraction of the target muscle (or its antagonist) and a subsequent passive stretch. This deliberate sequence helps to modulate the stretch reflex via the Golgi tendon organs, allowing the muscle to relax more deeply and achieve greater lengthening (Sharman et al., 2006; Hindle et al., 2012). It's a cornerstone for rapid gains in range of motion.
• Post-Isometric Relaxation (PIR): A nuanced form of PNF, PIR involves contracting a muscle at a very low, gentle intensity for a short period (typically 5-10 seconds), followed immediately by a complete relaxation phase and then a gentle stretch. This technique effectively helps to "reset" muscle spindle activity and reduce hypertonicity (muscle tightness) within the muscle belly itself (Smith et al., 2008).
• Reciprocal Inhibition: Therapists cleverly utilise this neurological principle: when one muscle (the agonist) contracts, its opposing muscle (the antagonist) automatically relaxes. For instance, to deeply stretch the hamstring, the therapist might ask you to gently contract your quadriceps, facilitating greater hamstring release (Agrawal et al., 2016).
• Traction and Oscillation: Gentle pulling (traction) applied along the joint axis can decompress the joint, creating more space and facilitating movement. Rhythmic, small-amplitude movements (oscillation) within that new range can further help to lubricate the joint and encourage deeper relaxation of the surrounding soft tissues, improving joint capsule mobility.
• Movement with Mobilisation (MWM): While more of a joint mobilisation technique, skilled therapists might integrate elements of MWM where a sustained accessory glide is applied to a joint while the client actively moves through a painful or restricted range of motion. This can instantly improve mobility improvement and reduce discomfort.
• Positional Release Therapy (PRT): This technique involves finding a position of comfort for a tender point within a muscle, holding it for a period, and then slowly returning to a neutral position. It aims to reduce muscle spasm and pain by resetting aberrant neurological feedback loops.

These sophisticated stretching techniques are not applied in isolation but are often artfully combined and adapted dynamically by the therapist based on your individual response, physiological feedback, and specific therapeutic goals during the session. It's a truly bespoke physical experience.

Conclusion: Your Path to a More Flexible, Unstoppable You

So, what’s the definitive word on assisted stretching vs traditional stretching? It's less of a head-to-head battle and more of a strategic partnership – two powerful, complementary forces on your wellness journey. Traditional stretching is your unwavering daily companion, accessible, empowering, and profoundly effective for maintaining general muscular harmony and joint freedom. It's your foundational daily practice.

Assisted stretching, on the other hand, is your elite specialist – your personal flexibility architect, if you will. It’s designed to unlock new, profound levels of mobility, address stubborn, deeply rooted restrictions, and truly optimise your body’s inherent movement potential. It’s where you go to transcend your current limits.

Whether your aspiration is to shatter plateaus in athletic performance, find lasting muscle pain relief from nagging tension, or simply to move through your everyday life with unparalleled comfort and fluid grace, understanding both options empowers you to make astutely informed choices. Why not embrace the synergy? Establish a consistent home stretching routine as your daily ritual. And when you’re poised to delve deeper, to tackle those persistent challenges, or simply to indulge in the transformative power of expert touch, actively explore assisted stretching near me. Your remarkably adaptable body will undoubtedly thank you for it!

Ready to truly experience the paradigm shift a personalised, professional stretching routine can ignite? Visit Stretchmasters.co.uk today to explore our range of elite stretch therapy services and take the decisive stride towards a more flexible, more resilient, and utterly unstoppable you.

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References:

• Wu, W., Wang, Y., Ye, C., Chen, Z., Zhou, Y., Ye, S., Huang, X., Zhu, J., Chen, Y., & Xu, Y. (2021). Myofascial Release for Chronic Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Pain Research & Management, 2021, Article ID 8850129. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34395477/bMed
• Needham RA, Morse CI, Degens H. The acute effect of different warm-up protocols on anaerobic performance in elite youth soccer players. J Strength Cond Res. 2009 Dec;23(9):2614-20. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181b1f3ef. PMID: 19910812. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19910812/ 
• Unalmis, Y., et al. (2023). Examination of the effect of fascial therapy on some performance parameters in athletes. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 12(19), 6143. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38314051/ 
• Hindle, K., Whitcomb, T., Briggs, M., & Hong, J. (2012). Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF): Its mechanisms and effects on range of motion and muscular function. Journal of Human Kinetics, 31(1), 105–113. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3588663/ 
• Agrawal, S et al.  (2016). Comparison between post isometric relaxation and reciprocal inhibition manoeuvres on hamstring flexibility in young healthy adults: randomized clinical trial. International Journal of Health Sciences & Research. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292670102_Comparison_between_post_isometric_relaxation_and_reciprocal_inhibition_manuevers_on_hamstring_flexibility_in_young_healthy_adults_randomized_clinical_trial 
• Smith, M., Fryer, G., & Dall’Alba, P. (2008). A comparison of two muscle energy techniques for increasing flexibility of the hamstring muscle group. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, 12(4), 312-317. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19083689/ 
• Magnusson SP, Simonsen EB, Aagaard P, Sørensen H, Kjaer M. A mechanism for altered flexibility in human skeletal muscle. J Physiol. 1996 Nov 15;497 ( Pt 1)(Pt 1):291-8. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1996.sp021768. Erratum in: J Physiol (Lond) 1996 Dec 15;497(Pt 3):857. PMID: 8951730; PMCID: PMC1160931. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8951730/ 
• Muyor JM, López-Miñarro PA, Casimiro AJ. Effect of stretching program in an industrial workplace on hamstring flexibility and sagittal spinal posture of adult women workers: a randomized controlled trial. J Back Musculoskelet Rehabil. 2012;25(3):161-9. doi: 10.3233/BMR-2012-0323. PMID: 22935854. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22935854/ 
• Page, P. (2012). Current concepts in muscle stretching for exercise and rehabilitation. International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, 7(1), 109–119. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3273886/ 
• Sharman, M. J., Cresswell, A. G., & Riek, S. (2006). Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching. Sports Medicine, 36(11), 929-939. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17052131/ 
• Rees SS, Murphy AJ, Watsford ML, McLachlan KA, Coutts AJ. Effects of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching on stiffness and force-producing characteristics of the ankle in active women. J Strength Cond Res. 2007 May;21(2):572-7. doi: 10.1519/R-20175.1. PMID: 17530973. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17530973/ 

Related Reads from Stretch Masters Blog:

• How to Find the Right Assisted Stretching Partner
• The Top 5 Myths About Assisted Stretching Debunked
• The Science Behind Assisted Stretching: Why It Works

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Disclaimer:

The content on this blog is provided for general information and wellness purposes only. It should not be considered medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. StretchMasters® services, including assisted stretching, are intended to support overall wellbeing and are not a substitute for professional healthcare guidance. While reasonable care has been taken in preparing and verifying the information presented in this blog, StretchMasters® makes no claims, representations, or guarantees regarding its completeness, accuracy, or reliability. This content is intended for general informational purposes only and is not a scientific article. Inconsistencies, inaccuracies, or errors — including in paraphrasing and citation — may be present. We strive to ensure that all information is accurate and up to date; however, due to the evolving nature of health research, we cannot guarantee that all content reflects the latest evidence. Additionally, external links shared in blog posts may change, be updated, or become inactive over time without notice. Always consult with a qualified medical professional before starting any new therapy, especially if you have existing health conditions. StretchMasters®, its parent company Skuil Ltd, and affiliated clinics accept no liability for decisions made based on this content. Opinions expressed in individual blog posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of StretchMasters® or its subsidiaries. Any reference to third-party organisations, websites, services, or products is not an endorsement.