ZoBody Mastering Mobility

Flexibility Training and Joint Mobility

-- Active Isolation Stretching utilizing a massage table.

-- Sessions range from 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on the needs of each client.

In general, joint mobility as a principle, is quite old. The components can be found for example, in martial arts and practices of yoga, tai chi and qi-gong.

The messages from such remind us to flow as water. Children are born with muscles extremely flexible and joints that are hyper mobile. As they grow stronger the muscles tighten and develop. In contrast, many adults and some athletes lose normal ranges of movements in joints.

Joint mobility serves as a tool to reclaim normal joint functions. Active isolated stretching (AIS) will help improve flexibility and retain its gains. Unlike traditional stretching where one holds stretches for 10-30 seconds, in AIS the use of a rope or the supervision of a practitioner can gently assist in pulling muscles a little farther than the body would ordinarily allow. This form of stretching reprograms the brain and body to remember new ranges of motion, for improvements in flexibility. The principle of reciprocal inhibition rules that the muscles on one side of a joint must relax for the opposing muscles to contract. This becomes the operating tool for AIS. Thereby enforcing flexibility towards strength within the scope of the training progression continuum.

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