Flexible Times Newsletter — Autumn Issue 5
Mar 30, 2024
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AUTUMN NEWSLETTER — ISSUE 5
Flexibility and adaptation are foundational to survival as well as to living one’s life to its highest potential. Our creation of Frederick Stretch Therapy™ helps people globally achieve flexibility of their body, mind and spirit to live a better, pain-free life. By helping people connect to themselves in deeply profound ways, FST helps them better connect to others. This newsletter is dedicated to announcing the news, discoveries, stories and scientific research that will cultivate and enhance the connections to our inner and outer worlds.
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Greetings! Our theme for this quarterly newsletter follows the season of Autumn, which is now about one third of the way into its cycle. Traditionally, a time to reap the reward of a harvest after carefully and diligently tending the garden or farm, what does it mean for most of us who live an urban life? Recognizing that we only have about two more months before a new year starts another cycle, the cooler weather has us enjoying the outdoors as much as we can. We also reflect on the blessings we have reaped, planting ‘seeds’ of our good work of Frederick Stretch Therapy™ being done all over the world by our incredible students. To hear a few amazing stories of helping people in as little as one session with FST, see our first video below. You don’t want to miss the last story about using FST in the ER! Many of you are familiar and have had lots of success for yourself and your patients and clients with our quick and easy mobility self-stretch program called Core 4 on the Floor™. Check out our new progression in the video below of adding muscle activation and strengthening to this fantastic program! While stretching yourself is essential to complement your other physical activities, you just cannot compare it to being stretched by a professional. More people than ever are searching for a qualified specialist to stretch them in order to get more flexible, mobile, or active, as well as for stress reduction and an alternative or adjunct to massage. Others hope to get resolution from pain, dysfunction and poor quality of life. Finally, we hope you will enjoy our exciting take-aways from the Fascia Research Congress that took place during September in Montreal. It seems that at every updated Congress, we become increasingly enlightened and full of wonder at the remarkable form and function of fascia that significantly influences literally all that we are and do. It was so good to see and interact with such a cross disciplinary representation of traditional, complementary and integrative researchers and physicians as well as practitioners, instructors and educators from varied fields with a common interest in improving not only understanding of the anatomy and physiology of fascia, but also how to effectively evaluate, assess, treat and train fascia in the living body.
Yours in love, light and laughter, |
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Not All Stretching is the Same
When I attended physical therapy school at Hunter College in the late 1980’s, we dissected and then threw away any and all connective tissue (also now called ‘fascia’) so we could visualize the structures that we would be tested on in anatomy like muscle, organs and bones. So, when I learned methods and techniques of assisted stretching that I would eventually be doing on patients, the intent was always to lengthen what was shortened or restricted in range of motion. Oftentimes, the restriction was thought to be due to general ‘tightness’ or ‘shortening’ of a muscle, perhaps as a consequence of scar tissue, dehydration or a disease like cerebral palsy. Traditional techniques of passive stretching were isolated to one muscle, linear (i.e., one direction), and held at a point where the patient found it slightly to moderately uncomfortable and was held statically for 15, 30, 45 or 60 seconds depending on patient response, tolerance and time dedicated in a treatment session. This was repeated 2-3 times per muscle. Patient responses varied from a feeling of mild to moderate or more pain and gains in range of motion were typically small. Consequently, visits were often prescribed 2-3x/week by a physician to reach set goals for improve function. Long term results of the patient achieving a significant permanent change in flexibility was often disappointingly inconsistent. In contrast, Frederick Stretch Therapy™ or simply FST is pain-free, multi-angular, never held and constantly moving and full body, never isolated. Results are much better than traditional stretching, as FST comprehensively addresses hidden compensations as well as overt restrictions and imbalances by treating the whole body. Quick and highly significant results are often achieved within the first session and are cumulative as well as long lasting. It can be truly said, not all stretching is the same. To find a FST practitioner near you, visit our website directory here.
Fascia Research Congress Take-aways
The first ever 3-D plastinate model of the human form of fascia! We were honored to get a private preview of FR:EIA (Fascia Revealed: Educating Interconnected Anatomy) with team members involved in her creation. |
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Stuart McGill
Renown researcher of low back pain, as well as our friend and colleague, Stu, gave a keynote address that resulted in a standing ovation at the Congress. In addition to being a wonderful presenter and great story teller, we feel that his inclusion of clinical treatments that he personally conducted were a key factor in making his one of the more popular talks. In addition to scientific data substantiating his concept of ‘super-stiffening’, Stu showed video of his previous client and star MMA champion George St. Pierre (aka GSP) kicking a bag. Besides the incredible force production that was measured, it became quickly evident that super dynamic stability was foundational to keeping GSP’s back safe and strong while performing incredibly fast, powerful kicks that were just one of many aspects that made him a standout champion with a final UFC record of 26-2-0. While many thought that Dr. McGill was anti-stretching based on his strong views and support for maintaining a state of stiffness for things like weightlifting and sports, he agrees with our work in FST. As long as stretching does not create instability, he is in favor of appropriate stretching when and where indicated, as we teach. His highly regarded book, “Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance-Sixth Edition”, may be purchased here at Amazon: https://amzn.to/3gWrRCx
Peter Friedl, MD, PhD presented the keynote talk, “Mapping interstitial conduits for fluid transport and cell migration”. This intriguing presentation further substantiated and confirmed the recent (2017-2018) discovery of a “new” tissue with some calling it a new organ, namely the interstitium. Featured in many popular journals like Scientific American, this discovery is still one of the hottest topics in fascia science and cancer research. Since then, senior co-author of the original study, liver pathologist Neil Thiese, PhD, has been a popular and much sought-after speaker at numerous fascia related conferences and podcasts. Found throughout the body in the connective tissue system or fascia, the interstitium is filled with channels or conduits that passively and actively is the transport system and mechanism of the most important fluids in our body. Dr. Friedl spoke more on its role as a conduit for metastasis in cancer with the recommendation for clinicians never to massage a tumor in order to prevent risk of spreading the cancer.
Bill is a Fascia Research Congress board member and said to Ann when he met her, “The famous Ann Frederick, do you know how well you are known in the NFL?” It’s so great for us to hear that not only is our founder Ann Frederick still so well known for her work done in the NFL, but that her legacy is being carried on by many of her students that have been hired by teams specifically for providing FST. The NFL only works with the best and FST is the gold standard for assisted stretching and recovery of mobility. Bill is also the author of the highly regarded book, “Fascia Training”, is founder and Executive Director of the PFSSCA (Professional Football Strength & Conditioning Coaches Association), and Executive Director of the Fascia Training Academy, in addition to the founder of Parisi Speed Schools and Sports Performance (now at 100 locations in the USA). Stay tuned for exciting collaborative projects that we will be doing with this amazing man!
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Recommended Podcasts
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Stretch To Win Institute |
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