Resistance Stretching

Part of my health overhaul has been to improve flexibility.  In fact, I've been working on flexibility for years now with little actual progress.  Where I went wrong was focusing on static stretching which as it turns out leads to overstretching the muscles.  Then I stumbled upon the concept of resistance stretching through a book called "Stretching Scientifically" and then again with "The Genius of Flexibility."

The concept, in a nutshell, is that to effectively stretch a muscle it is imperative to start the with the muscle shortened and contract against resistance throughout the full range of the stretch.

The downside for me with both books is that I wasn't sure I was doing the stretches correctly based on the pictures and explanations.  I did a Youtube search for resistance stretching and found this series that includes Olympic swimmer Dara Torres demonstrating many of the stretches from "The Genius of Flexibility" (according to book, Torres trained with author Bob Cooley).  After a few workouts, I already notice improvements in my range-of-motion.

The videos are embedded below (or on full page) for my own use but I recommend to anybody looking to increase flexibility to give the routine a trial run.  Be aware that resistance stretching works your muscles for strength too and you may experience soreness.   I highly recommend picking up one of the books listed to gain deeper knowledge into the concepts and for proper guidance with reps, intensity, frequency, etc.

Books referenced:

Good explanation of resistance stretching with diagrams and sample workouts. Skeptical on the personality interconnectedness but consider it a bonus if it works and not a big deal if it doesn't.

Equally good in terms of explaining resistance stretching but not as many pictures or specific exercises. Author is Russian so some terms have expanded or slightly different definitions.

Demonstration Videos: