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Stretching Series - Pt. 3: Assisted Stretching

A chiropractor demonstrates assisted stretching of the hamstrings with the client lying on their back. He shows hold-relax, two versions of contract-relax, and a stretch-strap option, explaining that stretching mainly improves how much stretch the client tolerates rather than physically lengthening the muscle.

Stretching Series - Pt. 3: Assisted Stretching · Dr DeFabio · YouTube

Length5:16
RatingClarity 4/5 · Credibility 3/5 · Relevance 3/5
Chiropractor explaining assisted stretching; closer to hold-relax and contract-relax (PNF) than to simple active-assisted stretching.
Coverstechniques/active-assisted-stretching · techniques/pnf-stretching · muscles/hamstrings
Watchhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7Z6yUFozD0

Chapters

  1. 0:00 Intro
  2. 0:50 Hold Relax
  3. 2:05 Contract Relax
  4. 4:05 Stretch Strap

Key points

  • Keep the knee straight and isolate the muscle you want to stretch.
  • Hold-relax - hold at a comfortable stretch, let the client relax, then ease a little further; repeat about three times.
  • In contract-relax the client pushes gently against your hand for about five seconds; a light contraction is enough.
  • Gains in range come mainly from better tolerance of the stretch.

Cautions

  • The techniques shown overlap with PNF; for the library’s active-assisted stretch, the client lifts the limb and you only help at the end.