|
Stretch to Win - Ann and Chris Frederick
Untitled Document
Stretch to Win
by Ann and Chris Frederick
NEW, 264 pages
Get other Flexibility and Stretching books here
About Stretch to Win
Leave the old static stretches, muscle tightness, and movement restrictions behind. Stretch to Win presents a complete flexibility training system—a proven winner for today’s athlete. This is the new way to both loosen up and perform your best.
Learn the dynamic exercise techniques that most closely represent the movements and loads that will be required of your body on the court, field, course, track, or mat or in the water. After you complete a simple self-evaluation, a special science-based stretching matrix enables you to tailor a program specifically for your body, your sport, your position, or your event.
Authors Ann and Chris Frederick have trained many elite and aspiring athletes to achieve optimal muscle and joint function. Now you can stretch to win and enjoy the same results champions in all sports have achieved through this modern, customized flexibility training program.
About Ann Frederick
Ann Frederick is the director of flexibility training for the Stretch to Win Clinic, where she has worked with many elite athletes, including Philadelphia Eagles star quarterback Donovan McNabb and numerous Olympians and members of the NFL, MLB, and NHL. Ann was the first flexibility specialist ever to work at the Olympics, consulting with the 1996 U.S. wrestling team and both the 2000 and 2004 U.S. track teams.
For more than 35 years, Ann has studied, performed, and taught movement through multiple dance disciplines. In 1997, upon completion of her studies, Frederick defended her master's thesis and established that her stretching technique outperformed conventional methods with lasting flexibility gains of 36 to 52 percent. She continually refined and improved these techniques, which ultimately developed into the Stretch To Win system of flexibility training and stretching. Today, professional athletes and Olympians from all over the world use this system to achieve higher levels of performance.
Ann is a member of the International Association of Structural Integrators and is part of the associate faculty at Arizona State University.
About Chris Frederick
Chris Frederick is the director of sports and orthopedic rehabilitation at the Stretch to Win Clinic. After an injury sidelined his professional dance career, Chris went on to receive his degree in manual orthopedic physical therapy from Hunter College, City University of New York. To get a well-rounded background in many disciplines, Chris trained privately with several master physical therapists, rolfers, chiropractors, osteopaths, two chi kung and tai chi masters, and an Olympic strength coach.
As a result of his education and training, Chris lends a nontraditional, complementary approach to flexibility training, physical therapy, sport rehabilitation, and fitness. Using the Stretch To Win system of flexibility training and stretching, he has designed many effective injury-prevention programs for both professional and collegiate athletes and sport teams as well as professional dancers and dance companies. Chris is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association, the International Association of Structural Integrators, and the International Association of Dance, Medicine and Science.
The Fredericks are also renowned international speakers and codirectors of the International Institute of Flexibility Sciences located in Tempe, Arizona. There, they train and certify professionals to become flexibility specialists who may use the Stretch To Win system to enhance their current careers. The Fredericks are dedicated to advancing the emerging field of flexibility sciences by promoting and engaging in research on connective tissue and related topics.
The Fredericks reside in Tempe, Arizona.
Reviews of this book
"Flexibility is a key to an athlete's success. The advice, exercises, and programs in Stretch to Win will enable your body and mind to be balanced and connected so you can perform your best."
Donovan McNabb
Quarterback, Philadelphia Eagles
Five-time Pro Bowl selection
"Stretch to Win has been a tremendous asset to me. I always had trouble with my hamstrings, but after working with Chris and Ann I was able to compete without pain. I use the routines every day, and they help me stay injury free."
Sanya Richards
2004 Olympic 4x400-meter gold medalist
2005 world outdoor 400-meter silver medalist and U.S. outdoor champion
"The artistry and rhythm of the Fredericks' approach to stretching are supported by the science of flexibility. The debate may continue over the efficacy of stretching, but in the real world of athletics, the Fredericks' method answers the challenge and meets the need of certified athletic trainers and certified massage therapists."
Benny Vaughn, LMT, ATC, CSCS, NCTMB
Athletic Therapy Center
Fort Worth, Texas
"Making the Stretch To Win System an essential part of my off and in-season training has maximized my athletic performance and has eliminated major injuries so that I'm able to play my best at each and every game."
Na'il Diggs
Green Bay Packers
About Stretching
Stretching is a form of physical exercise in which a specific skeletal muscle (or muscle group) is deliberately elongated to its fullest length (often by abduction from the torso) in order to improve the muscle's felt elasticity and reaffirm comfortable muscle tone. The result is a feeling of increased muscle control, flexibility and range of motion. Stretching is also used therapeutically to alleviate cramps.
Stretching, in its most basic form, is a natural and instinctive activity; it is performed by many animals including humans. It can be accompanied by yawning. Stretching often occurs instinctively after waking from sleep, after long periods of inactivity, or after exiting confined spaces and areas.
Many athletes stretch deliberately before or after exercise in order to increase performance and reduce injury.
In the literature described by Michael Yessis, there are many beneficial stretches that can improve range of motion (ROM) in athletes, especially runners. In his review, he cites benefits of stretching:
1. may improve ROM
2. reduce risk of injury during activity
3. prevent post-exercise muscle soreness
4. slow delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS)
To gain these benefits, Yessis describes different forms of stretching along with their individual benefits. He suggests that one stretching exercise may not be enough to prevent all types of injury. Therefore, multiple stretching exercises should be used to gain the full effects of stretching.
Research by Sharman et al. sought to find what techniques elongate muscles through "proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation" (PNF) stretching. They used around seventy sources to compile their data. In this review, PNF stretching yielded the greatest change in range of motion (ROM), especially short-term benefits. Ballistic stretching was also beneficial in comparison; however, PNF techniques emphasize active flexibility and therefore get better results. Reasoning behind the biomechanical benefit of PNF stretching points to muscular reflex relaxation found in the musculotendinous unit being stretched. More common findings in literature suggest that PNF benefits are due to influence on the joint where the stretch is felt.
Stretch to Win
| 
