“Passive Stretching”: Stretching That Requires Assistance

Stretching Is Important!

We know that stretching is important, but which type of stretching actually works many people may not know.

One important type of stretching is Passive Stretching. As the name suggests, it requires you to be passive, meaning it cannot be done on your own and requires assistance, whether from another person or supportive equipment (see more details here).

Normally, we can stretch by ourselves, but self-stretching is often not sufficient to effectively stretch all muscle groups.

For example, the hips are a central hub of many muscles that affect all movements of the legs lifting, kicking, opening, and closing which we use every day. The hips are also connected to the spine, making the muscle attachments in this area quite complex. Fully stretching all these muscles is not easy, especially muscles close to the bones such as the iliopsoas, a key muscle in the hip flexor group that is constantly in use when we bend forward, lift our legs, walk, or run. This muscle lies close to the spine and pelvis.

With such complex muscle structures, truly effective stretching is difficult to achieve (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscles_of_the_hip). The same applies to arm movement, which relies on multiple muscle groups in the chest and shoulders, especially the muscles around the scapula, which are equally complex. Releasing tension in the scapular area therefore requires stretching multiple points together (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scapula).

If you feel that self-stretching at home is not enough and would like to try Passive Stretching, it may be best to seek help from a professional to ensure that the muscles are stretched correctly and precisely. Stretch me has expert physical therapists ready to provide targeted services.