Flexibility for Runners - Pavel's Techniques

Flexibility is a key to increasing your stride length and therefore your running economy.  A trainer at a local gym told me about Pavel Tsatsouline’s book “Relax into Stretch” - http://www.dragondoor.com/b14.html.  As runners, we need hip flexor flexibility and hamstring flexibility.  

I found the book very interesting and different than any stretching book I have seen.  Now I know why my trainer friend called it the best flexibility book he had ever read.  The techniques are working for me.  Tsatsouline has some great exercises for both your hip flexors and hamstrings.  The key to it is what he calls “Forced Relaxation”

Forced Relaxation Technique of Pavel Tsatsouline

• Stretch as far as comfortably possible and contract the muscles you are about to stretch with one to two thirds of your maximum effort.
• Tension should increase gradually and reach its peak by the third or fourth second. Don’t contract the stretched muscles explosively!
• Hold steady, unwavering tension. If you were holding a real weight with the target muscle, the weight would stay put rather than bob up and down.
• Don’t hold your breath, breathe shallow.
• Hold the tension until it becomes unbearable, then release it with a sigh of relief—don’t let the breath get ‘caught’ in your chest as is common for a very stressed out person; let go! — and immediately increase the stretch.
• Understand that ‘immediately’ means ‘without delay’ rather than ‘with quick movement’!
• The duration of the contraction may vary from five seconds to five minutes. Find your sweet spot through trial and error. Start with thirty to sixty second contractions. If you have the mental fortitude, keep the tension until your muscles start quivering and finally collapse in exhaustion, unable to contract any longer.
• Use your head (duh!)

The PDF is out there in a number of spots.  If you are serious about the subject, you might want to buy the DVD.  Here’s a summary of a key technique taken from the book: