Recently I came across another guru group that certificates instructors to 
become "Flexibility Technicians", namely, Jim and Phil Wharton (Maximum 
Performance International).  Their website is:

http://www.aistretch.com/myths.htm

One of their articles purports to debunk various stretching myths, but only 
exacerbates the situation.  Here is an extract for your amusement:

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STRETCH MYTHS 

<< I should hold a stretch from ten seconds to three minutes in order for it 
to do me any good, right?                 WRONG! 

Muscles can elongate, when they're healthy, up to 1.6 times their length, but 
they generally don't like to do that. If you elongate a muscle too quickly or 
too far, it automatically and ballistically recoils to protect itself from 
ripping. This compensation is called a "myotatic reflex" and it kicks in at 
three seconds. . . . .

The trick in progressing in flexibility is to stretch a muscle, but not allow 
it time to engage the "myotatic reflex." You work quickly and gently. The 
muscle you are stretching is totally relaxed because the muscle on top of it 
is doing all the work. The stretching muscle never has time to fire. Because 
it is stretched, held for two seconds, and released, it doesn't need to 
protect itself. The "myotatic reflex" is never engaged. >>

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***Their entire active isolated stretching method (really yet another 
borrowing from the inventory of PNF stretches in disguised terms) is founded 
upon this belief that the myotatic stretch reflex takes as along as 3 seconds 
to be activated. They do not even realise that improvements in certain types 
of flexibility (Range of Movement) associated with "their" innovative 
stretching method  does not 'work' because of the reasons that they provide.

They do not seem to appreciate that the myotatic stretch reflex, like all 
reflexes, generally are for protection or survival.  An activation time of 3 
seconds, of course, implies that the myotatic reflex just does not operate 
when one runs, jumps, hits, throws, snatches, jerks or carries out any 
explosive ballistic movement!  

How on earth do they imagine that such a slow reflex would allow the muscles 
to become strongly activated in the case of a sudden slip or fall?  Our 
sports fields would be littered with injured players all the time.  Can you 
imagine what would happen if it took 3 seconds for a stretch reflex to 
activate the muscles in a pitcher's or batter's arm to stop moving after 
throwing or striking?  What would happen to a kicker's joints in football, 
soccer or rugby if the stretch reflex took so long to signal the muscles to 
terminate the movement or stabilise the joints?

Have they never ever opened a book such as Guyton (Textbook of Medical 
Physiology) to realise that the "stretch reflex" actually consists of a 
phasic (rapid acting) stretch reflex and a tonic (longer acting) stretch 
reflex, along with several other important reflexes?

Have they never read any of the standard texts on neurophysiology or 
neuropsychology, or even the very early works of Pavlov, to know that 
reflexes aren't even fixed entities, but can be conditioned or changed (even 
speeded up) by imposed stimuli?   

If they are certificating instructors on the basis of such patently incorrect 
nonsense, then the fitness industry is in a sorrier state that I ever 
imagined.

There are several other errors in the above extract and in other articles on 
their website.  If anyone would care to extract some points that they find to 
be "interesting", please share them with us.

Dr Mel C Siff
Denver, USA
[log in to unmask]



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