It seems that, for many years, there has really been only one stretching method. Anyone who has gone through any form of P.E. class is familiar with it. I found it tremendously boring and ineffective (though I also despised anything that had to do with exercise … the times, how they change). Stretching forced me to sit quietly for extended periods of time and didn’t give me any instant gratification, like the feeling of pumped muscles after a hardcore workout. Much like fitness programs, however, flexibility training has undergone a variety of upgrades and iterations that are slowly making waves in the fitness industry and beyond. One such method, called Resistance Stretching – or Resistance Flexibility and Strength Training (RFST) – is changing the way that people are looking at flexibility.

For years and years, flexibility and strength training have been completely separate, opposing methods. Basically, strength training requires a contraction – or shortening of muscle groups – while static stretching attempts to elongate them. As a result, muscles develop strength, but only in certain ranges of motion. For example, when performing a biceps curl, the exerciser experiences his greatest leverage midway through the movement. However, at the bicep’s most elongated state – or starting point – the muscle experiences significant weakness and often requires that the exerciser use momentum to lift the weight. That is where the disparity between flexibility and strength training occurs, and where RFST can help.

According to Luther Cowden, San Diego-based Certified Meridian Flexibility Trainer, “RFST is a new form of stretching, where the participant stretches by continuously contracting the muscles while elongating them. It is a part of the Meridian Flexibility System, which has roots in classical Hatha Yoga, Traditional Chinese Medicine, personality typing theory, and western physical therapy.” Developed by Bob Cooley, author of The Genius of Flexibility, RFST helps the exerciser develop strength all along the flexibility continuum. As previously mentioned, a bicep muscle exhibits strength deficits during certain ranges of motion, and RFST can help to reduce those deficits. Unlike traditional static stretching, the participant, whether practicing solo or with a partner, continuously contracts a muscle throughout its entire range of motion. Think of opposing forces acting upon one another. “What sets this type of stretching apart from other modalities is that instead of trying to relax while holding the stretch, you instead resist the stretch by contracting the muscles you are elongating, which in a sense is like ‘fighting’ the stretch,” Cowden says. “ Continuously contracting the muscles while moving them from where they are as short as possible to where they are as long as possible provides the stretch, and you can also reverse the movement by moving them from where they are as long as possible to where they are as short as possible to provide strength training.”

Cowden, who studied under Cooley, also says that this method can also help the participant improve overall health and wellness. “Another major difference (from static stretching) is the concomitant associations between specific muscle groups and meridians (energy channels) explored in Traditional Chinese Medicine,” he says. “So, as you improve the strength and flexibility of particular muscle groups, you are at the same time improving the health of specific organs in the body, along with their physical, spiritual, emotional, and psychological attributes.”

Similar to Hatha yoga, along with its emphasis on flexibility, this type of flexibility training is thought to affect the way that the internal organs function, and, it is believed, that a defect in a particular organ can be improved through a series of stretches and movements.

Though this method can be effective for all types of people, it is gaining steam among a variety of athletes. From high profile X-Gamers to Olympic athletes, RFST has been associated with significant improvements in athletic ability. One proponent of the program is Olympic gold-medal winner Dana Torres. First achieving gold medal status in 1984 for the 400-meter swim, Torres competed again in 1988 and 1992, taking home medals in both competitions. Slowly aging, and potentially becoming obsolete in a competition that is comprised of much younger athletes, Torres was determined to continue competing.

She discovered Cooley’s methods in 2000 and with his help, qualified for the Olympic games that year and brought home 5 medals. “She retired after the 2000 games only to come out of retirement recently to shoot for the 2008 Olympics with Steve Sierra and Anne Tierney as her RFST trainers,” says Cowden. “She is now 41, which is an unheard of age for Olympic swimming. She is competing with girls half her age. Not only that, but she is breaking records she set when she first began competing, setting new American records, and has become the oldest U.S. national champion ever.” Hordes of other high-profile athletes are following in Torres’ footsteps and seeking out Cooley and his students to help them maintain – and even surpass – their previous athletic capabilities.

Many of us probably do not plan to participate in the ’08 Olympics, but Cowden believes his methods are applicable to everyone. “This method is beneficial for people who are stressed, want to relieve tension, people suffering from pain, people with injuries, athletes, people that want to strengthen without using weights and people that want to gain flexibility,” he says. “Many of the people I have worked with report having more energy, less pain and tension, a better understanding of the body, and how holding tension can effect them psychologically. Many of the injured people I have worked with are surprised at how much their body changes through the work. They no longer feel resigned to live with the limited range of motion that their injury caused. Athletes have more endurance, agility, and ability to generate force. Others have reported no longer having to take pain medication, and improvements in digestion, sleep, blood sugar levels, breathing, sex drive, and more.”

Whether you want to gain strength, flexibility or athletic performance, or reduce pain, depression or tension, RFST may be a method worth investigating. But be prepared: It ain’t nothing like your high school gym class.

For more information on RFST, or to find a RFST trainer in your area, visit www.meridianstretching.com.