Lifestyle.physio

The Stretching Handbook

We recently had the pleasure of a visit from Brad Walker, author of The Stretching Handbook. Brad took the physios through his philosophy on stretching and by the end had everyone up performing his favourite stretches. But his message is clear, just because a particular stretch is good for one person don’t assume it’s going to be good for everyone. It’s important to get advice on the right stretches for your condition.

Brad contributed an article on Flexibility for the Pyramid Of Performance which you can read here. Another point Brad made was you don’t necessarily stretch muscles where you perceive there is dysfunction. Sometimes you need to stretch the opposing muscles, an example he gave was with upper back and neck pain. Particularly for people who spend long hours on the computer, sometimes it’s more important to stretch the chest muscles, not the upper back. Ask your Lifestyle Physiotherapist for advice or if you are unable to do that, you can purchase Brad’s popular book or DVD, The Stretching Handbook.

Brad Walker with physios from Lifestyle Therapies