[Vickie]

Bigwill, I hope when you put your heels agains the baseboard you are facing away from the wall. If you can pull off some other position, I wanna watch.

Trig, The enzymatic activity that responds to exercise information and tells the muscle to let go in a stretch takes up to 20 seconds to reach maximal. So you're right, 15 seconds barely lets the muscle fibers begin to respond. I typically start my people with 30 seconds and build up to 60-90 seconds ( in ten second intervals over a few days or weeks) depending on the number of muscles involved in the stretch. But most important is that as you are in the stretch you allow the muscle to continue to stretch. A compound stretch like a torso twist I would just continue to let my body stretch for a full minute from the very beginning. For more isolated muscle stretches like a hamstring stretch or a shoulder stretch I suggest the first stretch position for 30+ seconds and then try to take yourself into the stretch another milimeter for another 30 seconds and then one more intentional effort for 30 seconds. At the most extreme position you should still not be grimmicing and you should be able to come out of it slow and clean. If you are pulling into the stretch so hard you can barely stand it you are probably at risk for injury and surely at risk for some soreness. Consistency, as in most things in life and exercise, is more important that deep intensity. That's why we suggest you do it everyday. It seems a little conflicting but your intention is more important than large and fast improvements but you must be on the clear edge of your ability always to continue to enjoy the results.

If you find that you have a huge discrepency between your right and left sides then I suggest you stretch the weaker side first, then to the second side and then back to the weaker side for an additional look at the function. I have some permanent disabilities and use this approach every second or third streth day. I also use it in my strength training.

Let me add that breathing is critical. In strength and cardio work you are forced to breathe. But in stretching it's easy to get into shallow breathing or holding your breath. The oxygen delivered to your muscles is still necessary to create the energy to do this work. I'm not talking about short intense HEE-Hee-Hee, like in birthing, but long slow inhales and exhales. Remember I consider stretching to be a part of your strength training. The muscle contracts for power and elongates as it antagonize the contracting muscle to keep the joints open and safe.

Finally let me suggest that the hardest thing about stretching is to get into the position and then let go in the muscle while the rest of your body does the work of keeping you in position. The concept of letting go is harder to implement than you might imagine.

Happy Stretching. Vik