(Fitzrovia, City, Notting Hill & St James's)
Why Come?
At Ten, our expert therapists can help you improve your flexibility and range of motion faster and more efficiently than you could achieve alone. In an Assisted Stretching Session at Ten, your therapist will draw upon the most effective stretching and fascia release techniques to help you achieve better flexibility and quality of movement fast.
Effective regular stretching is just as important as regular exercise, and is an essential part of any sustainable health and fitness programme. Stretching keeps muscles strong, supple and healthy - giving you the flexibility and range of motion to support the activity of your joints and muscles without risk of pain or injury. If flexibility and range of motion is limited - all too often the case in our sedentary, deskbound lifestyles - we not only risk damage, but are prevented from being able to move our bodies to the best of their ability.
However, not all forms of stretching are made equal. Stretching is all too often done incorrectly, becoming counterproductive and even causing injury. There is also no such thing as a one-size fits all stretching programme, technique or routine. Different methods suit different goals, conditions, and bodies.
At Ten your therapist will use the most effective types of stretching, such as PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation), that address your body’s unique needs - freeing you from any stiffness and pain that may be restricting your movement and preventing you from fully enjoying your physical and daily activities.
View prices Book appointmentIs an Assisted Stretching Session right for me?
Enhancing Sports Performance
An effective, bespoke stretching programme is essential for a whole range of athletic and sporting activities, especially those requiring a wide range of motion such as Martial Arts, athletics, figure skating, skiing, yoga and dance. More flexibility means better performance through both an improved range of motion and also better functional efficiency in those ranges of motion, as a flexible joint requires less energy and is less likely to become injured.
Easing stiffness, aches and post-workout pains
Stretching can help lessen the shortening and tightening effect that can often be the cause of stiffness and the aches that come with it. Integrating a regular, effective stretching programme can also help with that post-workout feeling too.
The antidote to a desk job
21st century life is the perfect recipe for creating short, tight muscles. Sitting in a chair in front of a computer all day means tight chest muscles and shortened hamstrings - and plenty of uncomfortable stiffness. Most of us are time-poor, spending 35+ hours a week at our desks. So it’s even more important that we use not just the most effective but also the most time-efficient stretching techniques to undo the damage of our sedentary lifestyles.
Stretching Techniques and Therapies
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– Assisted (Passive) Stretching
Active Release Technique (ART) is a soft tissue method which involves stretching a muscle while applying pressure or massage to that muscle. This active and deep technique can be quite intense, but is highly effective in gaining mobility.
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– PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation) Stretching
PNF stretching (also known as contract release stretching) involves activating, or tensing the muscle being stretched. Once this muscle is relaxed, your therapist will take the stretch further, before repeating the process. This method of stretching has a positive impact on the ‘muscle spindle’ (the sensory receptor within the muscle), essentially tricking the spindle reflex to help you gain more flexibility.
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– Active Release Technique
Active Release Technique (ART) is a soft tissue method which involves stretching a muscle while applying pressure or massage to that muscle. This active and deep technique can be quite intense, but is highly effective in gaining mobility.
What is it like?
During a Massage Therapy session your therapist may incorporate any of the above assisted stretching techniques. Expect to be gently moved and held in a range of positions to help you further the stretch and encourage and tension in your muscles to release.
Results and Benefits of Assisted Stretching
There is a lot of misinformation about the benefits of stretching. For us at Ten, the results and benefits of stretching are very simple: By keeping muscles strong, supple and healthy you’ll improve performance in your chosen sports or activities, you’ll recover faster from exercise, and you’ll reduce the postural and muscoloskeletal impact of today’s sedentary and deskbound lifestyles.
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