This is a stretch that’s applied to you without your own effort or is achieved by putting your body in a position that enables gravity or other mechanisms to put you into a stretched position.
The benefits of passive stretching are you achieve a deeper stretch by relaxing the nervous system more than while trying to activate and stretch the muscle at the same time.
Never do any significant amount of this type of stretching prior to doing high load, high velocity, or high exertion exercise.
Note: most of these videos were originally created for our professional staff & certification courses. They’re great to provide to your massage therapist, other body worker, or partner to learn how to apply for your specific mobility deficits.
DURATION: In general 30 – 1 minute. Use a 10% progression rule of thumb for increasing paying even closer attention to overload if contract relax is applied.
INTENSITY / RPE: Depends on area being stretched and most videos state the recommended max intensity. In general:
Embrace: Never past a 4.5;
Mastery: Never past a 5.5;
Conquer: Never past a 6.5. Always listen to your body first. . .