Calisthenics: STRETCH Your Way to STRONG: The #1 Flexibility for Bodyweight Training Guide by Pure Calisthenics & Bodyweight Training

Author:Pure Calisthenics & Bodyweight Training [Calisthenics, Pure]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pure Calisthenics
Published: 2017-02-02T00:00:00+00:00

Remember: This technique is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes as long as it takes!

“Practice puts brains in your muscles.”

Sam Snead

9. The Secret Weapon

We have one final weapon in the arsenal, reserved only for the most extreme cases. This last line of attack is known as the ‘clasp-knife’ technique, on account of the way that the sudden shift of a muscle or limb resembles the snap closure of a clasp-knife after sufficient pressure is applied. Oh yes, this is serious sausages right here.

Warning: This is an extreme method of stretching that should be kept behind closed doors unless absolutely required. Most people should have no need of such drastic measures. If you have a strict goal to meet and need that extra inch, then do everything else again and do it properly! This final method will get you there, but it is a last resort, not a shortcut for the impatient.

The process we’ll use here is almost identical to the forced relaxation method, with one small modification. Instead of tensing your muscles to 60% of your maximum effort, we’re going all the way to 100%, and adding weight.

This is the secret weapon of many a coach and trainer, one which enables gymnasts and other professionals to contort themselves into human-pretzel hybrid form without so much as flinching. This technique requires a special expertise to pull off. For this reason, clasp-knife stretching should only ever be performed under the supervision of a coach or trainer who has experience with it.

The Why

By hitting maximum capacity we’re attempting to utilize another automatic reflex that your nervous system has in stock. Up to this point the only reflex we’ve experienced is the automatic muscle tensioning that occurs when your push muscles to their flexibility limits. However, another reflex exists that actually causes your muscles to go totally limp! It is this reflex that we will engage with the clasp-knife method.

As we know by now, whenever a muscle is put under a great deal of strain the nervous system will automatically tense the muscle to prevent further movement. However, if the strain on the muscle continues to increase, eventually the nervous system will reach a point where it would rather completely relax the muscle than risk damage occurring to the critical supporting structure, effectively ‘taking one for the team’, if you will. As a result of this process, the target muscle becomes yours to command and you are able to massively increase the level of stretching and flexibility.

Now, don’t worry, we’re not actually going to injure you here. Like any good program, your body has an ample margin of safety coded in. Tissue and tendons are stronger than muscle so, by the time the muscle gives out, you can rest assured that you are still some way off putting those other areas in danger.

That being said, you can expect a good deal of pain when using this technique. After all, we are pushing to the point where your nervous system detects the

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