Andrew Huberman

It's a six-week intervention program that compared low-intensity stretching, which they call microstretching, but to be very clear, microstretching in the case of this manuscript is low-intensity stretching, and they compared that with moderate-intensity static stretching on an active and passive ranges of motion.

Basically what they found was that a six week training program using very low intensity stretching had a greater positive effect on lower limb range of motion than did moderate intensity static stretching.

Here I'm quoting them.

The most interesting aspect of the study was the greater increase in active range of motion compared to passive range of motion by the micro stretching group.

So this relates to what we were just talking about a few moments ago.

as it relates to the Anderson method, which is that very low intensity stretching, meaning effort that feels not painful, and in fact, might even feel easy, or at least not straining to exceed a given range of motion, turns out to not just be as effective, but more effective than moderate

intensity stretching.

So what is low intensity static stretching?

Well, they define this as the stretches were completed at an intensity of 30 to 40%, where 100% equals the point of pain, right?

So 30 to 40% in these individuals, and again, I'm paraphrasing, induced a relaxed state within the individual and the specific muscle.

And here they were holding these static stretches, I should mention, for one minute, not 30 seconds.

Now the control group was doing the exact same overall protocol, so daily stretching for six weeks, the same exercises, holding each set for 60 seconds, but we're using an intensity of stretch of 80%, where again, 100 represents the point of pain, the point where the person would want to stop stretching.

I find these data incredibly interesting for I think what ought to be obvious reasons.

if you're going to embark on a flexibility and stretching training program, you don't need to push to the point of pain.

In fact, it seems that even just approaching the point of pain is going to be less effective than operating at this 30 to 40% of intensity prior to reaching that pain threshold, the pain threshold being 100%.

Now, of course, this is pretty subjective, but I think all of us,

should be able to register within ourselves.

So whether a given range of motion or extending a given range of motion brings us to that threshold of pain or near pain.

And according to this study, at least, operating or performing stretching at an intensity that's quite low, that's very relaxing, turns out to be more beneficial in increasing range of motion than is doing exercises aimed at increasing range of motion at a higher intensity.

Okay, so lower intensity stretching, I should say lower intensity static stretching appears to be the most beneficial way to approach stretching.