Do whatever you like!
Kinstretch is a movement practice focused on improving body control, mobility, and flexibility. Developed by Dr. Andreo Spina as part of the Functional Range Conditioning (FRC) system, it incorporates scientific principles from biomechanics and sports training to enhance joint health and resilience. The goal of Kinstretch is to help practitioners build strength and control over their range of motion, making their bodies more adaptable and resistant to injury.
Key Aspects of Kinstretch:
1. Joint Mobility: Unlike traditional stretching, which mainly targets muscles, Kinstretch emphasizes joint health and mobility. It includes exercises that strengthen the connective tissues around joints and improve their range of motion.
2. Body Awareness and Control: Kinstretch exercises are designed to increase your awareness of your body’s movement patterns. This awareness helps in developing control, which is essential for improving performance in other sports or physical activities.
3. Strength in Range of Motion: The practice focuses on building strength at the end ranges of movement, where the body is often weakest and most prone to injury.
4. Personalized Approach: Kinstretch is adaptable to different skill levels and can be tailored to address specific areas that need improvement, whether it’s joint flexibility, muscle strength, or mobility.
Who Can Benefit from Kinstretch?
Kinstretch is useful for anyone looking to improve functional mobility, from athletes aiming to optimize performance to individuals looking for injury prevention or rehabilitation. It’s also commonly used by fitness professionals and physical therapists due to its therapeutic benefits.
Overall, Kinstretch combines elements of flexibility, strength training, and body awareness into a single practice designed to make the body move more efficiently and safely.
Why do I teach it?
All my life my body has functioned in a way which allowed me to do all I ever wanted. I was lucky to grow up being encouraged to move and only landed my first office job when I hit 30. Even though I still moved. As a matter of fact I started to work in a call centre straight from running a riding school and on each break I would run up and down the stairs because I could not sit still for that length of time.
Like everyone else I trashed my body around when I was younger but was simply lucky not to injure myself.
I have also all my life being involved with horses and horse riding and learnt there that pain did not gain anything apart from perhaps injuring the rider when he/she hit the ground as the horse in pain bucked you off.
With horses you assess their conformation, character and age to design a training plan. We as humans often storm off believing we can do anything without taking enough care to prepare our bodies appropriately.
As a matter of fact my horses saw not chiropractic professionals and physio therapist than I (which is a mistake).
I started practising yoga at 47 and qualified as yoga teacher when turning 50. This ongoing journey enabled me to understand how much better I could move and especially riding, my horses appreciated how much more evenly I moved.
A minor shoulder injury got me in contact with FRC as the yoga teacher, Evy Koutzas, who is also FRC certified, helped my rehabilitating my shoulder by applying FRC principles -> very successfully as I have not injured this shoulder again.
I took the FRC course last November 2023 in London with Hunter Cook and followed it up with a Kinstretch level I course in February 2024.
Since then my yoga classes are very influenced by FRC and as of 15/11/2024 6 pm there will be a Kinstretch class every Friday at Gauldry Village Hall.
Get in touch HERE if you are interested