Active Isolated Stretching with Phil Wharton

Coach Jay Johnston posted some videos of Phil Wharton leading his Boulder Running Camp participants through an active isolated stretching routine. Back in the 1990s, I had a VHS tape of the Wharton's explaining and going through this AIS routine. I lent it out about 10 years ago and never got it back. I did the routine many times a week for a few years and got looser than I have ever been, however it did not improve my hip/lower back which I now know was mostly due to a labral tear. It was nice to go through the routine again. I could still do most of it from memory, but there were some new tips I forgot or that have been developed since the earlier video. This wasn't the whole routine from before, but still it is a good reminder of how to stretch with a rope using the force of an opposing muscle to create the stretch and holding it for only a short amount of time to keep your muscles from having a stretch reflex. Jay Johnston says that Running DVDs will be producing a DVD/download with full instructions in the fall.

If you want to give it a go, here is the three-part video series. I particularly like the change for the hip flexor stretch. The rope used to be used to pull the leg being stretched back. Now you use your hands and the rope is used to hold the forward leg in a 90 degree angle, something I found hard to do with my hands in the previous version. I felt the hip flexor stretch much better than before and even better than in the kneeling video I posted yesterday.The stretching starts at about 2 minutes.






Here are some foot and ankle routines. The second video show some strengthening that I haven't seen before.



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I have picked up a few of the Jim and Phil Wharton's books through the years including The Whartons' Stretch Book, The Whartons' Strength Book: 35 Lifts for Over 55 Different Sports and Everyday Activities,  and The Wharton's Back Book , however I found I had the most success when following their instruction on a video.