What is Kinstretch?
Kinstretch is a unique training system that helps your body move better through specific exercises developed to make your joints stronger. This is called joint-specific strength training. The focus of Kinstretch is to build a strong, healthy foundation for movement throughout the body. This focus helps individuals increase flexibility and improve body control, and results in being able to move with more ease and safety in everyday life and during sports or recreational activities.
Kinstretch uses joint-specific exercises called Controlled Articular Rotations (CARs) to target each joint independently. CARs serve as both training and assessment tools, helping you identify and address movement limitations.
When a CAR is performed by a healthy joint it will demonstrate the ability to move fully in all directions independently, but when an unhealthy joint attempts a CAR there will be either pain, a lack of function, or both.
Check out a full-body CARs routine here!
Learning and practicing CARs will help you learn where your joints are not working as well as they should. You will also learn what to do when you find a zone of movement that needs some work so that you can directly work on improving your specific needs.
Why Do We Need Kinstretch?
Many of the most common exercises we do today are what are called “patterned exercises” and were taken directly from sports training programs for athletes. When performed with correct technique, these exercises like squats, deadlifts, lunges, or bench press, are great for developing what we call General Physical Preparedness (GPP), or overall physical abilities that translate well to many activities of everyday life.
Today our bodies aren't used to moving nearly as much because a great deal of our modern lifestyle revolves around sedentary work or leisure, especially sitting. This “modern human” lifestyle leaves our joints stiff and weak, leaving us unprepared for more dynamic activities - which unfortunately are often the ones we do for fun and/or for exercise.
How Does Kinstretch Help?
Kinstretch is unique in focusing specifically on training our joints, which is not the same as training patterned exercises like deadlifts or bench press. Patterned exercises use our joints to accomplish a task (like sitting down, standing up, picking something up, or to run, throw, jump, etc.), but they are not directly improving the ability of the joint to do its specific job. Enter in Kinstretch to build the foundation for your body!
Training a joint specifically means working it by itself so it can fully operate on its own. This forces any weakness within a joint to get stronger by focusing on the problem area and improving its overall function. When each joint in our body functions as it is meant to everything from our patterned exercises to our recovery to our posture can improve.
Joints should be able to move in all their ranges of motion – that means flex/extend, abduct/adduct, and rotate. If a joint cannot move fully in these ways and move within the ranges in between, then it cannot fully do its job. When that happens, other joints have to pick up the slack, and this compensation makes the entire movement more stressful on the body.
In Kinstretch we train each of our joints by moving them throughout their full, usable range of motion. Usable range of motion means all of the space a joint can move without needing to borrow motion from another joint to compensate for where it cannot move well. Kinstretch will help you learn to minimize the compensations in your movement as you train, giving you a clear path toward will lead to feeling stronger and safer in your body.
Benefits of Kinstretch
The main benefit of Kinstretch is how it prepares you better to be able to absorb when life throws an unsuspecting punch your way. The reality is, sh*t happens. You step off a curb awkwardly, tweak your shoulder reaching in the backseat to grab a coat, or to break up an altercation between those in car seats. These are examples of when our movement isn’t always able to be as optimal and our lack of preparation shows when we are unable to do a simple but unconventional movement without it being an issue.
Kinstretch can help you perform better in any form of movement you do. More importantly, it will make your body more resilient to the unavoidable stresses and demands of life, so that you can keep doing what you love, for longer.
Improves Flexibility and Strength: Kinstretch helps you stretch and strengthen your muscles around each joint, making movements smoother and easier.
Prevents Injuries: By making your joints stronger, Kinstretch reduces the chance of getting hurt during activities.
Increases Body Awareness: You learn more about how your body moves and how to control it better.
Enhances Daily Life: Whether you're playing sports or just doing daily tasks, Kinstretch helps you move with less effort and more comfort.
Anyone looking to improve overall movement quality will find Kinstretch to be an excellent addition to their fitness regimen. Kinstretch increases flexibility and range of motion, enhances daily functional movements, and promotes long-term joint health and longevity. This approach to movement can lead to improved quality of life, reduced pain as we age, and increased physical autonomy and independence.
Getting Started with Kinstretch
By focusing on joint health and mobility, Kinstretch offers a unique approach to fitness that can benefit people of all ages and activity levels. The system not only improves your current movement capabilities but also proactively trains your body to handle potential injuries, making you more resilient in the long run.
Revive Human Performance now offers both in-person and online options to find an approach that fits your schedule and preferences. Check out the schedule here. Can't make it in person? No problem! Reach out now to explore our virtual Kinstretch options and start your journey to better movement, wherever you are.
Experience the benefits of this powerful movement system firsthand and take the first step towards improved mobility, strength, and overall well-being.
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