The Stretch to Win Story

The Stretch to Win Story

Fredrick Stretch Therapy

Between 1999 and 2012, the Fredericks ran a highly popular and successful private practice together. They were contracted to provide FST services at numerous prestigious venues such as at the University of Texas’ highly ranked women’s track team and the National Collegiate Championships Texas Relays in track and field, several NFL Championships and at 3 Super Bowls, the Olympics and at Olympic Trials for track athletes.

In 2003, Ann and Chris were approached and offered to write their first book by the largest publisher of books about sports and fitness, Human Kinetics, who published “Stretch to Win” in 2006 and their fourth book, a second edition in 2017. Handspring Publishing Ltd. published the Frederick’s fifth book, “Fascial Stretch Therapy” in 2012 and their sixth book, a second edition in 2020.

Despite their success treating hundreds of clients and teaching thousands of satisfied students, the Fredericks are science driven and wanted to research objective measurements of the effects of FST. So in 2017, they mentored a student at the University of Arizona medical school in Phoenix and conducted a study under the direction of the notable researcher and now dean of that school, Paul Standley, PhD. Their team looked at responses to pain and outcomes in activities of daily living in subjects who had chronic nonspecific low back pain. Statistically significant outcomes were achieved in all measures thereby adding scientific credibility to the work of FST. This study was published and Ann did a poster presentation of it at the Fascia Research Conference in 2018 that was titled, “Effects of Fascial Stretch Therapy (FST) on Pain Index and Activities of Daily Living (ADL) in Patients with Chronic Non-specific Low Back Pain (LBP)”.

After being contracted and put on retainer by NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine) to be their SME (subject matter experts) on flexibility and stretching, the Fredericks helped them produce a basic track of study for personal trainers and others in 2021 called “Stretching and Flexibility Coach”.

Up to the present time, the Fredericks have been busy enriching and fulfilling their mission to educate, train, inspire and support professionals dedicated to improving health, wellness and athletic performance of their patients and clients by using our innovative system called Frederick Stretch Therapy.

Since achieving and still growing their mission, their vision to have as many people as possible experience the life changing benefits of FST is also being fulfilled.

Ann and Chris Frederick, first single handedly and then through a team of incredible teachers, have created a loving community of FST. Students call the FST Family “friends for life” because of the intense bonding developed over a week of personal and professional transformation we call “The Stretch to Win Experience”. The Fredericks and their team of teachers in the USA and Canada all invite you to be a part of something very special – a global group of professionals with supreme talent, integrity, trust and belief in the power of healing that is FST.

The FST Practitioner utilizes a unique, proprietary brand of manual stretching, compression, and oscillation to modulate the tension of fascial tissues where indicated. That is, when excessive, FST reduces tension and, when deficient, FST increases tension. Objective measurements like ROM (range of motion) full body functional movements, strength, balance, speed, power, HRV (heart rate variability), BP (blood pressure), tissue specific frequency and pain scores among other tests have all been shown to improve, often dramatically, after a FST session. Improvements in sleep, digestion, mood, mental alertness and function, attitude, and other factors have been attributed to FST by clients and patients.

Recognizing the crucial role that the fascial system plays in the human body, mind, emotions, and spirit, Frederick Stretch Therapy specializes in evaluating and assessing the individual before treating the person with assisted stretching alone or combined with other techniques and modalities. Unlike standardized, cookie-cutter approaches utilizing the same number and type of stretches for all clients, FST is personalized such that each person is analyzed and treated specific to their needs and goals (Frederick, 2017)

References:

Adstrum, S., 2022. Evolution of fascia-focused anatomy. In: Fascia: The Tensional Network of the Human Body, second ed. Elsevier.

Frederick, A., Frederick, C., 2017. Fascial Stretch Therapy, second ed. Handspring Publishing Ltd.

Schleip, R., 2022. Fascia as an Organ of Communication. In: Fascia: The Tensional Network of the Human Body, second ed. Elsevier.

Still, A.T., 1902. Philosophy and Mechanical Principles of Osteopathy. Hudson-Kimberly Pub. Co. Kansas City, MO