What is a 'flexologist' — and do you need to see one?

The signs seemed to beryllium proliferating astir Los Angeles — on Sunset Boulevard successful Echo Park, successful mini-malls connected Pacific Coast Highway, connected broadside streets successful Glendale and Venice: StretchLab, Stretch Zone, StretchSPOT, StretchMed.

Deborah Vankin’s 50-minute agelong league included 13 stretches connected either broadside of her body.

(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

I’d been funny astir assisted stretching for a while. But I ne'er thought to sojourn a studio. Sure, “recovery” is simply a increasing inclination successful fittingness — meaning rejuvenating muscles, tendons and the cardinal tense strategy betwixt workout sessions by focusing connected hydration, due nutrition, slumber and, yes, progressive stretching truthful arsenic to maximize diversion performance. But I ain 3 foam rollers — 1 smooth, 1 spiky, 1 padded — and adjacent use them astatine home. I’m besides acold from an utmost athlete, preferring alternatively brisk hikes for cardio and basal spot training.

Why would I thrust to a mini-mall and wage idiosyncratic to agelong me? What would that even look like — and was it worthy it?

The questions rumbled successful my caput arsenic I drove past yet different StretchLab precocious — this 1 connected Beverly Boulevard adjacent Hollywood. So I called them up.

StretchLab has 15 locations successful the L.A. area, including successful Echo Park.

(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

Turns retired StretchLab, which opened its archetypal workplace successful Venice successful 2015, present has much than 500 studios nationwide, 15 of them successful the L.A. area. Its clientele are mostly either superior athletes, older adults and table workers who conflict with stiffness and privation to enactment connected their mobility, oregon those healing injuries and different conditions. They travel to beryllium stretched retired much deeply, successful positions they couldn’t perchance get into, physically, connected their own. Many of them admit the intimacy and accountability of moving with a practitioner, one-on-one. And it tin beryllium adjuvant to person a professional, with a trained eye, isolate asymmetries successful their bodies and usher their stretching, particularly for those who endure from chronic symptom oregon are healing an injury, says StretchLab‘s manager of marketing, Gabi Khowploum.

“We spot a batch of radical who say, ‘Hey, I’m having backmost pain,’” Khowploum says. “And they travel to agelong it, but it mightiness beryllium they’re having issues with hep mobility — they conscionable don’t recognize it.”

Stretch therapists — oregon “flexologists,” arsenic they’re sometimes called — are not doctors. Chiropractors, carnal therapists and immoderate massage therapists are trained successful assisted stretching — but agelong therapists can’t bash what they do. Stretch therapists don’t diagnose and dainty injuries; they don’t supply spinal oregon associated manipulation, imaging specified arsenic X-rays oregon CT scans oregon massage. They focus, instead, connected stretching muscles and fascia to summation flexibility and mobility. There besides isn’t a nationalist certification for agelong therapists, arsenic determination is for carnal therapists and chiropractors, though astir agelong therapists are certified in-house by their respective employers.

Dr. Jeremy Swisher, a sports medicine doc astatine UCLA Health, says assisted stretching tin assistance summation scope of question and flexibility, stimulate humor flow, which immunodeficiency healing, and assistance with posture, peculiarly for sedentary populations, arsenic good arsenic alleviate stress. Done consistently, agelong term, it tin assistance with symptom alleviation and stiffness and — perchance — forestall injuries. But it’s “not a cure-all,” helium warns.

“It’s conscionable a portion of the puzzle,” helium says. “Strength grooming and different forms of workout are arsenic arsenic important, agelong term.” Swisher besides warns that assisted stretching could exacerbate existing injuries “like an acute sprain oregon teardrop without being cleared by a doc first.” And for those with hypermobility syndromes, meaning overly flexible joints, “it’s important to beryllium mindful that accrued stretching could pb to dislocations of the joints.”

On a caller Friday afternoon, StretchLab successful Echo Park was busier than I would person expected. Several clients laid connected their backs connected what looked similar massage tables arsenic their flexologists rolled oregon twisted oregon pressed connected their assemblage parts — a limb implicit the enarthrosis here, a spinal twist there.

Flexologist Joel Badilla walks Deborah Vankin done the MAPS appraisal process.

(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

My practitioner, Joel Badilla, walked maine done the appraisal earlier my 50-minute league (as a “drop in,” it outgo maine $125, but prices disagree depending connected the bundle and location). StretchLab uses a 3-D assemblage scanning instrumentality called MAPS, which TRX Training developed for them. It assesses mobility (range of motion), activation (quality of movement), posture and symmetry truthful arsenic to isolate areas that are choky oregon imbalanced and customize a agelong programme for the client. I did 3 overhead squats successful beforehand of an iPad earlier MAPS gave maine a people successful each area. (Scores acold little than I would person liked, the culprits being choky hips and “tech neck,” but specified is the lawsuit with table workers, I was told.)

Then I laid down connected the array and Badilla lifted my legs and mildly pulled them forward, toward him. It felt wonderful, arsenic if my spine were elongating, each the accent draining from my back. He past enactment maine done 26 stretches, 13 connected each broadside of my body.

Joel Badilla tugs mildly connected Deborah Vankin’s legs astatine the commencement of her agelong session.

(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

StretchLab uses PNF stretching (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation), Badilla explained, which is simply a “push and release” technique. The recipient holds the agelong for a acceptable play of time, past pushes into absorption provided by the practitioner for a shorter play of time, past goes backmost into a deeper mentation of the stretch. We did this repeatedly for antithetic assemblage parts.

Afterward, I felt escaped and limber heading backmost to my car — though the sensation didn’t past for precise agelong aft my car thrust home. That’s due to the fact that the benefits of stretching travel from consistency, says Amber Donaldson, vice president of Sports Medicine Clinics for the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee.

“Just stretching erstwhile isn’t beneficial,” she says. “You request 2 weeks, minimum, of consistency to spot a benefit. These [assisted stretching] places — paying for a bid of treatments whitethorn support you accordant with going.”

That said, determination are questions astir the benefits of stretching, overall, successful the sports medicine community, Donaldson adds. “It’s controversial. When should you bash it — earlier oregon aft a workout — and to what grade is it beneficial astatine all? The assemblage is inactive out.”

Assisted stretching, if done consistently implicit galore weeks, whitethorn assistance with stiffness, symptom alleviation and adjacent wounded prevention.

(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

StretchLab is acold from an anomaly successful L.A. There are much than fractional a twelve dedicated assisted stretching businesses successful the country — and the trend, which began to swell nationwide successful 2017-18, lone seems to beryllium growing. In summation to franchises similar StretchLab and Stretch Zone, galore idiosyncratic trainers connection assisted stretching, arsenic bash astir carnal therapists. Gyms specified arsenic Life Time successful Orange County and the Los Angeles Athletic Club connection one-on-one assisted stretching now. Even definite massage outlets, specified arsenic Massage Envy, connection 30 and 60-minute assisted stretching sessions.

The basal conception of assisted stretching is the same, nary substance wherever you go, but antithetic studios instrumentality somewhat antithetic approaches.

Stretch Zone successful Redondo Beach and Rancho Palos Verdes doesn’t usage the PNF technique. Instead, the workplace (which has astir 400 outlets nationwide) uses a graduated agelong modality that moves the lawsuit on an strength standard of one-10. It starts astatine a 3 “right erstwhile you archetypal commencement to consciousness the stretch,” proprietor Deborah Ashley says, “and 7 is wherever you privation america to stop.” They besides usage a patented strategy of belts and straps connected a agelong array “to unafraid and mobilize 1 broadside of your assemblage portion we agelong the other,” Ashley says. “It acts similar a 2nd acceptable of hands for our practitioners.”

StretchMed successful Glendale has lone 1 determination successful the L.A. country (there are astir 30 successful the U.S.). It prides itself connected not being portion of an particularly large franchise, says proprietor Carlos Rivera, adding that the workplace takes a idiosyncratic and data-driven attack to agelong therapy. It does usage the PNF stretching method but puts a bully woody of accent connected warming up earlier one-on-one agelong sessions. Toward that end, clients bash 15-minute warm-up routines connected alleged “stretch trainers,” which person tilted seats, limb pads and information straps for stability. A video walks them done the routine, which includes gentle question and is meant to stimulate circulation. “You privation to lukewarm up earlier you stretch,” Rivera says, “to get a overmuch amended benefit.”

Would I bash assisted stretching again?

Absolutely — it was gentler than I imagined and I felt contiguous alleviation afterward, peculiarly successful my little back.

Would I bash it regularly?

Not for StretchLab’s rank complaint of $320 a month, their cheapest monthly bundle of 4 50-minute sessions (prices alteration somewhat by location). At Stretch Zone, the astir comparable bundle of 4 60-minute sessions is $400. At StretchMed, 4 55-minute sessions is $216.

But connected this peculiar Friday, astatine least, I headed into the play feeling looser and, if thing else, an inch oregon truthful taller. I’ll instrumentality it.