Stretching- Passive vs Active range

What is passive stretching and what is active stretching? The best way to explain this is to demonstrate it…

Start by holding out your right hand, keeping your fingers together, then without using your left hand stretch your right thumb as far back as you can. Now, using your left hand, gently pull your right thumb back.  Did you notice that with the assistance of your left hand your right thumb went back further than when you were just stretching it back?

The part where you can move your right thumb without assistance is called active
range. The additional range is called passive range, and you have it at every joint.
You cannot control the passive range of motion through your nervous system. It is the point where active and passive range cross over is where many injuries occur.

Dancers are a great example of those who can be at high risk of passive range injuries. Many dancers have a high proportion of hyper-mobile joints. A quick example of this is a backbend. Most people have a backbend range of no more than 25 degrees, whereas those with hypermobility in their lower backs will have a far greater range than this. As they are able to access these ranges without assistance, meaning they are in active range.

Problems begin to occur if they are then required to match other hyper-mobile dancers or the expectations of the performance they are doing exceeds their natural abilities. To overcome this they can use momentum to push their body into passive range, they will then need to rely on that momentum to carry them back out of it. 

This can result in a far bigger injury than your average person would typically incur. But it isn’t just one area of the body that dancers are likely to have hyper-mobility, they may have it throughout their body, and they will therefore be more likely to end up in their passive range of motion, and more likely to get injured if they are not mindful.

So why does this make a difference to you?

Loading passive range is incredibly dangerous because you have no control of it,
and without control, you can’t ensure that that load goes through the muscles intended, which is ultimately why it causes injury.

This is why some trainers advocate partial range exercises. That being said it can be possible to train and increase your active range. If you find the crossover point between passive and active range, by doing safe movements, you can work on maintaining active control of the range. This will increase your active range and by extension allow you to work the joint to a fuller range, as well as decrease your chances of an injury at that joint.

It is recommended that you only work on this with the support of a personal trainer who specialises in active and passive range. You can see all of our personal trainers by clicking here. This blog piece was provided by active and passive range specialise Richard Kelly.

Richard’s bio:
Functional training advocate Richard has dedicated years of active learning towards the accumulation of new skills for the purpose of supporting his private clients Richard’s ability to offer nutritional support only enhances the final result.
Disciplines: Personal training, Pilates, Running and Stretching.

Virtual Training & In-Person Update – Feb 2021

Get best-in-class workouts from top-rated TruBe trainers in the comfort of your own home. Virtual training remains available for private bookings across all of our fitness and wellness disciplines.

Disciplines Include Personal Training, Yoga, Pilates, Boxing, Kickboxing, Stretching, Meditation, Ballet fit, Pre/Post Natal Fitness and Pre/Post Natal Wellness.

Virtual training is a great way to connect with real trainers for real results, regardless of your previous training experience. All you need is a device to connect.

Virtual workouts are available for everyone in the household to join in or you can enjoy the 60-minute session 1:1.

If you have any questions or would like to receive trainers recommendations you can contact a member of the TruBe support team via support@trubeapp.com.

In-person sessions will be back available as soon as we can be confident that yours and your trainer’s safety is cared for.

We are doing everything we can to support you and your local trainers and would like to say thank you for all of your continued support through this time.

Ourdoor & Virtual Training Update – Feb 2021

Get best-in-class workouts from top-rated TruBe trainers. Virtual training remains available for private bookings across all of our fitness and wellness disciplines. In-person training is available for outside sessions. There may be limited availability, if you don’t see what you are looking for, please get in touch with a member of the support team via support@trubeapp.com.

Disciplines Include Personal Training, Yoga, Pilates, Boxing, Kickboxing, Stretching, Meditation, Ballet fit, Running, Pre/Post Natal Fitness and Pre/Post Natal Wellness.

Connect with real trainers for real results, regardless of circumstance.

We are doing everything we can to support you and your local trainers and would like to say thank you for all of your continued support through this time.

Click here to see all TruBe trainers for both virtual and outdoor training sessions.

Tier 4- 21st December 2020

Home workout

Monday, 21st of December, 2020

Outdoor and virtual sessions will remain open for bookings so you can finish 2020 strong and go into 2021 even stronger.

TruBe trainers have been prepped on COVID-19 safety and will work to ensure your safety is prioritised. To aid us with this, sessions can take place just one-to-one outdoors.
To support the guidelines in Tier 4, we advise you to stay in your local area. Outdoor spaces do not include private gardens.

Virtual sessions will continue to run as normal. If you need any support around this, please contact a member of our in-house support team.

Outdoor and Virtual sessions include:
Personal trainingBoxingKickboxingYogaPilatesMeditationStretchingBallet fitPre/Post-Natal fitness & Running.

Tier 3 – 16th December 2020

As London moves back into Tier 3 this Wednesday, In-person sessions will remain available for bookings. To aid us with this, we recommend that in-person sessions are delivered outdoors where possible.

To support outdoor training, TruBe sessions can now be rescheduled with as little as three hours notice. You can reach out to your trainer using the number provided in the upcoming bookings section of the TruBe app and website (Located in ‘My bookings’)

Virtual sessions will continue to run as normal. This is so you can decide how best to train for you. If you need any help with this, contact a member of our in-house support team.

Outdoor and Virtual sessions include Personal training, Boxing, Kickboxing, Yoga, Pilates, Meditation, Stretching, Ballet fit, Pre/Post-Natal fitness & Running.

If you have any questions please contact a member of the TruBe support team via support@trubeapp.com