Let's go step by step why Zaichik Stretching Techniques (ZST's) are better for flexibility than other approaches. And you don't have to believe our words. We don't like putting people in a position where they have to trust blindly because we don't do that. We research, get what works, discard the rest. We believe the best way is to give you a chance to try some exercises for yourself, then you will determine how well ZST's work.

These are a few examples. What you see below are some of the ZST's positions we use to do dynamic exercises that target adductor muscles one by one. Understanding the mechanism just by reading is not enough, so we are presenting you with a few exercises for you to try.

For example, in the first position shown above which is for the upper adductors, the action these muscles perform are hip flexion and hip adduction, so we have these two actions to take care of, and we do it alternating them, increasing the range on one will "create space" for the other action to move. Let's see how this exercise is done:

For example, if only one adductor is tight the others won't stretch, so stretching them all at once using a traditional approach won't work. Imagine them as bands all attached closely together. There's one which is tight or not elastic at all. Attempting to stretch all of them at once is not very smart. Why not work on the really tight one, then move forward and work on the rest?

Now try this other exercise and feel how it works! This is an exercise targeting the adductor magnus muscle, one of the muscles you need to work on to improve your splits (among other skills):

As you've seen we did not hold stretches for any amount of time. The method you are about to learn does not make you hold positions waiting for something magical to happen, you actually do something in order to get more flexible, not just wait for a miracle on a stretch that is straining you, putting you to sleep or injuring you or on the best of the cases not producing any effect.

This way of going deeper into a stretch using particular moves is called the Target and Leverage system, and this is actually the key difference with Zaichik Stretching and other methods, and this is mainly why it is so effective. It takes advantage of the fact that no single muscle performs one action, and it uses those actions one against the other in order to "create space" for the joint, thus automatically increasing range of motion.

The most effective way to combine the exercises is putting related ones together in a cycle. So first you will do an Adductor Brevis exercise, then an Adductor Magnus one, then an Adductor Gracilis and a Pectineus exercise, then you will start over. Every cycle you will feel that you go deeper and deeper on every position, so for this reason doing just one set of a few related exercises usually works better than just picking one exercise and repeating it by itself many times.

#3 - Allows easier focus since you are working on one specific area at a time. It is just easier to concentrate, trying to pinpoint exactly where you feel the stretch or tension while you are doing the ZS exercise. This is a great way to develop awareness and know your body in full.

#4 - No pushing or bouncing is necessary, not even a partner. This is obvious now, as you have learned we don't need to push, we use the smart way of working with the muscle actions, alternating them in a Target and Leverage system.

To go a bit deeper into ZST unique (and key) aspect without becoming very technical, the basic ZST modality implies that one move is the "helper", this is your Leverage, and the other move is your Target, the direction where you want to get deeper.

The helper or Leverage will move back and forth, the Target will always go deeper. This is something to keep in mind so the exercise is the most effective it can be. Always keep your target direction in mind, and move your leverage carefully without retrieving or loosing the range you gain with each repetition.

#5 - Pain is not present at all. Since we are not pushing, or trying to relax over a tensed up muscle in a "relaxed stretch" (how ironic!), or tensing up further to fight the reflex as it is done in a PNF approach, the myotatic reflex which is encountered when one attempts to stretch deeper than what the muscle is ready for does not activate. It does not need to, since ZST is a natural approach, the stretch reflex does not need to tense up our muscle to protect us from our own "not-smartness" to put it nicely. Using ZST, by the time the Target move is going deeper, the Leverage/Helper will have created the space.

#6- Results are visible right away since the stretch reflex is avoided. You just need to try the two exercises and see by yourself, it is not exaggerated at all to say you see progress right away.

This is a ZST Stretch that will work primarily on Latissimus Dorsi and Pectoralis Major. Rarely anyone knows how to isolate these muscles properly. Look at the picture carefully and read the explanation below.

In this case your Target action is dropping your armpit into the floor, that is, increasing shoulder flexion, which will go deeper and deeper with every repetition. On the other hand, your Leverage or "helper" move is moving your arm laterally outwards, applying shoulder external rotation and then retreating it back. At the same time you are retreating the Leverage you will notice that you can go deeper into your Target without any effort. This is the magic of EasyFlexibility's Zaichik Stretching.

#7 - Totally safe, since it was designed according to what is natural for the body. As it was explained above, while doing a ZS exercise your body does not need to activate the stretch reflex to protect you.

#8 - Gains are permanent and steady. When your nervous system detects repeatedly that you are able to move while in a stretched position, that you are getting stronger in that position and are you able to come back from it without feeling pain, it will register your new ranges of motion as permanent, thus you keep whatever progress you got during a training session as the starting point for your next one.

#9 - It is very enjoyable to do, and feels more like a workout. EasyFlexibility's Zaichik Stretching is good for all ages, and training levels, it can be applied to develop a specific sport skill or just to get flexible and feel lighter and more agile.

10# - It can be done in dynamic, static, active, relaxed, strength modalities and combinations of all, producing functional flexibility and catering for every type of body. It adapts to any sort of background. if you are a dancer you'd do the ZS exercises mostly in a dynamic way, adding antagonists short range strength training to develop active flexibility; if you are a martial artist you will take advantage of the strength modality for agonists muscles; if you practice yoga asanas, you will adopt a relaxed modality where you still work in ZS positions but the alternation of the Target - Leverage is practised less dynamically, and so on. The combinations are endless.

Where to start will depend on your goals and level. If you can reach your toes with your wrists having legs straight without feeling much of a stretch, you are good to start the Front & Side Splits Training Program. If you need more functional flexibility for Dance, the Dance Combo is a better choice. If you can't reach your toes you will benefit greatly starting with a Beginners Hamstrings program. If you want to learn the complete method to be able to create your own routines that will benefit you and your students then you can enroll in the Certification course.

The system includes over dozens of exercises for your whole body, as well as many variations for each exercise. What this means is that, there's absolutely no way you will escape becoming flexible. There is just no more excuses. You can enroll in the Online Certification Course to learn how to use the Zaichik Stretching Method to benefit yourself and your students.

Gain access to a full and detailed Kinesiological explanation for every muscle in the human body. All of our Zaichik Stretching techniques are specific to individual muscles, focusing on their primary actions.

This seminar is applicable to any sport or physical activity with lessons arranged along the basic positions commonly used to group muscle actions, thus the lessons are devided into exercises to improve:

Plus a lesson on methodology, science of Zaichik Stretching, and possible variations and modalities to each exercise.

The biggest features that we've added is for EasyFlexibility Instructors.

Once you are an EasyFlexibility Certified Instructor you will find this feature to be incredibly valuable. This feature alone will up your student retention, help you stay organized and keep track of your students progress!

This feature allows you to keep a record of all of your clients picture progress with dates, measurements, their contact info, and what's even more important the ability to send this progress to your clients anyway that you choose to do so. You can send them an email to keep them engaged with the training, or text message to their phones etc.,

After purchasing our Certification course, If you are interested in having this feature activated for you please send an email to info@easyflexibility.com with a request. (This feature is not automatic and will need to be manually turned on for you, so be sure to let us know if you want to have access to this feature).


And now for the fun part, here are a couple of screen shots of what this new feature looks like: