Origins of Range - Article (Keegan Smith)

This is the framework for the range that I have used since the beginning of Real Movement Project in 2014 (now RealMVMT).

Working with Ido Portal and Coach Sommer really put my focus onto range after years of focussing on strength. I even was convinced in my teens that LESS range could help me to be faster and more explosive.

Teaching Range to coaches was always enjoyable and it felt like a new frontier. I didn't think about taking it to the extremes until I started working with Ben Patrick and his front splits and Lucas Aaron with his side splits.

Range training like anything that creates massive change has its risks and its challenges.

The framework I'm sharing here helped me to avoid injury and for coaches to be able to understand if they were using a "sledgehammer or a chisel" to create changes in range.

All stretches are LOADED.

The question is the degree of loading.

Methods 1 & 2 are low load

This is the chisel. The least aggressive way to create a new range.

Alone it's very slow to change the body since very little force is being applied to the body.

This method is best for gaining control and helping the agonist muscle to become strong and not cramp in the shortened position.

Simple static stretches are a low load, long duration way to decrease resting tension in the system and to be able to relax into deeper positions.

For strong people, this method is also often slow or ineffective unless you're happy to hold the positions for long periods of time. Reading a book or doing messages in a stretched position is a good way to make gains here.

Loading outer range positions where 2 or more joints are under stretch together is extreme range training. To begin with, spending minimal time in the end ranges creates minimal soreness and lets the body adjust to this style of training.

As tolerance increases, load and the duration of pauses in the end positions can be increased.

Going too hard, heavy, often with extreme range training

This style of stretching is great to prepare for sports that require rapid movements to end-range positions. It is aggressive and not appropriate for most people who haven't developed a big base of Range training yet.

As always the details matter. Doing small amounts of gentle ballistic training is different from trying to kick yourself in the head 100 times in one session.

Eg. Head to toe / High Kicks.

Range matters much more for performance than most performance coaches acknowledge.

Children are extremely resilient and have great range naturally.

As to most animals in the wild.

The progressive loss of range equates to the loss of function and increased injury risk as we get older.

Watching fast animals run at top speed shows us the same thing.

If you watch documentaries on Usain Bolt you will see that RANGE is the first thing he does before each session with his therapist. His hips are constantly checked for tension.

Going from elite powerlifting to full side-splits might seem completely insane. And in many ways it is... but the wide stance squats and deadlifts might just have built the foundation for Lucas to progress into the movement he has now.

The front splits and head to toe can only be explained by smart training and persistence over a long period.

BEN & JEFF  took range for RUNNING to a new level.

It works.

People get faster and more resilient as they move more like leopards and less like elephants.

Tight body, tight mind.

As above, so below.

The flexibility of thinking and decision-making is one of the key traits for success in life.