Best Stretching Aid Ever - The Stretch-A-Flex!

[Cujo_64]

Originally Posted by RonHextall27

Twist my arm I orderd one...wish me luck, balls to the ice baby !

make sure your wearing at least a cup before u do that..... dont want them to stick or freeze ! lol

[blacksv1]

Originally Posted by RonHextall27

Twist my arm I orderd one...wish me luck, balls to the ice baby !

I assume you have tried it by now. Well, what's your opinion of the SAF?

[blacksv1]

Since I only started playing goalie on ice when I turned 37, I set a goal for myself: To be a top notch goalie in a good over-40 league by the time I was eligible. I am happy to say that I was the overall first draft pick in a new over-40 league after only allowing 3 goals in the 90 minute player rating session. I am really looking forward to the 58 game season.

The key for me was to retrain like Osgood did as a butterfly goalie from the oldschool methods of my ball/floor hockey days. For me that required regaining the flexibility that I lost over the years in my knees and hips and after a year using the Stretch-a-Flex, I've gained it back. Since I initiated this thread, I will post some new pics of my progress as soon as I get a chance. I had some set backs with a sore hip and minor back injury, but I'm back at it now. At least I can finally get my elbows to the floor in the split stretch...took a while for that at my age.

BY THE WAY: IF ANY OF YOU ORDERED, BUT FORGOT TO SEND SHAUN AN EMAIL FOR THE GOALIE STRETCHES, PLEASE DO SO. AFTER I FIRST BOUGHT MINE AND WAS REALLY IMPRESSED WITH IT AS WAS JUKKA ROPPONEN, SO I CONTACTED SHAUN TO SEE IF I COULD HELP MARKET IT FOR HOCKEY GOALIES. THE EMAILS ARE THE ONLY WAY TO KEEP TRACK OF HOW MANY ARE SOLD TO FELLOW GOALIES, SO PLEASE HELP A FELLOW GSBB MEMBER OUT.

Thanks again to all who puchased the Stretch-A-Flex and I hope it is helping you as it has for me. Good luck to all in the new season!

[Jim]

black,
as soon as my groin and quad heals from the pull/tear I will order one.
Right now i am doing PT and after almost 6weeks off.. it is finally starting
to come along..I will still be off another 3 weeks to ensure it heals completely

I just ordered coreshorts to help with the groin injuries.. but i think this will help as well..

Thanks for the thread and i will email shaun the moment i order

cheers
Jim

[hamstercaster]

I got mine a few weeks ago while I was on vacation. So far I have only used it a bit. There was a 2 week span where I have used it about 4 or 5 times at 20-30 minutes routines. I will not bull**** you guys by saying that it made me more flexible as I haven't used it enough yet but what it did, at least in those two weeks is make it much easier to achieve full flexibility, and by that I mean the full extent of my own actual flexibility. I did stretch any further than I did before I got the stretch a flex but I got there without any pain or feelings of being overstreteched and I actually got comments by my friends saying that I seemed more flexible and that was only with two weeks use at 2 times or so a week. I have since not used it much as I've been too busy but there is not doubt in my mind that with regular use I will be much more flexible and it will indeed make my game that much more solid when all is said and done. At 37 it is something I have to start working on a regular basis and I have to get back on the threadmill.. amongst other things. There is no doubt in my mind that the stretch a flex is a very good addition to any goalie or athletes routine and is well worth the investment.

[Raptor]

This sounds great, but it's a bit expensive.. anyone want to sell a second hand one by any chance?

[blacksv1]

Originally Posted by Jim

black,
as soon as my groin and quad heals from the pull/tear I will order one.
Right now i am doing PT and after almost 6weeks off.. it is finally starting
to come along..I will still be off another 3 weeks to ensure it heals completely

I just ordered coreshorts to help with the groin injuries.. but i think this will help as well..

Thanks for the thread and i will email shaun the moment i order

cheers
Jim

If you read up the post, I got mine about 6 months after I pulled a groin during a game and was unhappy with the rehab progress I made up to that point. I happened to find the Strech-A-Flex on eBay from a reseller (they still have them for $75 on eBay). It's no BS that it absolutely sped up the healing and allowed me to stretch my groin out enough that I could play without a bid fear of injuring it again at that.

I have so far avoided tweaking it again by wearing compression shorts and neoprene groin straps on each leg. I was also looking at coreshorts, but they are expensive.

Good luck with the healing, but take it easy on streching; don't force it. It is a 1-2 year healing process to be 100%. You just have to protect yourself from reinjury.

[blacksv1]

Originally Posted by Raptor

This sounds great, but it's a bit expensive.. anyone want to sell a second hand one by any chance?

You have to think of it as an important piece of equipment. I was like gumby when I was 21, but the older you get, the more have to work on preventing injury due to loss of flexibility. Even though I'm almost 40, I enjoy being pain-free the next morning after a game.

[CubanPuckstoppr]

Over the long haul this will turn out to be a good investment of time and money. I have had mine for about six weeks, and have used it inconsistently.

Some of my advice is:

Go slow, on two occasions I have had tender hamstrings the day after using the SAF. I have a leg length discrepancy of about 3/8 " on the left leg, that hamstring is always tighter, and correspondingly the more tender of the two.

Warm up, at times I have tried to skimp on a pre-stretch warmup, I'm much more comfortable when I have raised my body temperature before using the SAF. I don't have numerical values, but will contrast the percieved good feeling after having been on the ice for the previous 1.5 hours, or on a slide board for 30 munutes, versus the not as good feeling of riding a bike or running lightly for 10-15 minutes.

Be sure to have the SAF across the broad part of your back (around the shoulder blades) or resting across your hips, I have used it across my lower back, and could see where the pressure applied there could cause issues.

There were weeks where I would use it for 40 minutes once per week, and I had a week where I did three 20 minute sessions, (more shorter sessions felt better, something to be said for consistency).

I have not done the special goaltenders' stretch provided with the SAF. I find the kneeling side stretch to be my favorite stretch presented in the video.

As we move into the time of year where routines get set, I hope to be more consistent and measure any gains in flexibility.