Yeah, that has been known for a while, I guess at least since the 1960's but given I've seen something similar in Yoga I'd guess way further back. The more impo

Yeah, that has been known for a while, I guess at least since the 1960's but given I've seen something similar in Yoga I'd guess way further back. The more important bit though is that there are actually much more effective methods, i.e. while (EDIT: "simple"/non-PNF) static stretching maybe has some place in your routine, depending on your goals, you generally shouldn't rely on them for improving your flexibility. I practice Karate and it becomes obvious pretty quickly that the small amount of static stretching that's pretty common in many Karate warmup routines does almost nothing for your flexibility. EDIT: It seems some people include PNF under the umbrella of "static stretches" vs. e.g. dynamic or ballistic. When I'm using the term I'm referring to "simple" static stretches. I think Tom Kurz calls those "static active" or something like that. EDIT2: or they're called isometric stretches in certain literature.