5 Gems of Flexibility

Zaichik Stretching Technique

Five Whole-Body Exercises For Fast,
Permanent And Painless Flexibility

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 Introduction

This e-book contains five gems of flexibility, five stretching exercises that will change your training life
forever. You only need to try them to see.
These exercises will open your possibilities for better techniques, improved body control and awareness,
a deeper feeling of lightness, strength and balance.
The Zaichik Stretching Techniques are very special in that they are the only way to stretch that is natural
for your body. For this reason, the techniques are also painless, hence producing permanent results.
Compare this with traditional approaches, where you hold difficult (or too easy) positions waiting for
something magical to happen, and when it does happen, it disappears much like Cinderellas carriage,
at midnight before you hit your next workout.

The Zaichik Stretching Techniques (ZST)

When we get into a stretched position a protective reflex activates in our bodies in less than 2 seconds,
tensing up our muscles to prevent us from getting injured by stretching too far. This tells us that holding
stretches for more than 2 seconds is not safe, and whatever is not safe our body rejects it, that is why it
is hard to get flexible by holding stretches.
The Zaichik Stretching Techniques (ZST) you are about to learn have the solution to this.
Firstly, ZST exercises are dynamic, stretching only for 1 second in a given direction, thus avoiding the
pain of the stretch reflex.
Secondly, each posture, technique or skill we want to master requires the flexibility of many muscles,
thus ZST isolates each muscle working on them individually. The effect of this is a lot less pressure on
our joints, and faster progress.
Lastly, ZST take into account that no muscle does one single thing, so all the actions for a given muscle
are taken care of in one quick exercise.

What Makes ZST Unique: The Target Leverage Mechanism

Each ZST exercise comprises two moves, according to the muscles main actions. For example, to stretch
Rectus Femoris (a quadriceps muscle) we bring the thigh back and we flex the knee, and we do this
in a very particular way.

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In ZST we name one move the Target and the other the Leverage. As the names imply, the target is
the move that will go deeper and deeper into the stretch, and the leverage is a quick move that goes back
and forth. In our Rectus Femoris example, our target will be bringing the thigh further back, and our
leverage will be flexing our knee for 1 second and letting it go.
Applying the leverage will open up the room for the target to go deeper. This means that flexing your
knee for 1 second will allow your hip to extend deeper, and youll notice that for a split second theres no
resistance to bringing your thigh back a little further.
Then repeating the leverage again right away will open up more room for the hip to extend even fur-
ther back.

Two very important key points:

1.The Target will never retreat, make sure not to move the target when you apply the leverage,
otherwise youll lose the progress each rep provides.
2.The Target will go deeper as you let go of the leverage. This happens in 1 second, as you are let-
ting go of the leverage, the target gets deeper into the stretch without the need to push or force anything,
let it happen.
Obviously we wont do 20 repetitions until our feet is touching the back of our head! Please dont. These
techniques as powerful as they are and given that there is no pain involved, it is very easy to overdo
them. Pace yourself and do maximum 5 reps at a time, come out of the stretch, let your body adapt,
shake it off and repeat.

How to Train ZST Exercises

The ZST exercises can be used on their own or combined with your main workout.
On Their Own
To use them on their own you would do a quick warm up mobilizing all your joints, then jogging in
place for a couple of minutes, and adding some simple conditioning exercises such as squats, deadlifts,
lunges and pushups. After this 5-minute warm-up, you are ready to focus on the ZST exercises. Do each
for 1 to 3 sets, and 3 to 5 repetitions alternating sides. You can do one exercise after the other for a few
rounds, usually no more than 5.

Important Notes:
Do not to hold any position for more than 1 second and keep the tempo steady without attemp-
ting to feel the stretch. Target, leverage, target, leverage, target, come out. Thats it.
Do not push at all. Pushing is not necessary, it is unnatural, it will activate the protective stretch
reflex and can only be counterproductive.

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 Apply the leverage gently, even if its just 1 degree or less, always in a controlled manner and
monitoring your muscles and joints for any uncomfortable sensation that tells you to come out of the
position.
Keep the exercises dynamic, dont let the pain reflex activate. Dont enjoy it too much as
ZST instructors would say, meaning when you achieve a very deep stretching position for the first few
times dont hold it for more than a couple of seconds.

Combined with Your Main Workout

ZST techniques will work best in between your main routine exercises, or right before your main wor-
kout. ZST are not meant to be used as a cool down, though you can try that modality and see how it
works for you in particular. ZST are not relaxed stretches used to calm your nervous system down and
release toxins from your muscles. ZST are techniques that activate your body, give you deeper ranges
so that you can work on your techniques, thats why they work best before technique practice, not after.
Once youve done a few rounds of ZST, you should do your main practice, whether its dance, martial
arts, yoga, gymnastics or anything else. This will produce faster and more permanent results. Training
your sport after ZST will tell your body that your new ranges are natural, safe and functional, and they
will be accepted as permanent.

We Are Here to Help!

Watching the exercise videos will make all the above clear. Should you have any questions contact us at
info@easyflexibility.com and a ZST Certified Instructor will be prompt to assist you. You can also take a
look at www.easyflexibility.com where youll find a wide variety or ZST follow routines in video down-
load and Online Certification Courses.

All for Results

Up until now, flexibility progress was hard to track, so we created Stretch180, an application that will
measure each degree of progress accurately, track your rate of progress and estimate the date youll
reach your goal, whether its a high kick, a split, a yoga asana, a gymnastics move, or a dance technique.
Check it out at Stretch180.com
Here youll also find a public Leaderboard, where people share their progress training the Zaichik Stret-
ching Techniques. Feel free to subscribe and participate. Each degree of progress that you share will also
give you credit to use at our EasyFlexibility store.

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PIRIFORMIS
1 2 3

NOTE: CLICK ON THE VIDEO TO START PLAYING. If the video doesnt start playing
after 5 seconds, go to this link: alternative link

1-Pull one knee toward the

chest. Foot out on the floor to
prevent the hips from coming
up when you perform the leve-
rage-target movements.

2-Bring your foot in performing

hip external rotation. Do not let
your glutes come off the floor.

3-As you are letting the foot

come back pull the knee in
travelling across the opposite
shoulder.

Success Stories

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PSOAS
1 2 3

NOTE: CLICK ON THE VIDEO TO START PLAYING. If the video doesnt start playing
after 5 seconds, go to this link: alternative link

1-Step forward with one leg

and move it to the side. Flex to
that side from the lower spine
as much as possible.

2-Move over to the side (hip

abduction) holding the spine
lateral flexion.

3-As you come back from the

abduction increase hip exten-
sion (always keep spine lateral
flexion).

Success Stories

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RECTUS FEMORIS
1 2 3

NOTE: CLICK ON THE VIDEO TO START PLAYING. If the video doesnt start playing
after 5 seconds, go to this link: alternative link

1-Step forward with one leg

and move it to the side. Flex to
that side from the lower spine
as much as possible.

2-Move over to the side (hip

abduction) holding the spine
lateral flexion.

3-As you come back from the

abduction increase hip exten-
sion (always keep spine lateral
flexion).

Success Stories

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PECTORALIS MINOR
1 2 3

NOTE: CLICK ON THE VIDEO TO START PLAYING. If the video doesnt start playing
after 5 seconds, go to this link: alternative link

1-Turn away till elbow comes

off the floor.

2-Use the prop to push arm.

Elevate the shoulder to ear.

3-As you depress, press the

elbow more toward the floor.

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POSTERIOR DELTOID
1 2 3

NOTE: CLICK ON THE VIDEO TO START PLAYING. If the video doesnt start playing
after 5 seconds, go to this link: alternative link

1-Turn away till elbow comes

off the floor.

2-Use the prop to push arm.

Elevate the shoulder to ear.

3-As you depress, press the

elbow more toward the floor.

Success Stories

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Check Out ZST Full Follow Along Routines to Master
Any Skill!
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