Lifestyle

Stretching studios are popping up all over London, but are they worth the cash?



Have you always wanted to be able to do the splits? It’s surely every yogi’s dream, right? Well, the once extremely unlikely possibility might be one step closer to reality – in theory at least – because flexibility studios are suddenly popping up all over the capital.

First came group stretching classes courtesy of the likes of Ten Health & Fitness with its Ten Stretch class, a reformer-based session which teaches you to use the carriage to lengthen muscles and move deeper into each stretch, and East London-based Blok, which offers BlokFlex, a half HIIT-half stretch-based class designed to simultaneously build strength and flexibility. This month, Good Stretch opened its doors in Kensington offering specialist lower body classes aimed at achieving “all kinds of splits in the shortest possible time.” 

Across town, meanwhile, StretchLAB has launched in Fitzrovia, where it offers 50-minute one-on-one assisted stretch sessions. Another, Flexology, recently opened in Canary Wharf. 


And some now dedicate their entire exercise regime to stretching. Personal trainer and movement coach Roger Frampton quit weights and cardio to dedicate more time to improving his flexibility with stretching and gymnastics and wrote a book about it. The Flexible Body teaches you how to move better in just 10 minutes of stretching a day through a series of holds, rolls and balances, with the aim being to re-train your body to move like it could when you were a child. He now teaches flexibility workshops at the W Hotel in Leicester Square.

The truth is, we all know that we should probably be stretching more, whether you spend nine hours a day crumpled over a laptop or sometimes skip the warm down to be first in line for the shower (guilty).

So why now and is it worth your money? In the name of wellness, we went along to find out. 

Like most wellbeing trends, the rise of assisted stretching and classes hails from the US, flexibility studios are common place in places like LA and NYC, but it’s also big in Dubai and Moscow.

Kunal Kapoor, founder of StretchLAB, says he was motivated to open StretchLAB when he started to notice his own muscle tightness start to have a negative impact on his life. “London’s fitness scene is booming which is great. People are paying more attention to exercise than ever before, and with the rise of HIIT popularity, people are certainly training like athletes. They aren’t, however, recovering like athletes, which is where we come in,” he says.

“Doing it yourself isn’t the most enjoyable or interesting activity either. Something changes when it’s taken out of your hands and it’s done for you.”

The benefits of regular, proper stretching are three-fold, he says. “You can prevent injury as a flexible muscle is at less risk of getting hurt; you perform better as stretching, assisted or otherwise, decreases muscle stiffness and increases your range of motion and muscle activation – that applies to anything from spinning to boxing and lifting weights. And it aids recovery too –  after a hard workout, stretching your muscles helps keep them loose and lessens the shortening and tightening effect that can lead to post-workout aches and pains, allowing you to bounce back and be ready for your next session sooner.” 

Good Stretch co-founder Ri says that issues associated with a a lack of flexibility include “muscular imbalances, and as a consequence, joint stiffness, muscle tightness, lower back pain, poor posture and eventually injuries.

“The more we take care of our muscles before and after a workout with a good stretch this will increase your muscles’ efficiency and will increase gains in strength, power and shape,” she adds.

A StretchLAB session in progress

I am mid-way through a strength transformation programme and, as a naturally flexible person, am for once in my life feeling extremely tight. So I popped in for a taster session with StretchLAB’s stretchologist Giovana on a Tuesday evening after work. From the outside the studio looks like just another of the capital’s boutique gyms, with its neon lights and branded merch for sale at reception.

Treatments happen in an open plan space downstairs, where there are a number of padded leather benches. There’s a small changing cubicle where I changed into leggings and a tank before Giovana, who is hyper mobile and a part-time contortionist, got to work. She began by using a Theragun recovery gun all over me to warm up my muscles first, beginning by pummelling along the backs of my calves, all the way up my back, and then onto my front, finishing on my chest. 

In terms of intensity, the treatment went in the opposite direction of, say, a massage, which usually begins gentle and gradually gets harder. The stretching began with my mega tight hamstrings… ouch! Having done some very heavy weighted lunges the night before, this wasn’t exactly comfortable. But just when I thought I’d reached my absolute limit in terms of flexibility, feeling there’s room to go, she’d somehow get a bit more out of me. A few very intense stretches on my inner thigh and, quads later and, at one point my leg started to go slightly numb, but I wouldn’t exactly call it painful. 

The treatment became more relaxing when she was working on my front, especially around the feet and ankles, toes and hands, when there were elements of massage to what she was doing and some well-needed stretches to ease my constant tech neck – I left, I’m sure, a few inches taller. 

If you’re planning on running a marathon anytime soon, I’m convinced this should be part of your training/recovery plan. ​For the rest of us, a private stretch or even group stretching class is the antidote to the pounding of the treadmill and burpee hell of your favourite HIIT class, and is a great way of restoring the balance. Private sessions aren’t as cheap as a yoga class, however, at £55 for 50 minutes, though you can opt for a shorter 25 minutes for £28.

If flexibility is the forgotten (or ignored) pillar of fitness, 2020 is the year it’s going to take centre stage. 

And finally, in answer to the question we all want to know, how long does it take to learn to do the splits? 

“It really does depend on your level of flexibility,” Ri says, “but in an ideal environment with true commitment we’d say 4 – 8 weeks. Working on it at least 2 – 3 times a week in a class and support it with the other days working on your lunge and lower body stretch will definitely get you on the right track. The more consistent you are, the faster and more dramatic your results will be!” 





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