What?

• stretching & strengthening yourself
• getting stretched & strengthened
• stretching & strengthening others
• using a method called Resistance Flexibility & Strength Training (RFST) and the Meridian Flexibility System (MFS)

Resistance Flexibility and Strength Training ®

• is a revolutionary technique that empowers you to stretch and strengthen your body through the use of resistance
• allows you to improve yourself and others at any time and any place
• is also known as Resistance Stretching or Meridian Stretching

Resistance Flexibility & Strength Training (RFST) teaches you that:

• you stretch muscles by contracting while lengthening them
• in order to get a true gain in flexibility, you must continuously contract the target muscle group while elongating it
• a muscle is only truly flexible to the point where it can continue to maximally resist while being lengthened
• stretching without continuously contracting a muscle produces a false range of motion known as substitution, and ultimately results in over-stretching and injury
• stretches can be reversed to provide strength training to the same muscle group

Resistance Flexibility & Strength Training (RFST) can be performed:

• alone using self-stretches or with other person(s) using assisted stretching techniques
• alone by the stretcher resisting against his/her own body, the ground, a wall, or other props
• by two or more people using assisted stretching, where the stretcher resists the movement of the assister(s) while the assister(s) flex/extend, adduct/abduct, and/or inward/outward rotate the target muscle group

Resistance Flexibility & Strength Training (RFST):

• offers immediate, cumulative, and permanent increases in flexibility
  
• takes the pain out of stretching
• protects you from injuring yourself due to over-stretching
• increases flexibility and muscular performance
• helps heal old injuries and prevent future ones

The Meridian Flexibility System ®

• is a program of 16 powerful stretching exercises for each level of practice — beginner, intermediate, advanced, and assisted
• is a program of 16 different types of stretches, each one uniquely defined by bone rotational interrelationships and specific muscle groups
• provides stretches for 16 unique muscle groups with concomitant physiological and psychological benefits
• is similar to Chinese Acupuncture and Acupressure in that it is based on the 16 various meridian lines that course through the body
• embodies a balanced approach to physical and mental fitness
• is based on an overall approach to health and well being
• rooted in the belief that one cannot be of sound body without sound mind
• emphasizes that there are four aspects of stretching (position, resistance, breathing, and psychological) that correspond to the four aspects of oneself (physical, spiritual, emotional, and mental)
• is a predictable, noninvasive, preventative health program with resulting gains in physical strength and functioning, psychological fitness, and spiritual and emotional development
• allows a person to overcome physical traumas as well as psychological and emotional obstacles

Bob Cooley

• began a quest to repair himself after being struck as a pedestrian by a car traveling 70 mph
• founded The Moving Center in 1974 as a school to research human movement and health
• created Resistance Flexibility & Strength Training and the Meridian Flexibility System through years of research into areas as varied as Physical Therapy, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Personality Theory
• is the author of The Genius of Flexibility: The Smart Way to Stretch and Strengthen Your Body
• has helped thousands of people to completely transform their bodies and health over the past 15 years
• works with professional and olympic athletes and people who are severely injured
• lives a totally organic lifestyle in Boston, MA

For more information, visit the official Meridian Flexibility
website at www.meridianstretching.com