Page 45 of Resistance Training
She does. Without hesitation.
“We’ll do assisted stretching. I’m going to help you get a deeper stretch than you can on your own.”
“’Kay,” she says, her voice more high-pitched than she wanted it to be, I’m sure.
I circle my hands around her ankles, kneel between her legs, and pull them closer together on either side of me. Then I bend her left leg, placing her foot flat on the floor, and gently lift her right leg toward her chest as I slowly stand, holding her right ankle, letting my hand slide down to her calf. She gasps, holds her breath, then exhales. “You feel a good stretch in your hamstring?”
“That depends on where my hamstring is.”
I drag my fingertips up the back of her thigh, very slowly, totally inappropriately. “Feel that?”
“Yes,” she whispers.
“Good. Keep your leg straight. More?”
She nods.
I grip harder as I guide her leg a little higher. “Breathe into it.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I’m not going to push too far too fast. Let me know when you want more.”
“More,” she says.
I let her heel rest against my chest as I hold her ankle with one hand, her knee with the other, and lean in a little more.
Her calf is aligned with my torso.
She really wasn’t kidding.
She is flexible.
She crosses her forearms over her eyes, and I feel her trembling.
“Breathe into it,” I say softly.
She does, and I feel her relax into the stretch.
Then she uncovers her eyes, brushes her hair out of her face with her fingers, and stares right at me. “Deeper,” she says.
One more inch and I hold her leg in place, holding her gaze. She’s holding her breath again. “Breathe.”
She sucks in a breath.
I repeat the same assisted stretch on her other leg, slowly lower her leg and kneel before her again. “Now we’ll open up the hip flexors,” I explain. “You’ll love this one. Stay on your back.”
She does. She’s breathing a little heavier than she should be at this point, but I’m not worried about that. Except she stretches her arms up over her head, her hair fanned out around her flushed face. She smirks at me, and I might not be as in control of this situation as I thought I was.
I extend her leg to the mat and place her foot flat against my chest so that leg is bent. I am very professionally positioned between her legs, supporting her thigh with both hands. I lean toward her. “Just relax and feel the stretch in the front of your hip and your glute. You feel that?”
“Yes.”
“Take a deep inhale.”
She breathes in.
“When you exhale I go deeper.”
