I felt high after getting stretched at StretchLab in Highland Park on October 1st after my very first assisted stretching session, kind of loose and floaty and a little bit high (not that I ever…).
My usual routine has been the chiropractor, where I get cracked, and I wanted to try the opposite: getting stretched. So I walked into StretchLab, asked if I could film before I filmed anything, and met Mitch, the general manager of the Highland Park studio.
Mitch explained that it’s one-on-one assisted stretching using a technique called PNF, where you contract or push against the stretch, which lets them get a deeper stretch than you’d get on your own, and he said a lot of athletes use it. Before any stretching happens, though, you do the MAPS assessment, which scores you on mobility, activation, posture, and symmetry, plus a fifth number that’s your overall composite score. You do three overhead squats while a camera scans you, and then the numbers pop up. Mobility is how freely you move, activation is how stable and efficient you are while you do it, and posture and symmetry are more byproducts, like whether your left hip rides higher than your right.
My squat, in Mitch’s words, was pretty good, and also pretty average, which I’m choosing to hear as a compliment. He saw my hips sitting back and my knees taking more load than they should, which he said is often calf tightness, and I have an ankle replacement, which means I may never get the same range of motion I had before, though it doesn’t mean I can’t work on it. My shoulders could also stand to get higher, closer to a full 180 degrees. Then came the stretching itself, and I’ll say what Mitch said to me, which is that it is uncomfortable, and that is exactly why nobody does this on their own. He kept telling me to keep breathing, keep breathing, keep breathing, because if you don’t breathe your body won’t let the muscles move, and he was right, my face turned red the second I forgot. My calves were the tightest thing in the room, by far. By the end I learned I’m tight in my calves, my wrists, my pecs, and my neck, so there is plenty to work on.
Now the part everybody asks about, which is the price, and yes, it’s expensive. I signed up for the month to month plan, which is $799 a month for 8 sessions, two a week, with $100 off the first month. There is no sign-up fee and no cancellation fee, but you do have to give them 31 days notice if you want out. The 3, 6, and 12 month plans cost less per month but require a commitment, and prices and terms vary by studio, so check stretchlab.com or call your local studio before you take my numbers as gospel. For me, it’s a lot of money for stretching, but I think of it a bit like a personal trainer, and I plan to try it for a couple of months and then decide honestly whether it’s worth it.
So here’s my promise. I’ll do a follow-up video after I’ve been doing this for a while, and I’ll tell you what changed, or what didn’t.
I’m a paying StretchLab client and that’s all I am. I have no business relationship with StretchLab, this video is not sponsored, and I was not compensated. A big thank you to Mitch for being patient with my questions and my red face.
And a bit of news. I’m now officially a Dallas influencer, which is still a funny thing to say out loud, and I’ve started a YouTube playlist called C.K. in Dallas where I’ll be adding all of these videos. StretchLab is in there, and so is my Slate truck ride, with more coming.
I also cut a quick Short of the experience, called My First Time Getting Stretched (Honest Take): https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FChewbTWUSM
And there’s a Reel on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cksamplenoodling/reel/Def8fpBRRO0/
If you got something out of this, please help me out. Watch the full video above and give it a like. Subscribe to my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@cksample so you catch the follow-up. And follow me on Instagram at https://instagram.com/cksamplenoodling, where the Reels live, and at https://instagram.com/cksamplephotos for the photography. Then tell me in the comments if you’ve tried assisted stretching and what you’d want to know before booking, because that’s the video I’ll make next.
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNYUZnfqy_N0
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