I have a feeling this is going to sound like a sales pitch. It shouldn't, sorry, and I am not affiliated to Tom Drum in anyway. That said, lets get on. I've got pool tool that is currently probably my most essential non-swimming tool and it's called a Fraid Not and it comes from an American sports fitness fanatic called Tom Drum www.tomdrum.com:
A quick tour of www.tomdrum.com and you see that he's not got many products on offer and one or two of them, okay all of them, (like the Fraid Not) are well to put it politely very "American", but stay with me. I think the 'Fraid Not is a very cool product.
Basically it's a piece of rope with a couple of knots in it (one at each end - hence its name). The idea being that you use your Fraid Not to help you in an assisted stretching program to aid your flexibility.
First obvious question is why do I need a bit of rope, because I can stretch perfectly well without one? Well yes you can, and in an earlier life I used to do just that. When I was younger I did a lot of martial arts (5/6 days a week) and would happily stretch both in the gym and at home. I got to be really flexible and had a really good stretching routine. However as I've gotten older I have clearly gotten much lazier. I don't stretch these days often. I've got three really good books on stretching but just nver get round to doing anything about it. So as my body gets older I do less and less (for that read no) stretching. I "get away" with it because I am naturally quite flexible even though I am now middle aged (apparently).
I bought my 'Fraid Not a long time ago off the TI web site www.totalImmersion.net and was instantly disappointed in it. The packaging was minimal, the instructional video was brief to the point of being almost pointless, the instruction booklet the same. In short I thought I'd bought a typical piece of American vapourware. So it languished in my cupboard.
Once or twice I'd seen bits on the www.goswim.tv site about Fraid Nots and dug it back out of the cupboard. Again I kind of found it lacking in point - my daughter loved it (calling it Fray it became one of her pet toys).
But recently I've dug it out of the cupboard again, and now... I am a convert - I really love it.
So what does it do?
Well on its own it clearly does nothing - it's just a bit of string! The the rational for it is pretty sound: Tom Drum's argument, and I am living proof of this, is that most people can't be bothered to stretch. Or at least can't be bothered to stretch on their own. I currently attend three different types of swimming program and I see nobody stretching in any of these (me included). So I know I am not unique.
The basic Fraid Not stretching program takes about 6 minutes to perform. Again his rational is that it's quick, so you can just "do it". Actually it's not that easy because the leg stretches need room to perform and I find this "getting room" still a hastle so, even though I am advocating the 'Not I still don't do the whole program (hypocrit that I am).
But I do love the torso/shoulder/arm exercises - they are brilliant (and I know the leg exercises work - it's just being "bothered" to do them that's the issue for me).
I've got a routine, when I get changed from work I quickly run through the torso/arm stretches whilst the kids are in the bath, or I am getting changed (3 - 5 minutes and I am done). How easy is that? And because I've been doing this now for about a month I am getting back a lot of my (lost) earlier life flexability.
What do you get?
As I said near the outset: a rope, a video, an instruction card and a small laminated crib-sheet. The rope comes in a number of attractive colours. The video is short, as is the instruction booklet. And if anything lets the "system" down then it's these two elements, IMHO they could do with a bit of an explaination as to why/what the stretch is trying to achieve. It's not a problem for me, because I've a pretty good understanding of what should be being stretched in each case. But the advanced stretches just come with a "health warning" to use "EXTREME CAUTION" - could really do with a bit more.
But that's being picky. Said rope et al only costs $20, so in some respects you get what you pay for. But it does let the whole thing down just a touch. Having said that you can buy extra Nots for $10, so you could equip your club for as little as, say $50-60 (can't get much pool equipment for that price normally can you?)
What does it do?
As I said, I currently just do the the torso and arm exercises. But the whole set really just use the rope in a number of different ways to help put some more pressure on a stretch. There's a couple of leg stretches that just (for me and most people) are not possible without some assistance. So think of the rope as your training/stretching partner. In a number of respects it's better than a real person, becuase you are in control of the stretch, so know how far to push. Also you can take it anywhere.
To get the most out of it you need: enough room to lie down and "wave your legs around", and a door that shuts towards you. The former should be obvious why you need the space, the later not so. You need a door that shuts inwards (towards where you are stretching) because for a number of arm/torso stretches you need to attach the rope to something. It comes with a tiny attachment cord which I just put the other side of the door jam and then close it too. Simple and effective.
Does it work?
Well it's not rocket science, as his site says - everyone knows that they should stretch (but most people make excuses not to). So in that respect it does work - because its just another way of stretching. What works for me (now I am hooked) is that it's really quick and easy, yes you could (and probably should) spend more time stretching, but in this busy world sometimes that's not as possible as it sounds. So five minutes a day, when you are getting changed from work, it's that easy.
Proof of the pudding
Not sure if this is proof or not, but this is a picture of me tonight after I've gone through my two/three minute routine. The upper streamline would be better if my ceiling wasn't so low. But hopefully you can see how just close my shoulders are to my ears, and how much better my profile is - there's no muscle straining there... just the benefits of a quick stretch.
Just imagine how far you could zip off each turn if you could sustain that type of streamlining (for little effort)... it's not magic but it is a secret that most swimmers don't have.
