What is P90X2 Neuro-Integrated Stretching?

NIS Stretching (Coach Alicia's Fong's blog)

It's no secret that I enjoy listening to the Ben Greenfield Fitness podcast. Although I am not an endurance athlete of any kind, and I gave up running years ago, I still get a lot of useful health and fitness information from Ben's Q&A and main topics. On at least one occasion, Ben covered a topic that related directly to P90X2 (Post-Activation Potentiation, or P.A.P.). It happened again a few weeks ago, in episode 201, when Ben discussed the treatments he used on a knee injury, and he described Progressive Neuromuscular Relaxation (PNR).

When I first heard Ben's description, it sounded a lot like the Neuro-Integrated Stretching (NIS) seen in P90X2. In P90X2, at the end of some workouts, a resistance band, stability ball, or body weight is used to provide resistance to movement during a stretch. When the resistance is relaxed, the joint is allowed to stretch farther. Up until this point, I had not been able to find information about this technique outside of P90X2. As it turns out, this is not PNR, which involves contracting and releasing one muscle group at a time (Starting from the top of your head, all the way to the bottom of your feet, for example). My search for more information about NIS continued.

Eventually, I found this Simple Guide to Stretching (simple, maybe, if this is your specialty). It lists several categories of stretches, including Neuromuscular Stretching. Hmm, this looks like the one! This is "active assisted stretching," It requires another person providing the resistance, but it looks like the same technique used in P90X2, if that person is Tony Horton (and/or a resistance band). Searching online for Neuromuscular Stretching provides information about related techniques such as PNF Stretching (assisted by a person, or done alone). A YouTube search for the same topic results in many how-to videos and descriptions.

I hope this is helpful to you, if you were looking for more information as I was, or if these stretching and relaxation techniques can relieve some pain or discomfort. Please comment below if you have any tips or addtional information to share!

Related Posts

Exercise Recovery
Ben Greenfield Fitness (other references)

Other Resources

Coach Alicia Fong's Blog (posts about foam rolling and stretching)