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Notable Active Stretching Users
The Active Stretching users shown here received much media attention at the time regarding the effect this “newly discovered” form of stretching was having on their performances. In fact, it was being used in Europe and Russia for years earlier. Known at that time in the US as Active Isolated Stretching (AIS) it was the buzz word in athletic competition.
AIS was originally developed and promoted in the 1970s by Aaron Mattes, a Physiotherapist and Massage Therapist in Florida. In the 1990s Jim and Phil Warton grabbed the “new” stretching concept and ran with it, overshadowing Aaron Mattes, its “creator”. Jim and Phil, a father and son team appeared on TV talk shows, the cover of magazines and were written up in a variety of newspapers and magazines including USA Today, Sports Illustrated, Longevity, Men’s Fitness and Massage and Bodywork magazines.
Your instructor, Barry Bailey, discovered Active Isolated Stretching quite by accident in a free workshop offered at the Boston Marathon Expo in 1994. This was the beginning of the surge of AIS media attention and coverage spurred on by the Whartons team. Runners World Magazine sponsored the Wartons’ Expo workshop. Their work appeared on the cover of the February 1994 issue of Runners World and featured US Olympic winner Shelly Steely demonstrating the straight leg rope assisted gastrocnemius stretch. The Wartons returned two more years to the Boston Marathon Expo to offer their AIS workshop. Your MANS instructor attended those workshops as well. Several years later your instructor spent a weekend studying with Aaron Mattes and earning Continuing Education Hours for his massage license.
The statistics below represent the attention Active Isolated Stretching was receiving at the time. It was new and American athletes were winning more Gold Medals than ever before in the history of sports.
Today, other names are being used in place of Aaron Matte’s original Active Isolated Stretching including Active Stretching [Barry Bailey], AI Stretching [Jim and Phil Warton], Dynamic Stretching and others. Today this stretching is simply expected, and the major media seldom cover it as anything unusual or special. If you are winning competitions, you are most likely training using Active Stretching as a major element of your workout routine.
Notible Competition Athletes
Michael Johnson - Sprinter
World Record Holder – 400 meters
Known at the time as “The World’s fastest man”
Known for his unique upright running posture.
1991 World Championships – Tokyo, Japan
First World Title – 22-meters
1992 Summer Olympics – Barcelona, Spain
Gold Medal – 4 x 400-meters relay team member –
set a new world record in his leg of the race
1995 World Championships – Gothenburg
Gold Medal – 200 meters
Gold Medal – 400 meters
1996 Summer Olympics – Atlanta, Georgia
Gold Medal – 400-meters
Gold Medal – 200-meters
Gold Medal – 1,600-meters relay
The only male athlete to win both the 200-meters and 400-meters events at the same Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics – Sydney, Australia
Gold Medal – 400-meters
Gold Medal – 1,6000-meters relay
Plus, over two dozen additional Gold Medals at the World Outdoor Championships, USA Indoor Championships, USA Indoor Championships, U.S. Olympic Trials.
Active Stretching was his entire warm-up before running in a competition.
Unlike the other athletes, he never ran a single step on the track before competing.
He did Active Stretching, saving his muscles' energy for the competition.
Dennis Allen-Mitchell - Sprinter
1992 Summer Olympics, Barcelona – Gold Medal as a member of the American 4x relay (third world record)
Bronze Medal – individual 100-meters
1993 World Championship – Bronze Medal – individual 100 meters
Gold Medal – relay event (world record)
1994 Goodwill Games
Gold Medal – individual 100-meters
1996 Summer Olympics
Silver Medal as a member of the American 4x relay team
Anthony Nesty – Swimmer
1988 Summer Olympics, Seol
Gold Medal 100 meters fly
1990 NCAA Champion
200 yards fly
1991 World Champion
100 meters fly
1992 Summer Olympics, Barcelona
Bronze Medal – 100 meters fly
Mebrahtom "Meb" Keflezigh – Marathon Runner
2004 Summer Olympics, Athens, Greece
Silver Medal – Men’s Marathon
Gold Medal and setting a personal best of 2:09:15.
Keflezighi was the first American to win the New York City Marathon since 1982.
2010 Boston Marathon
Fifth Place
2010 New York Marathon
Sixth Place, the first U.S. finisher
2010 He was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame
2012 Summer Olympics
Fourth Place – Men’s Marathon
2014 Boston Marathon
Gold Medal - Keflezighi became the first American man to win the Boston
Marathon since 1983
The oldest winner (39) of the Boston Marathon since at least 1930
2014 New York City Marathon
Fourth Place
2015 Boston marathon
Eighth Place
2015 New York City Marathon
Seventh Place
2016 US Olympic Marathon Trials
Second Place
Keflezighi is the only Marathoner in history to win the Boston Marathon, the New York City Marathon, and an Olympic Medal
Art Monk – Football, wide receiver
Washington Redskins
Played in Superbowl XVIII and Super Bowl XXVI
“Active Isolated Stretching is the primary reason for a lengthened athletic career”. Art Monk
Shelly Steely – Runner
1990 Sports Festival
10,000-meter Champion
1991 World Championship, Tokyo, Japan – Member of the U.S. World Championship Team
1992 Summer Olympics, Barcelona, Spain
Finished seventh
Six time member of the U.S. Cross Country Team
“AI stretching has made me more flexible. And the more flexible you are, the faster you can run, and the better your muscles respond to your training.” Shelly Steely
Gwen Torrance – Sprinter
“One of the greatest athletes of all times.”
During her prime throughout the 1990s she was considered the fastest woman on the planet.
1987 World Games
Gold Medal
1987 Pan American Games
Gold Medal – 60-meters
1989 World Indoor
Silver Medal – 60-meters
1992 Summer Olympics, Barcelona, Spain
Gold Medal – 200 meters
Gold Medal - 400 meters
Silver Medal - 1600 meters
1995 World Champion
100-meters
1996 Summer Olympics, Atlanta, Georgia
Gold Medal – 400-meters
Bronze Medal – 100-meters
2002 Elected to the National Track abd Field Hall of Fame
Allison Wagner – Olympic Swimmer
1993 FINA Short Course World Championships, Spain
Gold Medal – 200-meters individual medley
Silver Medal – 400-meters individual medley
1994 Named Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World magazine
1996 Summer Olympics, Atlanta, Georgia
Silver Medal – 400-meters individual breaststroke
Tiger Woods – Golf Champion
He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
Woods is widely regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time and is one of the most famous athletes in modern history.
He is an inductee of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Oscar Pistorious – South African Paraplegic Sprinter
The “Blade Runner”
Born without bones in his lower legs, his lower legs were amputated at 11 months of age.
Pistorious trained and competed controversially with lower leg prosthetics known as “Flex-Foot Cheetahs”.
2004 Summer Paralympics, Athens, Greece
Gold Medal – 200-meter - record-setting time
Bronze Medal - 100-meter
2008 Paralympics, Beijing, China
Gold Medal - 100-meter
Gold Medal - 200-meter
Gold Medal - 400-meter - set a world record
2011 World Championships in Athletics, South Korea - part of the South African squad
Silver Medal - 4×400-meter relay
2012 African Athletics Championships, Benin
Silver Medal – individual 400-meter
2012 Olympics, London, England
First double amputee to ever compete in the Olympics.
Pistorius finished second out of five runners and advanced to the semifinals,
where he finished eighth out of eight runners.
2012 London Paralympics
Gold Medal – 400-meter – record setting time
Gold Medal – 400-meter relay
Silver Medal – 200-meter
Matt Cetlinski – Swimmer
1988 Summer Olympics, Seol,
Gold Medal – 4 x 200-meters relay
“In a sport where races can be determined by hundredths of a second, Aaron (Mattes) helped me reach my maximum potential as an athlete (using Active Isolated Stretchiing).”
Gwyn Coogan – Trank and Field Runner
1992 Summer Olympics, Barcelona, Spain
10,000 meters
Mark Coogan – Track and Field Runner
1995 World Championships
Silver Medal – 5,000-meters
1996 Summer Olympics, Athens, Georgia
Marathon
Patrick Ewing – Basketball Player New York Nicks
All Star Center 11 times
Steve Spence – Olympic Marathoner
1991 World Championships
Bronze Medal – Marathon
1992 US Olympic Trials
Marathon winner
1992 Summer Olympics, Barcelona, Spain
Member of US Olympic Team
“I always hated to stretch because it didn’t seem to make a difference, but now I use this [Active Stretching] program every day, and I haven’t been injured”. Trained by Jim and Phil Wharton.
Mike Utley - football - guard for the Detroit Lions
1991 Utley suffered a spinal injury during a game and was paralyzed
1992 Utley established the Mike Utley Foundation to provide financial support for research, rehabilitation and education for Spinal Cord Injuries. The foundation is dedicated to finding a cure and to provide motivational and emotional support for individuals who have been disabled with such injuries.
“Go into battle prepared to win” describes Mike’s philosophy regarding life.
“Being a pro athlete for the Detroit Lions and sustaining a spinal cord injury on November 17, 1991, I have had the opportunity to experience all types of therapy around the country. The unique techniques that Aaron Mattes has perfected has helped me to perform at my greatest level. Through hard work and perseverance with Active Isolated Stretching I have exceeded even my own expectations”.
Lance Armstrong – World Class Cyclist
Tour de France – seven-time winner
AIS was believed greatly responsible for his recovery from testicular cancer surgery.
Andy Roddick – Tennis Opens Winner
Three-time Wimbledon finalist
Roger Clemens - Baseball Pitcher
Widely considered to be one of the greatest pitchers of all time.
Notable Celebrities Who Have Been Treated by Aaron Mattes
Using Active Isolated Stretching Techniques
Mikhail Baryshnikov – Russian Dancer, Choreographer, Actor
Leonard Bernstein – American Composer, Pianist, Conductor
Dame Margot Fonteyne – Prima Ballerina, Royal Ballet, London, England
Rudolf Nureyev – Russian Dancer, Film Actor
Christopher Reeve – Actor, Director, Writer
Superman/Clark Kent in four films from 1978 to 1987.
In 1995 Reeve was rendered a quadriplegic during an equestrian competition and was confined to a wheelchair for the remainder of his life.
AIS was partly responsible for the amazing recovery he achieved in getting feeling and some movement back in his fingers and toes shortly before his death in 2004.
It was strongly believed he would have eventually regained more. His unprecedented healing and progress were the result of intense daily Active Isolated Stretching therapy.
Professional Teams That Use AIS as an Integral Part of Training
Chicago Bulls
Baltimore Orioles
New York Knicks
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