The StretchofNorman story.
Getting active may start with the most basic of activities â stretching. Diana Nieto bought a Groupon a few years back and got hooked. âIt made me feel so good, and I really can tell that my flexibility is better,â Nieto said. âI feel like as we age, thatâs got to be very important.â Stretch of Norman trainer Jaime Perez works with Nieto, and the two have developed a long-term professional relationship as heâs helped her improve her flexibility and stay active. âI will do so as long as I can,â she said. âYou think youâll do these things at home, but I donât and I canât stretch the way theyâre stretching me.â Brothers Dean and Ty Lindsey became involved in facilitated stretching and liked the results. The brothers were high school athletes at Noble but, like most of us, slowed down with age. Dean was more active than most, however, working as a CDT/self-defense instructor for the Oklahoma City Police Dept. for 28 years. âWhen I left OCPD, I loved what I did, but now we have taken that training to a new level making it public.â Dean said. The new facility is in Brookhaven Village at 36th Avenue and Robinson Street on the second floor of the Professional Center, Suite 268. âMovement is the key to life,â Dean said. âThe better you move, the better you feel. The better you feel, the more you can do.â In a way, the Lindsey brothers were following in their fatherâs footsteps. Floyd Lindsey, Jr. owned Lindsey Tire and Retread with stores in Norman, Purcell and Newcastle, after humble beginnings started out of a barn. âWe were quite the fixture in this area throughout the 70s and 80s,â Dean said. âWe learned our business ethics from our father.â Dean said he loves being a part of the Norman business community again. âWe had a great childhood,â he said. âItâs wonderful to be home, doing these things weâre doing now.â As someone whose career was focused on fitness, heâs also happy in a job he believes helps athletes and regular folks alike reach peak performance to do the things they love. Stretching is basic but vital, so sessions can benefit people of all activity and fitness levels, he said. âSome athletes go with the stretching for the performance element to enhance what they do, but thereâs some people who just want to go for a walk in the park without feeling pain,â Dean said. âSay youâve got a guy who played sports in high school. In his 20s he played softball with the guys or golf or frisbee, but by the time heâs in his 40s, you see that guy getting out of a chair and he says, âoh, Iâm getting old,â and itâs not that at all.â Dean said the reduced use of muscles and sitting in confined spaces like an office cubical or a car for long periods of time mean muscles arenât moving through normal range of motion with enough frequency. âYouâre at that desk for 8 hours then you walk out and get in a car and then you drive home and sit on the couch and watch TV,â he said. That sedentary lifestyle comes with cumulative detrimental effects, and once it gets harder to get out of the chair, people become less inclined toward activity. âFor every single thing in the world thereâs a counter to it,â Dean said. âIf weâre not moving enough, the answer is we need to move more, but if youâve lived that sedentary lifestyle, itâs going to take effort to get past that.â Often when people start to move again, everything hurts. âWhat we do here is like a prep to movement and doing things,â he said. âEverybodyâs got their own goals. Our job is to help them move toward those goals.â Clients are evaluated first, including a medical screening. âEverything we do is spine neutral so weâre not going to hurt your back or your neck,â Dean said. âAll of our stretches are within the normal range of motion of the joint. In a very natural way, weâre going to stretch you through all these positions. Stretching invigorates you. The client finds this as a getaway time where they can relax,â Dean said. â If a person is experiencing pain, we recommend you see a doctor. Stretching wonât cause pain. Muscular discomfort from stretching is something quite different. The trainer is doing all the work so the client can relax as muscles are put through the stretches. If you donât exercise your muscles, they canât perform to their optimum,â Dean said. âWhat we find is when people feel better they do more.â Athletes like the stretching because they feel it helps them play better. âIn sports, everyone wants that competitive edge,â Dean said. âWe try to give people the maximum they can do in their range of motion. I stretched a fireman a couple of weeks ago, and he could not believe how light he felt on his feet because heâd never had his hips stretched like that.â Trainers are available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday by appointment and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. by appointment on Saturday. âEverybodyâs different, but what you do physically affects you mentally,â Dean said. âThe bottom line is, itâs exercise. Fitness-Wellness-Sports is what we do.â Dean believes exercise is the best stress reliever available. âWhen youâre getting assisted stretching, youâre getting something you canât do by yourself.â Find Stretch of Norman Brookhaven Village Professional Center 3700 W. Robinson, Suite 268 405-421-2794
