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- Timothy Lucas
- January 6, 2021
- 8:08 pm
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Introduction of TK Stretching and All Things Fascia
What is TK Stretching? What is Fascial Stretch Therapy? What is Fascia? Those reading may not know who we are or what FST is. Possibly never heard of Fascia. Never experienced FST or even heard of it. Fair enough, we didn’t either until it changed our life’s journey forever. Let us turn back the wheel of time and connect the dots to how this whole story came about. Perhaps after reading this, one might be intrigued and motivated to take a chance with their own life.
Fascia is one word for our connective tissue system which covers us everywhere from head to toe, skin to the bone; and penetrates throughout all of our cells and tissues. There can not be anything more significant than this for your mobility and flexibility. Healthy circulation in your muscles, joints, arteries, veins, brain & spinal cord is largely dependent on the optimal flexibility of your fascia.
Fascial Stretch Therapy (FST) is an assisted stretching technique that is performed by a Certified Fascial Stretch Therapist. The stretching takes place on a treatment table with comfortable straps to stabilize the part of the body not being worked on. This technique uses combinations of PNF (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation) as well as traction. Pain is never allowed and considered a negative response. We combine different techniques from the joint capsules in waves of movements targeting multiple angles to release, relax, and stretch the tissues and fibers.
What makes FST so unique?
To name a few, it is appropriate for all ages, from children to the elderly population, anyone trying to get out of pain, weekend athletes to professional athletes. It has the ability to decompress your joints, where we lose close to 40% of our flexibility. Your fascial system is also a force transmitter. Making changes and unlocking the power of your fascial nets will help you perform and recover better. There is no medication or supplement that can improve or optimize your fascia.
Fascial Stretch Therapy:
* Manipulates, lengthens, re-aligns the fascia tissue.
* Pain-free.
* Increases joint space.
* Eliminates trigger points
* Improves muscle activation & relaxation.
* Improves flexibility
* Improves sleep
* Improves posture
* Prevents injuries from occurring
* Increases blood flow and circulation
* Improves mood and overall happiness
It all started in 2015 when Tim, who at the time was playing basketball professionally in Europe, reached out to Kimberly via Instagram through the ONNIT Instagram page. Seems creepy; heard that before. Seems like a long shot; maybe to others. Seems unrealistic; you’re probably right. Both were huge ONNIT supporters and fans since the time ONNIT began as a company. We like to say, “since the Alpha Brain bottles were white.” Kimberly at the time was living in Arizona. Owning her own business since age 22, Kimberly was a full-time personal trainer, Holistic health coach, and Fascial stretch therapist. She one day opens up her messages on IG to check a question from Tim, “what is Fascial Stretch Therapy, and how can you help me?” Good thing Kimberly didn’t delete that message. From that moment, life had changed forever. The communication right from the jump was amazing. We would text and Skype as much as possible. Kimberly would wake up at 4 am every morning before going to work just to Skype with Tim before he had to head out to training or practice. There was a certain connection developed that was felt right away. Kimberly knew it was real when Tim actually called her the next day before his first game! (Who calls nowadays?). If that isn’t crazy enough, during the holiday break, Kimberly flew from Arizona to England and Tim flew from Portugal to England to meet up for the very first time in person. Tim flew into a different airport than Kimberly. He landed at Gatwick Airport and then had to take a 1-hour bus drive to Heathrow where Kimberly was flying into. He waited at the airport for 6 hours until her arrival. We won’t get too mushy here but the moment we saw each other, shaking with nerves and giving each other the tightest hugs, we knew this was real forever. We spent a week during Christmas and New Year in England and Scotland. During this visit, Tim finally got to experience what this whole stretching technique is all about. Since we didn’t have access to a massage table, the only place we could stretch was the kitchen table.
This planted the seed. We spent the rest of our time being tourists. From seeing the beautiful grasslands in Scotland, eating our all-time favorite Thai Food while in Scotland, and visiting Edinburgh Castle. From seeing Big Ben to Buckingham Palace, famous Oxford Street, and walking what seemed like all of England. The movie-like vacation had to come to an end. Kimberly then flew back to Arizona while Tim made his way back to Portugal to finish out what came to be his last season playing.
This whole time, we talked about the potential the future may hold for us. We both shared the same passionate vision and when it came time to manifest everything we wanted, we did not hesitate. The first major goal we had was to get Tim certified as a Fascial Stretch Therapist, then join Kimberly in her business, and eventually take the modality to ONNIT who is located in Austin, Texas. To this day, everything we ever want begins with a thought, turns into a belief, and is executed through our actions.
Tims’s final season playing basketball ended in March 2016 as he returned to his hometown in New Jersey. In April 2016, Kimberly flew out to New Jersey to visit Tim and get the family introduction. In May 2016, Tim packed up everything he had, bought a one-way ticket, and took his bags cross country to Arizona to move in with Kimberly. Signed up for Level 1 of FST, got certified to be a personal trainer, began to work with Kimberly and we never looked back. About 5 months later, Tim sold his car to sign up for level 2 of FST. The business began to boom for us. Both getting certified in Level 3 of FST to become Fascial Stretch Specialists, opportunities began to arise. We had the unbelievable opportunity to work with players from the Arizona Cardinals. This opened Pandora’s box for us. We knew this modality combined with our vision and passion, can lead us anywhere we want to go. It may sound like a fairy tale but the underlying part of our story is the amount of energy, passion, and time we put in to make everything we want possible. Day in and Day out, as many of you already know, the work must be put in. And that is exactly what we did. We continued to study, continued to learn, continued to show up, and continued to believe in what we had. We began our business together called TK Stretching in 2016 after realizing all the success we were having.
In 2018, we had a huge change of course as we wanted to bring our work to Austin, Texas, specifically working out of the ONNIT gym. We had the opportunity to meet the whole ONNIT team prior to making the move and it just seemed like a perfect match for everyone. For those who aren’t aware, ONNIT at the time was arguably the best gym to be at so it was a complete honor to be able to share our services to the world inside their building. The number of high profile people walking through those doors would have made it nearly impossible for an opportunity not to arise. We met a plethora of professional athletes across all major sports. NFL, NBA, UFC, MLB, WWE. Businessmen and Businesswomen, actors and actresses, even CEOs of major companies. Plenty had changed but the few things that stayed consistent was our love for one another and our work ethic to show up every single day. This led to an opportunity for Tim in 2019 to work with the Super Bowl Champions Kansas City Chiefs. Although the world shifted in 2020, the work and passion continues. Blessed with more opportunities on the horizon, TK will continue to shine our light. What a movie it has been thus
If you made it to this point, we appreciate you and we encourage you to check out our website, give us a follow on Instagram, and find some of our favorite movements and stretches on our mobility blog.
Feel your intentions in your heart. Feel not what your mind tells you, but what your heart tells you. Rather than serve the fake gods of your mind, serve your heart, the real God. You will not find God in your intellect. Divine Intelligence is in the heart.