Chris Frederick has been a physical therapist (physiotherapist) since 1989, specializing in orthopedics, sports medicine, and fascia flexibility training. He has worked alongside Ann Frederick treating professional athletes and has special expertise working with professional dancers. Formerly a professional dancer, and practitioner of qigong and tai chi for many decades, Chris brings both science, medicine and art to his practice and teaching. He has authored chapters and other content for 8 books, the majority about fascia.
Chris' wife and working partner, Ann Frederick grew up in her mother’s dance school progressing from student, to professional dancer, dance teacher and choreographer. Realizing potential in the public need for optimal flexibility, Ann initially had success with the public developing her initial version of group and assisted stretching. Desiring to know more about the science of stretching and the human body, she attended Arizona State University to learn more about human movement and to do research comparing her technique to traditional stretching. She finished her thesis in 1997, with statistically significant outcomes that greatly supported her methods. Having continued success developing her technique with hundreds of collegiate and Olympic athletes culminated in her working as a flexibility coach for the 1996 Mens Olympic Wrestling team. Soon after graduation, she was sought out by professional athletes from the NFL and other leagues, with the public seeking her out after local media appearances. Today, she is Director of the Stretch to Win Institute certifying students in Frederick Stretch Therapy and training her teaching staff to carry on her legacy.
Together the Fredericks have worked with 3 Super Bowl teams, multiple Hall of Famers and starters from many teams in the NFL from 1996 - 2018. They co-authored 4 popular books on their method, titled Stretch to Win and Fascial Stretch Therapy, both now in their 2nd editions. Ann and Chris are subject matter experts on stretching and flexibility for NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine), producing the Stretching and Flexibility Coach certification program for them. Recognized as global leaders in the stretching and flexibility industry, the Fredericks have experience presenting at multiple international conferences for over 30 years. They have been lead instructors teaching their method at monthly live workshops since 1999. While athletes have known Ann’s company and method as Stretch to Win® in the past, the technique was then called Fascial Stretch Therapy for years and is now known as Frederick Stretch Therapy® or simply FST.
To stretch or not to stretch?
by Chris Frederick A great deal of controversy was generated by an article about the effects of stretching before and after exercising. This article appeared in August of 2002 in a British Medical Journal (1). So much controversy, indeed, that the esteemed editor of the highly regarded Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapy, Leon Chaitow…