You should assume the kneeling position as illustrated. You partner kneels to one side of you as shown, and places his or her left hand on the base of your spine, with the right hand towards your middle/upper back. Pressure is gently applied through both hands. The stretch should be experienced along the length of the spine.

Lie completely flat on the floor, with your lower back and shoulders pressed firmly into the ground. Cross your right foot over your left thigh just above the knee as shown. Your partner should position him- or herself over you as illustrated and place his or her right hand on your left hip and the left hand the inside of your right knee. Pressure is gently applied to both hip and knee to ease the right knee closer to the floor, whilst the left hip is kept pressured firmly into the ground. The stretch will be experienced along the inside of the crossed leg and the groin. Repeat on the opposite side.

Lie completely flat on the floor , with your lower back and shoulders pressed firmly into the floor. Your partner sits to one side of you as shown and takes hold of your left leg at the back of the ankle and just above the knee to keep the leg fully extended. He or  she gently raises the leg towards the trunk a far as possible, making sure that your hips do not leave the floor. The stretch will be experienced along the back of the raised leg. Repeat on the opposite side.

Lie completely flat on the floor , with your lower back and shoulders pressed firmly into the floor. Your partner kneels to one side of you as illustrated and places his or her left hand on your right thigh just above the knee. The partner places his or her right hand just above the back of your left knee. Pressure is gently applied by your partner through both hands to keep your right thigh down against the floor, whilst the left thigh is eased towards your chest. The exercise is repeated on the opposite side.

Sit tall with good posture on a stool or a chair with no arms. Hold both of your arms out to the side as shown. Your partner then stands directly behind you and places his or her hands around the front of your upper arms, above the elbow joint. He or she gently eases your arms backwards. You will experience the stretch across the front of your chest and shoulders. For variety, experiment with the arms at different angles above the vertical.

A Modified PNF Technique

Partners are invariably necessary when performing PNF stretching exercises, although it is possible to use immovable objects in certain instance. ?However, if you do have the help of a knowledgeable partner, you may like to try this modified PNF technique.

In each exercise, you will be required to exert force (or push) against your partner. He or she will resist this. Each push should last for ten seconds, you should relax fully whilst your partner eases your limb further into the stretch position for a further ten seconds. This process should be repeated three times- push for ten seconds, ease for ten seconds, push for ten seconds and so on.

As with the previous sequence of partner stretches, both subject and partner should read all the instructions for each exercise carefully before attempting any of the stretches.

Assume the position as in the partner hamstring stretch. Your partner should also assume the position as described in that exercise. He or she should ask your subject to press firmly against his or her right hand for ten seconds by strongly contracting your hamstring muscles. The partner resists this movement through firm pressure so that your leg does not move. After ten seconds, your partner instructs you to relax completely and then tries to ease your le closer towards your chest until a furthermost position is reached and holds this for ten seconds. From this new position, your partner instructs you to push against him or her again, repeating the process a total of three times. The same sequence of movements is then performed on the opposite legs.

You and your partner should assume the positions described in the partner hip and thigh stretch. Your partner asks you to push against both of his or her ands for ten seconds. He or she resists this movement through firm pressure so that neither of your legs move. After ten seconds, your partner instruct you to relax completely and tries to ease your raised leg closer to your thigh, whilst easing your extended leg flat against the floor. Your partner should ensure that your spine does not arch, but stays in contact with the floor at all times. Having reached a new furthermost position, your partner instructs you to push against his  or her hands gain, and you repeat the sequence as before a total of three times. The exercise is repeated on the opposite leg.

Lie flat with your hips, shoulders and spine pressed firmly into the floor. Bend your knees to approximately right angles, place the soles of your feet together and allow your knees to ease out to the side, Your partner kneels in front of you and places his or her hands on the inside of your thighs just above your knees. He or she instructs you to press against his or her hands to try and move your knees upwards for ten seconds. Your partner should resist this  movement so that your knees do not move. After ten seconds, your partner instructs you to relax completely and then tries to ease your knees closer to the floor by gently applying pressure through his or her hands. After ten seconds, repeat. Perform the whole sequence a total of three times.

Lie face down with your hips and shoulders pressed firmly into the floor. Your partner squats over you as illustrated, pressing his or her left hand firmly against your right hip and holding your right leg under the front of your right thigh with his or her right hand, s that it is off the floor as much as possible. Your partner instructs you to press against his or her right hand whilst he or she resists this movement for ten seconds. Your partner then asks you to relax completely whilst he or she tries to ease your thigh further towards him or her without letting your hips come off the floor. After ten seconds, repeat. Perform the whole sequence a total of three times with each leg.

Both you and your partner assume the positions described in the partner chest stretch (Fig 87). He or she instructs you to push against his or her hands to try and bring your arms forward for ten seconds. You r partner resists this movement and after ten seconds instructs you to relax as he or she eases your arms further backwards for ten seconds, ensuring that your pine stays long throughout the movement. Repeat the sequence three times. 

These are just a representative sample of how you might introduce a modified PNF technique easily and safely into your stretching programmes. As with the partner exercises given earlier, it is worthwhile experimenting with other exercise to see whether they lend themselves to the same simple modified technique. You must, however, be careful and you should both discuss each stretch and exercise position before you attempt it.