Which stretching technique involves taking the affected muscle to resistance, then having the antagonist contract toward the barrier for 5–10 seconds with an inhale, followed by relaxation and passive stretch to the new barrier?

• A. PIR
• B. Reciprocal Inhibition (RI)
• C. Active Isolated Stretching
• D. MET

Answer: (B)

This uses reciprocal inhibition to increase range of motion. When you activate the muscle opposite the one you’re stretching (the antagonist), neural signals temporarily dampen the activity of the target muscle (the agonist). That inhibition lets the affected muscle relax more fully, so you can lengthen it further into a new barrier. The sequence described—move the target muscle to its barrier, contract the antagonist against that barrier for several seconds, then relax and passively stretch to the new barrier—drives this reflex inhibition and a deeper stretch.

This is distinct from techniques that rely on the muscle being stretched producing the contraction (like postisometric relaxation) or methods that use short, isolated holds without focusing on antagonist activation (like some forms of active stretching). The key idea here is using the antagonist’s contraction to quiet the target muscle and allow a greater, safer stretch.