Relax Your Body With Power Stretch’s Kika Method

Are stretching exercises the next fitness fad? Are you in pain while simply touching your fingertips to your toes? Maybe your stretch years surpass your actual age.

Hakika DuBose, Kika for short, is a former actor and dancer who opened Power Stretch Studios in May 2011 to address the gap in the exercise market: facilities devoted to relaxing bundled muscles of the tired and toned — stretching. In addition to the Manhattan studio, Power Stretch Studios has three locations in New Jersey and one in Florida.

DuBose began teaching clients how to use stretching as a tool for freedom, helping them become more flexible by realizing the power of releasing tension in the body. She created a platform for the idea of passive stretching and provided scientific proof showing the benefits of complete relaxation while stretching.

Creating The KIKA Method of assisted stretching, DuBose offers three types of solutions that work for men, women and athletes. DuBose, along with the other stretch coaches, teach your body how to release and let go while receiving a gentle, deep stretch.

If you have pain in a specific muscle group, sessions will focus on releasing tension in that area and elongating the muscle. Each session is customized to the individual client to help erase years of stress, tension and immobility. To relax the muscles, coaches work one on one with clients in sessions that are part massage, part chiropractic and part dancer’s warm-up. Most clients gain at least 2.5 inches of flexibility and tension relief, as measurement is taken before and after the first session. The stretching programs are meant simply to supplement a workout, not replace. Power Stretch Studio’s aim is not to just increase flexibility but also reduce tension.

DuBose targets the sedentary souls slouched over at their computers and fitness enthusiasts who view pre- and post-workout stretching as unnecessary.

“Whether you work out or don’t work out, your muscles contract throughout the day,” said DuBose. “That keeps happening over time and puts pressure on your nerves and bones. People have nagging pain and they can’t figure out how to get rid of it, so they just live with it. It’s even worse for people who do work out because when they stretch all that effort simply creates more contracting and more tension. People who are in pain have tried everything and they’re still in pain. Then they come to us and we’re like, ‘That isn’t pain; that’s tension.”

Customers can expect to burn 125 calories for a 45-minute session, which costs $80 or $100 while an hour session is $90, or $120 in Manhattan.