Stretching

The American fitness boom was just starting, and the millions of people who started working out were discovering the importance of flexibility in their fitness programs. After several years of exercising and stretching with Jean and a small group of friends, Bob gradually developed a method of stretching that could be taught to anyone. Soon he was teaching his technique to others. He began with professional sports teams: the Denver Broncos, the California (now Anaheim) Angels, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the New York Jets. He also worked with college teams at Nebraska, UC Berkeley, Washington State, and Southern Methodist University, as well as other amateur and Olympic athletes in a variety of sports. He traveled around the country for years, teaching stretching to people at sports medicine clinics, athletic clubs, and running camps.

In the 1980s, Bob was a serious mountain runner and road biker. For ten years in a row he ran the Catalina Island Marathon in southern California, the 18-mile Imogene Pass run in Telluride, Colorado (which goes up over a 13,000-foot-high ridge), and the Pike's Peak Marathon. These days Bob spends most of his workout time on a mountain bike and hiking in the mountains above his house in Colorado, often going for 3-5 hour bike rides in the mountains, with occasional trips to Nevada. Though Bob works out a lot, he knows that training like this is not necessary for the average person to be fit. Through his travels, lectures, and workshops, he's kept in constant touch with people in all degrees of physical condition.

Jean Anderson has a B.A. in art from California State University at Long Beach. She began running and cycling (and stretching) with Bob in 1970. She developed a system of shooting photos of Bob doing the stretches, then making clear ink drawings of each stretch position. Jean was photographer, illustrator, typesetter, and editor of the first homemade edition of Stretching. These days she oversees Stretching Inc.'s mail-order business, and hikes and cycles to stay in shape.