Transcript

Why Most Stretching Doesn’t Work — The Science of Smarter Yoga with Lara Heimann

From Collector Nation · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 24 min · 4,440 words · 58 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Why Most Stretching Doesn’t Work — The Science of Smarter Yoga with Lara Heimann", an episode of Collector Nation published January 21, 2026 (24 min, about 4,440 words). It mentions 6 people, works and ideas, including Laura Hyman, Lit Yoga, Vibe Science, Chris Hansen, Fitbod.

What this episode is about

Lara Heimann discusses the misconceptions surrounding effective stretching and movement practices, emphasizing that the body's response is governed by physical principles. She advocates for understanding anatomy and provides insights on how even short bursts of movement can facilitate physical and emotional well-being, encouraging individuals to embrace a more flexible approach to their movement routines.

Key takeaways

  • Movement doesn't need an hour; even 20 minutes can ignite the body’s natural energy flow.
  • Newton wasn't just about gravity; his laws apply to your couch potato habits too—get moving!
  • Yoga isn’t just for bendy people; it’s an open invitation to engage with your own body awareness.
  • Breaking the yoga stigma: It’s less about how you look and more about how you feel inside.
  • Men in yoga? It’s like finding unicorns—our studio boasts 20% male clientele, a rarity in the fitness world!

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Chris Hansen, Newton's law, Laura Hyman, Lit Yoga
  2. – 10:00: Chris Hansen
  3. – 15:00: Fitbod
  4. – 24:26: Lit Yoga

Notable quotes from "Why Most Stretching Doesn’t Work — The Science of Smarter Yoga with Lara Heimann"

  • Stimulus to get it going. You don't have to be a physical therapist to understand these things. In my teacher training, I go through it and people come out whether they've been…
    about Laura Hyman · at
  • Hey, I'm ready to get lit. That's what I'm talking about. I'm kind of already lit, but really ready to get ready. I got Laura Hyman. She is the founder of Lit Yoga. What's up, Lit?
    about Lit Yoga · at
  • Why it doesn't stick. For me, it's always been about keeping things simple and sustainable. That's why I've been using FitBod. I like that I don't have to overthink my workouts…
    about Fitbod · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Laura Hyman — Person · Main guest · 1 mention · first at
    Primary interview subject explaining her Lit Yoga methodology, blending yoga with physical therapy and neuroscience to make movement more inclusive and functional.
  • Chris Hansen — Person · In-studio co-host / guest contributor · 3 mentions · first at
    Acts as an in-studio conversational partner to Ryan, adding perspective on men in yoga/Pilates, athlete adoption, and the ego/humility aspect of mobility practices.
    Hello and welcome to Vibe Science special edition here because I got Chris Hansen in the studio. What's up, Chris?

Companies & orgs

Products & tech

  • Fitbod — Product · advertised product · 2 mentions · first at
    FitBod is a fitness app that helps users create personalized workout plans.

Concepts & topics

  • Newton's law — Concept · 2 mentions · first at
    Needs to look like this or has to be for an hour. And the body is really responds to physics. It's like Newton's law.

Media & podcasts

  • Vibe Science — Media · 1 mention · first at
    This is Vibe Science, a top 100 wellness podcast presented by the Radcast Network. Breaking wellness barriers and making health truly personal. Here's your host, Ryan Alfred.

Full transcript with timestamps

Sometimes that time is the biggest hindrance for people. They think if I'm going to have a movement practice, it needs to look like this or has to be for an hour. And the body is really responds to physics. It's like Newton's law. Things at rest want to stay at rest. And then things in motion want to stay in motion. And you have to just provide a stimulus to get it going. You don't have to be a physical therapist to understand these things. In my teacher training, I go through it and people come out whether they've been scared about learning anatomy or resistant to it and they end up loving it. We want to feel at home in our bodies. And the best way to do that, whether you're teaching or practicing it, is understanding it.

This is Vibe Science, a top 100 wellness podcast presented by the Radcast Network. Breaking wellness barriers and making health truly personal. Here's your host, Ryan Alfred. Hello and welcome to Vibe Science special edition here because I got Chris Hansen in the studio. What's up, Chris?

What's up, brother? Hey, man. Good to be here. Mind, body, and energy. I'm just feeling the energy in the room.

We got a good vibe going. I know. About to get even better. Hey, I'm ready to get lit. That's what I'm talking about. I'm kind of already lit, but really ready to get ready. I got Laura Hyman. She is the founder of Lit Yoga. What's up, Lit? Yay. I love it. I should just be called Lit now. Thank you.

I know. Lit Laura. That's I'm telling you, I like to give I give pet names to all my guests. I think like that. That's what I do. I'm a marketer.

Yeah. So, I like I'm lit Laura. I want everybody to feel lit up. So, when they see me, when they move with me, I love it. Lit. Laura, thank you so much for Chris.

Yeah, it's we're excited. I mean, it's all about movement, right? But Chris and I had this exact conversation on the ride over this morning talking about like just getting it in like 20 minutes like movement like you know we're talking about resistance training but just getting the body moving in some way. I know that's part of your philosophy right?

Absolutely. And and I think sometimes that time is the biggest kind of hindrance for people. You know, they think if I'm going to have a movement practice, it needs to look like this or has to be for an hour. And you know, the body is really responds to physics. It's like Newton's law. Things at rest want to stay at rest. And then things in motion want to stay in motion and and you have to just provide a stimulus to get it going. So you can have your own um dialogue or negotiation and just say, "Let's let's just get on the mat or get at the gym or whatever it is." and um give myself 20 minutes. And often what people find is once they get moving, all the beautiful things that happen with movement in every system on our body makes us feel lit up and we want to keep doing it. But it's that initial drag to to get it. And that's why we, you know, when you do it regularly, it's it's really encoded. You know, we have that

feedback loop and we know even on our days where we feel sluggish, we already know the outcome of movement. It's been, you know, wired in us, baked in us, so we we just show up anyway.

Laura, I'd like to take today to maybe break the stigma of yoga a little bit. Even for myself,

I'm a big guy. Uh, so they say, I'm 6'5, 270. So, Oh, yeah. A big dude. It's a big boy.

Yoga and me are like oil and water. Uh, you know, it's like, and I'm Look, I'm athletic. I'm just not that I'm like I work out five days a week. Uh, you know, I'm in decent shape for my age, but man, I fought the yoga thing. I just But I I'm drawn to what I know it would do well for me.

But I don't know. How do we break that stigma? I understand that so much, Ryan. And that is something from a marketing standpoint we really struggle with because our style of yoga is not what you would picture what you're probably envisioning about yoga. Lots of bindy type of things. Um that's where I brought my physical therapy and my neuroscience background and looked at the way yoga was being practiced and realized it wasn't as inclusive as it was really um purporting to be wanting to be. And that's why so many women were drawn to it and many men shied away from it because they had this thing like I can't even bend over and touch my toes.

But yoga really um the stigma to break is the idea that it looks a certain way. All yoga really is in this mass umbrella is the um invitation to raise awareness and consciousness. And there's no better way to do that than through the vehicle of your body. You know the sensations when you're lifting weights, when you're running, when you're biking, you you are really tuned in or we hope that's what you're tuned in. And yoga is just asking you to do that to the like in degree so that you're paying attention and truly embodied. Embodied just means that you're in the present moment really because our body is always present. Our mind is rarely present. And so it's a way of using what is already we already know to be true that our body is present. Why don't we go in through the body and pay more attention? So, what I would say is pick a yoga class or pick a like do lit for instance. We have I'm

really proud to say that when I had a studio 20% of our clientele were men, which is very it's usually about 2% in most and it's because we brought in so much more of the functional movement um of the priming of the body for the movements. You're not just coming in like from your car and starting to go through big movement patterns. You're really starting we we call it the reset. It has a very um specific blueprint and that was really based on my physical therapy. Um I worked with very involved neurologically impaired clients who needed to just repattern movement. They needed to get their motor function back. We went we went back to the what we all went through in our developmental stages in in wiring movement. That's where our brain grew and that's where our postural muscles, our deep core muscles really became online. So we went from a floppy baby to being bipedal. Well, when we get on the

ground, we have so much more support. And for a big guy like you, um, getting on the ground and doing this kind of primer before you start doing bigger movement patterns is setting up your your system, your brain and your joints, um, and the muscle and fashcia, everything involved to be able to acquire kind of that those ranges of motion that might not have originally been available to you.

Chris, I know you you're a yoga guy, right? Are you you do yoga? A little yoga. Yeah, yoga. yoga this morning. I put it on Instagram. You can watch on my story.

Yeah. You know, you know, to do a downward dog right in the middle of the airport.

Yeah. I don't know about the middle of the airport, but no, yoga. I I love this conversation because I mean, we were talking about this a little bit even earlier, but the male ego with things like yoga, like even I've gotten into Pilates and reformer this past year. I would have gotten into none of these things if it wasn't for women. like it was always an imitation from a girl and now I don't do yoga as much just because I don't get as much of a workout but the Pilates reformer example I'm one out of 12 I'm the only man in there

and then there might be which is funny there may and the same as yoga classes it'll be me and then say like a professional Dolphins football player

and that's what I think is funny when that sold me when I see professional athletes these big big dudes Yeah.

Doing this stuff where I think, yeah, these guys have millions of dollars of training facilities and in the offseason they're doing this. That tells me something like these guys know their body and mechanics better than I do. So, I I'm a huge believer and I actually talked to some friends with studios in the last two weeks saying, "How do we get more men to come in?" And I think I've never thought one the male ego for sure I know. But two, the part I didn't think is what you said is just the mobility aspect. The we want to try and if we're not good, we say, "Well, this. I'm going to go back to doing squats." You know,

people, men in general, we don't like the weak phase before you gain the strength and get strong.

We need the patience to get through. It's humbling. And I think, yeah, I always tell people, embrace that. You know, I' I work with professional athletes and

and the moves that we do are again they um I think you would really like it. I think you would find it incredibly challenging.

And you know, when I created this method, I was like, I want to have the most efficient movement experience possible. And that would be I want to include mobility in many directions, many planes, lots of getting up and down, getting on my hands, inverting, um getting on my hands, strengthening the shoulder girdle in different ways, two hands, one hand, all kinds of things. Um and I wanted to raise my heart rate. I didn't want to have to do yoga and then feel like, okay, now I got to go for a run because, you know, that's two hours of your day and most people don't have that. Um, and then I wanted the mental, you know, just the mental cleansing that it automatically gives you too.

So, and it's it's, you know, to your point, like working with athletes, um, they they do enjoy that humbling thing because they have so much um, usually success in other ways. So, it's actually nice. But for just a person who's not a professional athlete, they don't necessarily like the humbling, you know, they want to feel most of us want to feel successful at what we're doing. You don't have to be a physical therapist to understand these things. And so in my teacher training, I go through it and people come out whether they've been scared about learning anatomy or um you know resistant to it and they end up loving it. And that's the thing is that we want to feel at home in our bodies.

And the best way to do that whether you're teaching or practicing it is understanding it. And that's really the magic is like how do we age well? Well, we age well by moving well. Every new year, it's like everyone's trying to completely reinvent their fitness routine overnight. And that's usually why it doesn't stick. For me, it's always been about keeping things simple and sustainable. That's why I've been using FitBod. I like that I don't have to overthink my workouts anymore. I open the app, it already knows what I train last, what needs recovery, how much time I have, and what equipment I'm working out with. It just builds the workout for me. No planning, no guesswork.

Regardless of what gym equipment I have around me, FitBot adjusts on the fly. The workouts are challenging but smart. I'm not overly sore. I'm not bored. And I'm way more consistent than I used to be. If your goal this year is just to work out more consistently with no burnout, FitBod makes that way easier. Level up your workout in the new year. Join FitBod today and get your personalized workout plan. Get 25% off your subscription or try the app free for 7 days at fitbod.me/ me/vibe. That's fitbod.me/vibe.

Laura, what informed your approach? I mean, I've heard, you know, the the neuro part of it, different things. Uh, you know, I guess we could start from the beginning. You obviously have a lot of history here, but what forms sort of your the lit approach with talking with lit Laura?

Yeah. Here about uh yoga. Well, I think I I think having taught and practiced a more traditional venyasa style was important because that was like, you know, I I like many others was like, okay, yoga is this kind of codified, you know, practice and it's not meant to be changed. It's blah blah blah. So I practiced that way and then by day I was you know had my physical therapy hat on and what I started to notice is when I started to bring more of my physical therapy lens into observing people when I was teaching them it was that you're benefiting mo from movement period right so whether or not they were you know in in in en in coding or practicing with any kind of biomechanical awareness they were you But it still feels good to move. But what I was noticing is people were coming in like having maybe 8 hours at a desk driving there and they're coming in with their existing posture and energy. And while that you know is

molded and remolded a little bit in the practice um the wiring is still there. So, in other words, if you're in a rounded position during the day and then you're I'm you come to yoga and I say lift your arms up, you're going to do that automatically from the place that's the easiest to do it from. So, and then usually, especially with men, um, but women too, will move a lot from the rib cage. So, to get that shoulder flexion. So they're doing it they're they're they're actually executing the the movements but they're not doing it in the in they're doing it in their just habitual way. So, I started noticing that and then I was working with my stroke patients and doing all this stuff on the ground and they were making incredible gains, you know, from the weightbearing, from this rewiring of the movement habits. And I and I just started to wonder like, well, if they're doing they're making such great strides,

what would it be like here? I am able-bodied if I started just to do this a little bit prior to that movement and see what would happen. So I started doing that in my own practice and within a month I practice changed. It was more balanced. It was stronger. It was more I was really accessing those deeper stabilizing muscles because I primed them and prepared them. And it's not just the muscles but it's the brain's connection to them. So the brain it the brain body connection you know we talk about mindbody connection. The brain body connection is essential. And so I that's really where I saw like here's a gap. People are not they're coming and moving but they're not taking away better movement habits. They're just reinforcing their existing movement habits. So if we just simply kind of rearranged the configuration of this codification, what would that look like?

So I started teaching it and people would say this. I mean at the time it was so strange to start on the ground like now many more people are doing that but this was over 15 years ago and starting on the ground doing some bridge work doing some core um work doing some work on the hands quadriped and you know with one arm and going into dolphin which is on your forearms like a down dog to really stimulate the shoulder girdle um to prepare it and all of that changed people's practice and they were just like everybody should be doing this and That's where I started to think maybe I need to share this in a bigger way.

Laura, what's happening when we stretch, the stretching that happens in yoga? Like talk to me like the physiology of that a little bit. Let's dork out a little bit because I know what it feels like and I know having more movement that that that comes with those stretches, but maybe give me a little I don't know science on that.

Sure. And this is this is another way I'm different is like I don't I don't do kind of static long stretches. I don't do stretches where you're on the ground much at all because it's not really functional. You don't have a base of support

and that is very different from like the, you know, traditional yoga like the last 20 minutes you're on the ground doing all these sport bolts. And I was like this is kind of dumb. Um,

so you know, it's critical thinking. So when you're stretching, I mean, stretching. So to me, dynamic stretching is the best. And that's really what we're doing when we're moving. And it's just the the the um stretching component comes when your biomechanics are sound. So to stretch, stretching is basically you have two bones that come together. that's a joint and they're moving and then the tissues around them um move with that allow that movement or they don't allow that movement and that's when it feels like you you you know you're tight. So you first need to go like well how do I move the joint better and so that the tissues surrounding it have more suppleness and you know freedom and the physiology is that you when you load something so that's why I want to do these most of these standing or weightbearing because I'm getting this ground reaction force from the floor through my bones and tissues and

that that automatically creates this energy this charge And that charge can be used to help the the tissues stretch more. So a passive stretch, you're not doing that as much. Um especially if you're on the ground, but if you're pulling on the tissue with some dynamic movement that is getting you into a deeper range, not necessarily in range, you're mobilizing the joint. you're pulling on that tissue and that tissue starts to in a balanced way starts to um get heated and get some of that charge from the floor and then it starts to become more pliable. It becomes more hydrated. Movement hydrates everything. It hydrates our joints, the synenovial joints, but also hydrates that surrounding tissue which is the fashcia. Now fashcia is connective tissue. And if you think of like a mummy, it's it's wrapping everything. It wraps around our muscles, our bones, our soft tissues like our ligaments and the

joint capsule. It wraps around our organs. It's what's holding us together essentially. So what we're really

The glue Yeah. It's the glue. What we're really stretching is that fashca. And fashcia at that physiological level, it responds to a stretch when you have a stabilizing force and then you have some kind of pull on that stabilizing force. If you think about somebody, you know, if we were playing tugofwar, I can produce force if you're pulling against me, but if I just pull on it and you don't pull against there, there's there's no con there's no um stabilizing force and that wouldn't change. So, it's the elastic component of our of our soft tissue, including um the connective tissue and fascia that can get more stretch as long as we have a stabilizing force. And that's why that bio the biomechanics are sound. So if you collapse into a joint, you're going to feel things stretching. If I fold it over and I had my legs straight out in front of me sitting on the ground, I'm going to feel my back fascia and it will

get a stretch. And that can be really satisfying, but that's temporary. It doesn't create a lasting change in that connective tissue. And that's a lot to do with the nervous system. the nervous system is is saying, "Hey, you're getting to an inrange. Hey, you're getting to a stretch." So, what we're really doing is both biomechanical, physiological, but also all of that is dictating the nervous system. And as we start to move, our nervous system starts to feel safer because we have a stabilizing counter force and then it allows more of that stretch to occur.

Does that make sense? And that becomes that that stays with you versus that temporary relief that you feel when you just do like a long static stretch without a countering um stabilizing force.

I put it this way, yoga almost allows those voices to get louder for me to have the conversation to fight back.

It's like same as the gym. You have to put yourself in uncomfortability to even

have that, oh, you should give up. No, dude. Keep put And it's like, and I know Huberman's talked about this with whatever part of our brain, right? When you do hard stuff, it gets stronger.

I look at it the same with this. It's like getting over that hump. It's it's that mental brain exercise equal to physical.

Yeah. That I might not get if I'm throwing up dumbbells with Ryan and we're like, "Yeah, dude. Look at look how my veins look huge right now."

Right. I mean, they serve different purposes, right? And but at the end of the day to really um alter our nervous system and the way that we operate in the world um we have to tune in. We have to we have to recognize um our patterns, you know, and so we can change our movement patterns, but we can also change the way we speak to ourselves, the way we speak to others, the the resilience um that we all need. It's it's really it's beautiful. And that's why I am so lit up about it. you know, I'm really um I've been doing this for 30 years and I wake up every day and it I feel I'm so excited to share it and to practice it myself with, you know, practice it myself because I know how much it just improves life's existence.

Lit Laura, where can everybody learn more about what you're doing, the practice and everything?

The best way to go to find more is is go to our website. It's lit yoga.com and there's all kinds of information. There's a blog on there with a lot of great um we have a PT corner so we uh talk about all kinds of ways to avoid injury or if you have an injury do this or there's also spiritual stuff in there. We have a podcast um it's called redefining movement and uh then the online platform is there's a a link I'm going to share with you. You can probably put it in your show notes for everybody that's listening that wants to give this a try. We're I'm offering you a special deal. five weeks for $5 and um the code is move better and I would just recommend you know coming on and it's called the lit daily it's very robust um has so much content uh we have a toggle at the top that's beginner intermediate advanced don't look at that as a label of you look at as a understanding of what to expect in that class so beginner

is going to be going a little bit slower and it's really good to do if this is new because you need that time to process when something feels too fast. It's not fast for the sake of fast. It's the coordination that you develop that you can move with, you know, more agility and um but it's, you know, so start wherever you feel like. We we send you emails with lots of recommendations of like how to get started. We have a start here series. We have a lynch a lit launchpad series. Those are all great ways to kind of get to know the this methodology.

Love it. Appreciate the offer. We'll have that in the show notes. And hey, I want to get lit.

Stay lit. Get lit. All right. I'm holding you to it. Awesome, Laura. We really appreciate you coming on and sharing your knowledge and wisdom with our audience. And uh thank you so much.

Thank you, Ryan, Chris. This is such a pleasure. Thanks, Laura. Hey guys, you know where to find us, vibescience.com. You can find links to all the podcasts, all the highlight clips, links to Laura's generous offer. It's lit. Chris, final words. Say,

I already said it, everybody. Get lit, stay lit with lit, Lara. We're always taking you to your highest vibes here. It's mind, body, energy. We'll see you next time on Five Science.

The content discussed on this show is provided for reference and educational purposes. The content is not an attempt to practice medicine or provide specific medical advice. Always consult your personal physician for medical advice and proper diagnosis.

Thanks for listening. This is Vibescience. To learn more or watch full episodes, visit vibesciencepodcast.com. Here's to discovering your highest vibe.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Why Most Stretching Doesn’t Work — The Science of Smarter Yoga with Lara Heimann"?

Ryan Alfred (Host), Laura Heimann (Guest), Chris Hansen (Host).

What is "Why Most Stretching Doesn’t Work — The Science of Smarter Yoga with Lara Heimann" about?

Lara Heimann discusses the misconceptions surrounding effective stretching and movement practices, emphasizing that the body's response is governed by physical principles. She advocates for understanding anatomy and provides insights on how even short bursts of movement can facilitate physical and emotional well-being, encouraging individuals to embrace a more flexible approach to their movement…

What is mentioned in this Collector Nation episode?

6 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Laura Hyman, Lit Yoga, Vibe Science, Chris Hansen, Fitbod, Newton's law. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Why Most Stretching Doesn’t Work — The Science of Smarter Yoga with Lara Heimann"?

The episode runs 24 min; the transcript is about 4,440 words in 58 timestamped sections.

More from Collector Nation

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.