Stretching / Flexibility:
Quick, Effective Stretching Routines

A beginner attempting a back bridge

Should you be doing some stretching? Flexibility is an extremely important and often overlooked part of a fitness routine.

Stretching can correct imbalances in muscles that can lead to injury.

But you don’t need to spend hours upon hours stretching. Just a few minutes after you workout will give you excellent flexibility benefits.

Here are a few key points:

• Don’t stretch before you workout.
  • It’s best to do an active warm up, like this total body warm up routine, before working out. Get your blood moving and your heart rate elevated in preparation for more intense exercise.
  • Studies have shown that stretching before working out does little to prevent injury, and can even make you weaker for a short period of time when performed before a workout.

• 30 seconds is enough.
  • One scientific study showed that found that doing a stretch for 30 seconds, once a day, was as effective or even a little bit more effective at improving stretching flexibility than doing that stretch for 60 seconds, three times per day. Less is more!
  • In my own personal experience, when I finish a workout, the last thing I want to do is spend another half hour stretching. I am MUCH more likely to stretch after a workout if I have a good, brief stretching routine that will only take five minutes or so.
  • (See the routines below for some ideas.)

• Perform exercises through a full range of motion to develop active flexibility.
  • Olympic weight lifters are some of the most flexible athletes around. Do they spend hours per day holding static stretches? No. But they do regularly perform exercises such as the squat that require their muscles and joints to move through a full range of motion.
  • Follow this example. Do exercises like the squat regularly to get your legs, hips, and back more and more activated and flexible. Use it or lose it!

Stretching Routines

Hip Stretches

Our hips are often tight and inflexible from sitting in chairs for hours every day. These 3 movements in this hip stretches routine help open the hips, correct posture, and prevent lower back pain and injuries.

• Hip Stretches Routine / Overview
  • Hip Flexor / Psoas Stretch
  • Piriformis Stretch
  • Adductor / Groin Stretch

Hamstring Stretches

Tight hamstrings can lead to lower back and knee problems, not to mention decreased mobility and athletic performance. Do these simple hamstring stretches to keep these muscles supple.

• Hamstring Stretches
  • Seated Hamstring Stretch
  • IT Band Stretch

Shoulder Stretches

The shoulders, especially the anterior (front) shoulder, are often tight. This can lead to imbalances that increase the risk of shoulder injuries. Make it a point to do these shoulder stretches for a couple minutes after an upper body workout.

• Shoulder Stretches
  • Wall stretch
  • Towel Stretch
  • Shoulder Dislocations Stretch
  • Hand Clasp Stretch

Foot, Calf, and Ankle Stretches

The ankle joints handle all of our weight! Tight calves, ankles and feet can lead to painful conditions like plantar fasciitis, and tight achilles limit athletic performance. Prevent this by following these foot and ankle stretches.

• Achilles Stretch / Ankle Stretches
• Calf Stretches
• Foot Stretches
• Stretches for Plantar Fasciitis

Keep checking in as more stretching / flexibility resources are updated!

(Thanks to Rusty Moore’s excellent Fitness Blackbook post on flexibility for digesting and presenting the scientific studies!)