I think the biggest mistake most people make is jumping right into a workout without doing any stretches! The second biggest mistake is skipping a stretch after your workout! It doesn’t matter how big or small your workout is, you need to stretch before and after. This helps prevents injuries that occur when people’s muscles are really tight and they start doing all these explosive moves. You want to really warm up your muscles before starting any workout to make sure you’re nice and loose. Then you should stretch again during your cool down, when your muscles are prone to tightening back up.
In yoga, we always talk about the importance of “stability.” Stability comes when you are equally strong and flexible enough to support your body in whatever moves and motions you put it through! So stretch, stretch, stretch! Don’t just rely on building up your strength.
You’ll want to complete each stretch on both sides for about 3-5 deep breaths each.
Stretch 1: Low-Lunge
HOW TO: Start on your hands and knees and pull one foot up between your hands into a lunge position. Bend into your front leg without letting your knee go past your ankle. Tuck in your pelvis to deepen the stretch
BENEFIT: People are generally tightest around their hips. This is because we live in a culture where we spend most of our time sitting on our butts and don’t often move around our hips! That’s why it’s super important to focus on the hips before starting any workout. This stretch gets deep into your hip flexors while also warming up the hamstrings.
Stretch 2: Half Split
HOW TO: From your low-lunge position, simply lean back and straighten out the front leg while letting your back leg come into a 90 degree bend. Flex your front toes up to engage the leg muscles, protecting yourself from over-stretching.
BENEFIT: Similar to our hips, our hamstrings are often one of the tightest areas of the bodies. Hamstrings are used a lot throughout our every day life but when we sit for most of our day, they don’t get stretched out at all. This stretch is a great way to get deep into your hamstrings and loosen them up before running, biking, or doing any kind of leg based workout.
Stretch 3: Figure Four
HOW TO: Sit down with both knees bent in front of you. Then lift one leg up and cross it over the bent leg, resting your ankle on your thigh.
BENEFIT: You should feel this stretch along the outside of your leg, down into your outer hip and glute. This is another great stretch for runners but it benefits everybody because it works into our tight outer hip muscles.
Stretch 4: Wide Leg Fold (lean to both sides)
HOW TO: Spread your legs out wide in front of you only as far as what’s comfortable for you. Then, while bending at the hips, slowly inch your hands out in front of you to fold forward. Then slowly walk your hands to each leg to stretch into the sides.
BENEFIT: This stretch covers a lot of good stuff! You’ll stretch your hamstrings while also working into the inner thighs. This stretch also works into the low back and when you bend into each side you’ll get a really nice stretch on the sides of your back and waist. You can accomplish a lot in this simple move, so it’s great to incorporate in your pre & post workout stretch routine.
Stretch 5: Cross-Leg Forward Fold
HOW TO: While standing, cross one leg in front of the other. It’s normal for the front leg to be slightly bent. Then fold at your hips and come down as far as you can to stretch into the outer leg and hamstring.
BENEFIT: This is a super important stretch because it works into your IT band! This is the thick, fibrous tissue that runs down the side of your leg and helps to stabilize your knee joint. Not many stretches work your IT band and its very common to get IT band irritation. By doing stretches that target this area, you can help prevent some of these issues from happening.
Stretch 6: Quad Stretch
HOW TO: Stand with feet hips-width distance apart. Grab the top of your foot with hand and pull it towards your butt until you feel a nice a stretch in the quads. Keep your hips as square as possible when holding this stretch.
BENEFIT: This is the final stretch in the sequence and it directly targets the quadriceps. We use our quads in so many exercises and especially for people who run or bike, you really want to keep them loose. None of the stretches thus far have worked into the quads at all yet, and these muscles are not ones you want to neglect! After this, you’re all set to dive into your workout!
The Take Away
Some people do very intensive stretching before and after a workout and that has a lot of benefits. There are plenty of other stretches that can be added to this list, but these few are ideally for people who tend to skip the stretch. For those of you that want to get right into a workout, I tried to create a list of the most important stretches that won’t take too much time out of your workout.
As long as you are stretching out and warming up your main muscle groups, you should be safe, healthy, and ready for your workout! I hope this list will be a good resource for you as you continue to better your mind and body! Keep growing 🙂