Stretching is one of those things that tends to get dropped to the bottom of people’s healthy to-do lists, but adding it to your daily routine can be highly beneficial. Post-workout static stretching—where you hold a pose for 10 to 30 seconds—can improve range of motion around your joints.
Stretching after you exercise can help move inflammation out of your muscles and increase blood flow. Spending time lengthening your limbs also has mental benefits. Going through a series of stretches can reduce stress and cortisol levels.
While the best time to stretch is when muscles are warm—say, after a walk or a workout—stretching is so beneficial that whenever you can squeeze it in, you should. Use the following routine to get started. Try to hold each stretch for as long as it takes to breathe five to six slow, deep breaths.
Chest Opener
Muscles targeted: chest, shoulders
How to:
Stand facing a corner of a room.
With your arms at your sides and elbows bent at about shoulder height, press one palm into each wall while staggering your feet behind you.
Slowly lean inward, pressing your chest towards the wall until you feel a stretch in your chest.
Hold without allowing your forearms or hands to move.
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Glute Bridge
Muscles targeted: glutes, quads, core
How to:
Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet as close to your pelvis as possible.
Press down through your heels and lift your pelvis off the floor.
Continue lifting until your body makes a straight line from your shoulders to your knees (your shoulders should still be on the floor).
Keep your knees in line with your feet.
Hold at the top before lowering back down.
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Figure-Four Stretch
Muscles targeted: piriformis (a gluteal muscle)
How to:
Lie on your back with knees bent and feet pressed into the ground.
Cross your left ankle over your right knee, and then reach your hands around your right thigh.
Pull your right thigh towards you (keeping your upper body on the floor).
Hold, then repeat on the other side.
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Straight-Leg Pull
Muscles targeted: hamstrings
How to:
Lie on your back with both legs flat against the ground.
Lift your right leg up off the ground, placing your hands behind your right thigh.
Keeping your right leg straight, pull it towards your chest as far as you can.
Hold, then repeat on other side.
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Bent-Leg Pull
Muscles targeted: glutes
How to:
Lie on your back with your left leg bent and your right leg straight up in the air.
Loop a band around the sole of your right foot.
Keeping your left foot planted firmly on the mat, pull your right leg in towards your chest.
Hold, then repeat on other side.
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Pancake Stretch
Muscles targeted: Hip extensors, adductors
How to:
Sit on the ground with your legs straight and in the shape of the letter “V.”
Hinge forward at the hips and reach your torso towards your toes, getting your upper body as close to the floor as possible between your outstretched legs.
Hold, and then walk your arms back toward your body to sit back up.
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Calf Stretch Against Wall
Muscles targeted: calves
How to:
Standing near a wall, place the toes of your right foot on the base of the wall.
Lean in towards the wall, feeling the stretch in your calf.
Make sure not to bend your back leg—only go as far as you can while keeping it straight.
Hold, then repeat on other side.
