Regular Stretching Helps Your Flexibility

Basic Stretching Exercises

These exercises stretch the muscles in the leg and back that are tight. Maintaining flexible muscles in the legs and back is desirable as it allows the muscles and joints to work more efficiently and decreases the frequency of muscle injuries

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RULES TO STRETCH BY

• Warm up first: warm muscles, tendons, and ligaments are more flexible and stretch more easily; stretching cold muscles can cause tears.
  
  
• Stretches should always be gradual and gentle.
  
  
• Hold each stretch in a static position for 10 to 20 seconds, allowing the muscle to lengthen slowly.
  
  
• Do not bounce; bouncing actually causes muscle fibers to shorten, not lengthen.
  Stretch only to the point of resistance; if the stretch hurts, you´re pushing too hard.
  
  
• Don´t rush through the stretching routine; use it to prepare yourself mentally and physically for activity.

Posterior Thigh

Starting position: Sit lengthwise along a table and place your right leg on the table. Rest your left leg on the floor or on a footstool.

Action: Lean forward over your right leg until you feel a stretch behind your knee and in your calf. Hold that position by grasping the right leg. Repeat with the left leg.

Note: Stretch the calves by pointing your toes upward and toward your chest.

Calf Stretch
Starting position: Stand 2-3 feet away from a wall. Put your hands against the wall at about shoulder level to support your weight (Fig. 2A).

Action: Lean in toward the wall by bending your elbows until you feel a stretch in the back of your calves (Fig. 2B). Keep your body erect, your knees straight, and your hips forward. DO NOT bend at the waist. Make sure your heels remain on the ground. Alternate foot position by turning the feet outward, stretching, then inward, and repeating the stretch. If you run a great deal, do this repeatedly throughout the day. To increase stretch, a book can be placed under the "ball" of the foot, letting the heels hang down.

Anterior Thigh
Starting position: Stand with one arm holding onto a chair or wall.

Action: With the free hand, grasp the instep of the foot and pull the heel behind you toward your buttocks. KEEP YOUR KNEE BACK. Do not let it come forward.

Note: You should be standing erect throughout the entire stretch. DO NOT LEAN FORWARD. If you can touch your heel to your buttocks, slightly extend your back while doing this exercise.

Inner Thigh
Starting Position: Sit on the floor. Place the soles of your feet together and bring them about two feet away from your body.

Action: Place your hands on your knees and gently push downward toward the floor. SLOWLY bend forward, trying to touch your nose to your feet.

Iliotibial Band and Lateral Thigh
Starting Position: Sit comfortably on the floor with your legs out in front.

Action: With your left leg straight, put your right foot flat on the ground on the opposite side of your left knee. Reach over your right leg with your left arm so that your elbow is on the outside of your right leg. Slowly turn your head and look over your right shoulder and, at the same time, turn your upper body toward the right ann. Keep your hips flat on the floor at all times. Repeat on the opposite side.

Note: If you do not feel a stretch, bend your left knee, placing your left foot next to the right hip. The more you run, the more you need to do this stretch.

Soleus
Starting position: Stand next to a chair and place your left foot flat on the seat. Hold onto the chair for balance.

Action: Keeping the left foot flat, lean over the chair until you feel a stretch in the back of the left calf.