Always do a warm-up that loosens your muscles as part of your exercise. Warming up your muscles not quite enough can hurt you. Try some leg stretching before your workout, dynamic stretching, or jogging before your run to help.
Doctors think that you should include stretching when you do activities like running or cycling, though experts often differ about whether to stretch before or after exercise.
Building flexibility takes time. Because some individuals are more inflexible than others, it might take you several weeks of daily stretching to make progress with your joint mobility.
Carol Michaels leads Recovery Fitness with certifications from the Cancer Exercise Education Institute, the American Council on Exercise, and the American College of Sports Medicine and is a Fellow of both the ACSM and IDEA.
Here, she suggests four leg stretches before workout exercises to improve flexibility and lower your chances of injury. Besides that, hold every stretch for approximately thirty seconds.
Read More: The Ultimate Guide to Stretches Before Running: Power Up Your Performance
Leg Stretching Before Workout Exercises
Quadriceps Stretch
Quads are the name of a muscle group located down the front of your thighs. Many movements depend on these muscles, which are vital for your lower-body support. Walking, running, squatting, and lunges all work your quadriceps strongly. Your leg or knee extensions are mostly made possible by your quadriceps, showing why they are vital for everything you do and every activity you enjoy.
To work your quadriceps:
- Put your hip against a wall and use the other hand to support yourself on the wall.
- Put your outside hand around your lifted foot and move it up your back, with your knees and thighs still touching.
- Your stretch should be gentle to moderately strong in your front thigh muscles.
- Hold as you breathe before relaxing, then repeat the same with your other foot.
Read More: Clamshell Exercise: 10 Great Benefits to Shape Thighs
Hamstring/Calf Stretch
The hamstrings are found along the back of your thigh and connect your hip to just below the knee. Both of them are important to your knee and hip movement. Walking and climbing stairs are easier because of these muscles. They help you during physical activities such as running and playing sports.
They make up the muscles near the back of your lower leg. They help move your heel when you are walking, running, or jumping.
To train both muscle groups at the same time:
- Have your right foot out in front, in front of your body.
- One of the most effective stretches to help piriformis syndrome is bending your waist and knee to support it and pushing your torso forward toward your right leg.
- Inch your right ankle upward so that you can feel your toes moving closer to your body.
- Once you have held for the breathing cycle, change feet and practice with your left foot.
Read More: Leg Strength: 6 Best Exercises for Huge and Bulky Legs
Inner thigh stretch
The muscles in your inner thigh stabilize the movement of your hip and knee. Because they are referred to as adductors, these muscles allow you to balance and gain control over your lower body movements. Singling out the inner thighs during exercises will make the muscles stronger and help you perform better.
Working your inner thighs helps your legs become stronger, enhances your posture, makes you less likely to get hurt, and improves your athletic ability. If you perform squats, lunges, leg lifts, and resistance band exercises for your inner thighs, you may enjoy greater joint stability and revitalized function in your lower body.
One way to stretch your inner thighs is
- Move into a wider-than-usual standing position.
- Bend the knee on your right side and move your body to the right until you feel a stretch in your inner left thigh.
- For one round of relaxed breathing, stand on your right leg, then shift weight to your left leg and repeat the exercise.
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Supine Leg Stretch
Stretching this area targets or helps a good deal of key muscle groups, such as the ones in your lower back, hamstrings, calves, and ankles. Because these areas are very important to support everyday physical activities such as running, cycling, walking, and everyday posture and balance during the day.
Here’s how you do this stretch:
- Lie on the floor with your back and your feet and legs bent at the knees.
- Touch your foot to your knee and hold the position. Move your leg slowly up toward the ceiling, straighten it, and bring it toward your torso as far as it gets comfortable to feel a stretch in the back.
- 3 times, point your foot out, bend your ankle, and make 3 circles with your ankle forwards and backwards.
- Repeat with the other leg by gently swinging again, lowering your leg.
Read more: What Is Calf Raises: 10 Great Benefits You Should Know
Conclusion
Anyone who needs strength and endurance from their legs, whether a runner or an athlete, can greatly help themselves by including simple stretches in their workouts. Doing these simple stretches can prevent most injuries, make you more flexible, and help you speed up your recovery.
If you’re planning to exercise, recovering from one, or find your leg muscles feel tired, just a few minutes of stretching can have a major impact. Consistent practice of joint and muscle exercises improves mobility and contributes to long-term joint and muscle health, so you avoid injuries long term.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why should you warm up before stretching?
Before you stretch, warming up your muscles will allow increased blood flow to target tightening areas, loosen them up, and reduce your chances of injury. Light jogging or dynamic stretching gets your body up for more intense movement by slowly raising your heart rate and warming the muscles.
2. When is the best time to do a stretch, before or after a workout?
As is true with all things in life, opinions are everywhere regarding stretching, and while many doctors will advise stretching, it’s good for running and beginning cycling, but we don’t stretch before sports. Dynamic stretching beforehand could cut down on soreness and allow for more flexibility, and some of this is dynamic, and some of this is static stretches.
3. How much can flexibility be improved by stretching?
Improvement in flexibility is different for different people. If you’re less flexible, then it might take several weeks of doing this stretching every day before you can see some progress in your joint mobility and muscle length.
4. What are the advantages of the stretches shown by Carol Michaels?
Carol Michaels’ suggested stretches work to stretch out big groups of muscles, like quads, hamstrings, calves, inner thighs, and the lower back. These stretches are also used to reduce your risk of injury, to improve your posture and mobility, and to help you complete everyday movements like walking, running, and cycling.
