When warming up before a workout, we deal with dynamic stretching. However after your exercise is finished, holding static stretches is one of the simplest ways to launch rigidity within the muscle tissue and assist the physique get better.
Out of your neck to your calves, this cool-down stretch routine makes use of static stretches to loosen up your total physique. It’s an effective way to get a deep stretch after warming your muscle tissue up with a cardio or HIIT workout.
Attempt these cool-down workouts after your subsequent exercise or to do them as stand-alone workouts to stretch completely different muscle tissue all through the day! Bear in mind to breathe as your stretch. I normally instruct my shoppers to breathe out and in via their nostril whereas they stretch after a exercise. This helps the physique to loosen up and make the most of the breath to calm the nervous system. Nevertheless, in case you’re out of breath after a cardio exercise, be happy to breathe in via your nostril and out via your mouth as you’ll throughout an everyday exercise.
Ear to shoulder stretch
Standing or sitting, drop your proper ear towards your proper shoulder and really feel a stretch within the left facet of the neck. Maintain for 2-4 breaths, after which launch and change sides.
Chin to chest stretch
Place your fingers behind your head and gently press your head ahead and down in order that your chin reaches towards your chest. Really feel a stretch behind the upper back and neck. Maintain for 2-4 breaths after which launch.
Armpit stretch
Place your fingers behind your head with elbows out to the edges. This time enable your head to lean again into your fingers. Tilt your chin up and lookup towards the ceiling, barely arching the again. Maintain for 2-4 breaths after which launch.
Standing side reach
Standing along with your toes collectively, carry your proper arm straight up into the air. Preserve your left arm at your facet or in your hip. Bend on the waist towards your left so that you just really feel a stretch in the proper facet of your waist. Return to the beginning place and repeat on the opposite facet.
Shoulder stretch
Standing or sitting, cross your proper arm throughout your physique and maintain onto it along with your left hand. Use your left hand to tug in your proper higher arm to cross your physique additional. Preserve your proper arm straight as you’re feeling a stretch in your proper shoulder and higher bicep. Then change sides.
Tricep stretch
Attain the arms overhead. Bend your proper elbow and place your left hand on the proper elbow. Pull the elbow down in order that your elbow factors towards the ceiling and your proper forearm dangles down behind your head. Really feel a stretch in your proper tricep, after which change sides.
Standing lunge
Standing along with your toes as huge as your hips, step your proper foot ahead and preserve your again leg straight. Come up onto your again toes, and bend your proper knee over the ankle. Pull your naval in towards your backbone. Really feel a stretch within the entrance of the proper hip, after which change sides.
Standing lunge with side reach
Step right into a standing lunge, then attain the alternative arm of the bent leg up towards the ceiling. Bend on the waist, reaching your arm over to the facet of the bent leg. This elongates your complete facet of the physique, from the straight leg behind you all the best way up the facet waist and hip flexor. Maintain for a number of counts, after which change sides.
Standing quad stretch
Standing along with your toes as huge as your hips, steadiness in your left leg. Bend your proper knee and attain your proper foot up towards your glute. Then seize onto your proper ankle as you pull the foot nearer to your butt. Maintain for 2-4 breaths, after which change sides.
Standing single leg hamstring stretch
Step your proper foot 1-2 toes ahead; straighten the leg and flex your foot. Then bend your left knee as you hinge on the waist and lean ahead over the straight proper leg. Really feel a stretch down the again of your leg and into your calf. Maintain for 2-4 breaths after which change sides.
Standing figure four
Standing along with your toes as huge as your hips, steadiness in your left leg and produce the proper leg up. Cross the proper ankle over the left thigh and bend the left knee out to the facet. Sit again as in case you’re about to sit down down right into a chair. Steadiness right here. Flex the proper foot. Gently press your fingers into your proper thigh to open it up a bit of bit extra in case you’d like. You may as well mimic this exercise while seated. Maintain for 2-4 breaths, after which change sides.
Try these other stretch routines:
