Static Stretches

Top to toe

Standing up straight, rise-up onto your tip toes, raise your hands above your head and with your legs, body, back and arms in a straight line, reach your hands as high as you can, feeling that stretch along the full length of your body. Hold for 10 seconds.

Calf stretch

Find a wall, or something approximately the height of the bottom of your ribs that you can lean against. Stand so you’re a forearms length away from the wall, hands flat against the wall with a ninety-degree angle in your elbows. Your body is in a straight line from head to ankle with no weight going through your arms at this stage. Now, keeping your body upright, left foot is flat on the ground but allow your left leg to bend slightly as you move your right foot behind you and place it flat on the ground so you can feel a really nice stretch at the bottom of your right calf muscle (right leg is straight in the final stretch position here). Hold for 30 seconds. Now find the ‘neutral position’ again (body in its natural standing position), legs together, body at forearm distance to the wall, hands flat on the wall at approximately the same height as you lower rib cage. Keeping both feet flat on the ground, now move the left foot straight back behind you. The right leg bends slightly and you can feel the stretch down the back of your lower left calf. Hold for 30 seconds. Note that you can move the position on the stretch down towards your Achilles by having a slight bend in both legs in the final stretch position.

Toe touch

Start from a standing position, first reach your arms high above your head (giving your back a nice stretch before the bending movement), then - keeping your legs straight but without ‘locking your knees’ (i.e. keep your knee joint relaxed), bend down and reach your hands down as far towards your toes as you’re able to. Feel that lovely stretch down the length of your hamstrings; hold for 10 seconds, then see if you can reach a bit further, and hold for 20 seconds. If you feel any tension in the joint of your knee itself, try bending your knees very slightly and holding this stretch.

Crossed leg toe touch

Still while reaching down towards your toes, cross your left leg over the front of your right leg (right leg is straight but without locking the knee). After holding for 30 seconds, switch legs. Again – we’re trying to get as close to touching our toes as we’re able to but with one leg crossed over the front of the other we’re take the stretch deeper into the glute and the top of each hamstring.

Hamstring stretch

Start with your feet together, flat on the ground. Turn your right foot so that it is facing outwards at a 45 degree angle, now keeping your left leg straight and allowing a bend in your right leg, step your left leg forward and slightly out to the side, now turn your left foot out to a 45 degree angle. You will notice that your weight has shifted onto your right leg. Keeping both feet flat on the floor, put one hand on top of the other and slide both hands as far down your left leg as you can. Hold it there for 30 seconds (again - using the 10 and 20 second markers to push a bit further and hold) and you will feel a good stretch through your left hamstring. Now repeat on the other side.

Calf stretch

While in the same position as you were for the hamstring stretch, keeping your heel on the ground, raise the toes of the front foot off the ground as far as you can get them. If you’re able to, grab the toes of your front foot with both hands and hold this position for 30 seconds. If you can’t reach that far, or only with one hand, just get both hands to reach as far as they can towards your upwardly flexed toes. Your back leg remains slightly bent, as before. Now switch sides.

Inner thigh stretch

Start from an upright position, hand on hips, feet facing forwards, just wider than shoulder width apart. Keeping your left leg straight, bend your right knee so it moves in-line with your right foot, until you feel a good stretch along the length of the inside of your left thigh. Hold for 30 seconds. Now come back up to the start position (feet facing forwards and slightly more than shoulder width apart), then slowly bend your left knee while keeping your right leg straight, until you feel the stretch along the inside of your right though. Hold for 30 seconds. Note that there are various adaptations of this stretch and the feet can be placed further apart while supporting the body by placing our hands on the ground in front of us. Both create a good stretch in the groin and inner thigh and it is down to personal preference and mobility which we opt for.

Quadricep and knee stretch

Standing up straight, feet together, keeping your body upright balance on your right leg while you bend your left leg back until you can grab your left foot with your left hand. Now, making sure that your knees are together, try and touch the heel of your left foot onto your left butt cheek (or as close as you’re able to get it). All your weight is going through your right leg, which has a very slight bend at the knee (don’t lock your right knee). If you need help balancing here, try focusing on one point directly in front of your eye line. Hold for 30 seconds, feeling a good stretch all the way up the front of your thigh, then repeat on the other side. Note that it is important that your knees are together while creating the stretch up your quadriceps; our knee joint supports the backwards and forwards movement of our femur (thigh bone) and tibia (shin bone) and if we start pulling our leg to one side while it is bent at the knee, there’s a risk we’ll pull something out of place.

Neck stretch

From a standing position, drop your right shoulder down (creating a bit of tension down the right side of your neck) and then with your left hand, reach behind your head and holding the right side of the back of your head, very, very slowly pull your head forward slightly and to the left, creating a nice stretch down the right side of the back of your neck. Hold for ten seconds then switch sides.