After a walk, run, or strength workout, it’s important to cool down. Cooldown stretches help reduce the tension that builds up in your muscles during a workout.
During college I was busy…who isn’t? I was squeezing my workouts into my schedule and subsequently shortening or skipping my pre and post workout stretching. This led to an overly tight hamstring that caused a lot of pain in the back of my knee.
Thankfully I was able to resolve this quickly with some stretching and massaging.
But I leaned my lesson, never skip stretching!
These 4 stretches hit the largest muscles in your legs and are easy to do after a workout because they are done while standing. Only push until you feel a gentle stretch in your muscle. Hold for 30 seconds. Give these stretches a try and let me know what you think!
Tips:
- Quads – Keep your hip straight and pull your heel up towards your butt.
- Gluts – Hold onto something for balance. Keep your knee down and sit back feeling the stretch in the hip of the leg that is crossed.
- Hamstrings – Keep your back flat and sit your butt back.
- Calves – Straighten your knee. Lean forward bending your ankle.