Stretches

Lower Body Stretches

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Lower body stretches that cover the hips, glutes, hamstrings, quads and calves in one session. The page has filmed moves in an order you can follow, plus guided routines.

Lower body stretches with video

These are the 8 movements from the MoveWell library for this area. Each page has a demo, numbered steps, the muscles worked and common mistakes.

Calf Smash demonstrationCalf Smash60 to 90 seconds per side. Glute Smash demonstrationGlute Smash60 to 90 seconds per side. Banded Hamstring Stretch demonstrationBanded Hamstring Stretch30 to 60 seconds per side. Banded Hip Distraction demonstrationBanded Hip Distraction60 to 90 seconds per side. Downward Dog demonstrationDownward Dog30 to 60 seconds. Extended Triangle demonstrationExtended Triangle30 seconds per side. Lying Quad Stretch demonstrationLying Quad Stretch30 seconds per side. Pigeon Pose demonstrationPigeon Pose45 to 90 seconds per side.

A simple lower body sequence

Do these in order: warm-up drills first, then any rolling, then the longer holds. Move slowly and stop if anything is sharp or numb.

#MovementHold or repsSides
1Calf Smash60 s/sideEach side
2Glute Smash90 s/sideEach side
3Banded Hamstring Stretch45 s/sideEach side
4Banded Hip Distraction90 s/sideEach side
5Downward Dog45 sn/a
6Extended Triangle30 s/sideEach side
7Lying Quad Stretch30 s/sideEach side
8Pigeon Pose60 s/sideEach side
JR

Joel is the founder of MoveWell and IMPOSSIBLE. He became the youngest person to run an ultra marathon on every continent, and created MoveWell to make recovery easy with routines he would actually do.

More stretches

Lying Quad Stretch demonstrationQuad StretchesCouch stretches and rolling for the front of the thigh.8 movements Hamstring Bar Stretch demonstrationHamstring StretchesSwings, rolling and stretches for the back of the thigh.8 movements Quad Smash demonstrationKnee StretchesStretches for the muscles around the knee.8 movements
View all stretches →