Stretching

Yoga Stretches

1.                  Lie down on your back with your palms to the ground. Push your feet over your head so that your toes touch the ground above your head.

2.                  Lie down on your stomach with your palms near your chest. Your hands should be touching each other. Push your upper body up with your arms while keeping your back and legs connected to the ground.

3.                  Lie down on your stomach and then raise only your legs as high as you can. Make sure to take a deep breath while raising your legs and exhaling while bringing your legs down.

4.                  Lie down on your stomach while grabbing your ankles. Pull your ankles up while raising your head. Try to look behind you while balancing on your stomach.

5.                  Perform yoga stretch no. 1. When you return from having your legs over your head perform a sit-up.

6.                  Lie down on your back while grabbing your ankles. Try to raise your hips as high as you can.

7.                  Lie down on your back with your palms touching the floor over your head. Bend your knees and try to make your stomach/ lower body touch the ceiling.

8.                  Lie down on your back with your arms straight past your head. Rest in this position in order to stretch the arms.

9.                  Lie down on your back with your hands at your side. Try to make your legs go straight up and touch the ceiling. Keep your legs straight.

10.              Simply lie down on your back while relaxing your muscles.

Neck

·                     Neck Pull: Pull your head down to your chest and then pull it back as far as you can.

·                     Neck Pull: Pull your head down to one shoulder and then the other.

·                     Neck Rotation: Rotate your head in as far as you can, making a circle around your body.

Shoulders

·                     Arm Circle: Rotate your shoulders as far as you can away from your body, making a circle.

·                     Shoulder Stretch: Pull one arm behind your body touching the other shoulder. Support the stretch with the other arm touching the stretched elbow. Push back with your head to create a more functional stretch.

·                     Arm Raises: Have your feet far apart with your fists supporting your weight on the ground. Rotate one arm upwards as far as possible until you come up 180 degrees from the origin. Keep the other arm on the ground for support while looking at your raised arm.

·                     Rear Palm Press: Make sure that you’re standing. Put your hands behind your back with both of your palms facing each other. Your fingers should be pointing upwards with both hands touching. If nothing is happening, turn your hands so that they are facing the ground.

·                     Shoulder Standing: Lie down on your back. Make your legs go straight up while you provide support with your arms at your hips (elbows to the ground). You should have most of your weight on the back of your shoulders and neck.

·                     Advance Shoulder Standing. Lie down on your back. Keep your hands near your side and try to make your legs touch the floor over your head. Make sure to keep control and to breath.

·                     Hand Stands: Good for both stretching and strength training.

Chest

·                     Criss Cross: Place both arms out in front of you while making fists with both hands. Cross both arms and then shut them backwards as far as possible. Repeat the process for effectiveness.

·                     Seated Chest Opening: Sit with your legs in a semi-split stance while reaching towards one foot. Turn your upper body to face upwards while relaxing the shoulder farthest from the floor.

·                     Shoulder Press: Lie down on your back with your hands close to your head with your elbows facing upwards. Push your elbows as far as you can down to the floor to perform the stretch.

·                     Chest Opening: Lie down on your stomach with your hands near your chest (like a push-up position). Push yourself upwards while keeping your legs stationary. Essentially, you want to try and look behind yourself while curving your back.

·                     Inverted Chest Opening: Assume a stance that will be opposite that of the regular Chest Opening. Your hands should be holding you up while you look upwards with your heels on the ground.

·                     Lateral Chest Opening: Lie down on your stomach (assuming a push-up stance). Push towards the side of your body while looking at the side of your feet.

Torso

·                     Side Bends: Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Reach with one arm to the other side of your body with your other arm supporting your hips.

·                     Moving Torso Bend: Stand with your feet outstretched with both of your arms in front of you. Reach down and touch the floor a couple feet in front of your toes. Then, reach behind your legs, through your legs. Now, return to your standing position and continue the stretch by going backwards even farther. Try to look behind you with your feet staying in the same position.

·                     Seated Torso Twist: Sit down with one leg straight and the other leg across the straight leg. Place the same side arm as the crossed leg across the bent knee and look in the same direction as arm.

·                     Elongation Stretch: Lie down on your back with your hands at your side. Now, take both of your arms and extend them straight past your head, keeping them straight. It is more beneficial to stay in the stretch for a longer amount of time.

·                     Full body Arch: Lie down on your back with your arms down at your side. Lift your butt into the air while supporting the arch of your back with your hands.

·                     Lying Torso Twist: Lie down on your back with your arms extended away from your body. Now, rotate your hips so that one leg crosses your other leg while keeping your back to the ground.

·                     Bridge: Lie down on your back with your knees bent. Put your arms above your head with your palms on the ground, with your fingers facing towards you. Now push your hips upwards creating an arch with your torso.

Back

·                     Torso Twist: Begin your legs spread apart and your arms outstretched away from your body. Take one arm and reach across your body and downwards to touch to the other side foot.

·                     Back Stretch: Kneel on the floor with your arms holding your weight. Slowly sink your butt downwards to increase the stretch.

·                     Upward Cat: Begin with your knees on the floor while supporting yourself with your arms in a push-up position. Now, arch your back up towards the ceiling so that you’re in the form of a cat.

·                     Back Roll: Begin in seated position with your knees bent and your arms grabbing across your shins. Roll back until your shoulder blades touch the ground and then roll back up.

·                     Seated Reaches: Sit on the floor with your legs in a manageable split position with your arms outstretched away from your body. Now, keep your arms extended while reaching towards one foot.

Hips

·                     Hip Rotation: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart while rotating your hips a horizontal circle as wide as your can.

·                     Butterfly Stretch: Sit down with the palms of your feet touching with your knees bent. Try to make your knees touch the floor without assistance from your arms. If this stretch is too easy, then try to touch the floor with your forehead.

·                     Single Leg Pull: Lie down on your back with your arms outstretched away from your body. Pull one leg up towards your face with one of your hands while keeping the other one outstretched.

·                     Y Stretch: Lie down on your stomach with your arms in front (like a push-up position). Now, take one of your legs and cross it underneath and across your body while looking forward.

Legs

·                     Knee Rotation: Stand with your feet together. Bend your knees down and rotate them in a circle.

·                     Knee Raises: Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Raise one knee while touching that knee with your opposite side elbow.

·                     Toe touch: Stand with your feet together and while your arms reaching downwards to touch your toes. Make sure to not extend this stretch too far to prevent major injury.

·                     Toe Touch: Sit down with one leg forward and the other leg touching the knee joint. Reach forward with the same side arm or both arms towards the outstretched leg.

·                     Windmills: Stand with your legs crossing each other and your arms outstretched away from your body. Now, rotate your torso so that one arm touches the opposite side of your body.

·                     Standing Quad Stretch: Stand with one leg in the air bent towards your butt. Now, pull your foot backwards even more while leaning your weight forward.

·                     Single Leg Stretch: Stretch is just like previous stretch but standing straight up.

·                     Forward Stretch Kicks: Stand in a fighting stance. Now execute a stretch kick as high as you can in front of you.

·                     Lateral Stretch Kicks: Like the previous stretch but to the side of the body.

·                     Rear Stretch Kicks: Like the two previous stretches but to the back of the body.

·                     Kneeling Quad stretch: Kneel down on the ground while executing a front-stance. Now, slide your back backwards even farther.

·                     Double Quad Stretch: Kneel down on the ground on both knees while sitting with your back straight. Now, slowly tilt your upper body backwards.

·                     Seated Toe Stretch: Sit with both of your legs extended in front of you. Now, reach for your toes with both arms.

·                     Single Seated Toe Stretch: Sit with one leg extended in front of your body with the other knee bent touching the other leg. Now, reach for the extended leg with both of your hands or just one hand.

·                     Seated V Stretch: Sit with both legs in a manageable split position while reaching with one arm towards one of your legs.

·                     Saddle Stretch: Sit with both legs in a manageable split position while reaching in front of you with both of your arms and face touching the floor. Reach for both legs in order to continue the stretch.

·                     Hurdler Stretch: This stretch is just like the previous stretch except for the leg opposite of the one that is extended is bent with the foot touching the butt. You should still reach forward with both hands and head toward the extended foot.

·                     Side Splits: Perform the splits while on the ground and reach towards one leg.

·                     Center Stretch: Begin in a wide standing position and slowly perform the splits while facing forward. Use your hands slowly perform this if necessary.

Arms

·                     Vertical Arm Rotation: Rotate your arms vertically as far away from your body as you can.

·                     Arm Pull: Pull one arm across your body while pulling/ supporting it with your other arm.

·                     Horizontal Arm Rotation: Extend your arm away from your body. Rotate your forearm so that you’re using the elbow to rotate.

·                     Inside Forearm Stretch: Extend your arm directly in front of your body. Pull your fingers back toward your body so that your fingers point upwards.

·                     Stick Twist: This stretch should be performed with a stick. Hold on to the middle of the stick while extending your arm straight in front of your body. Start with the stick in a vertical position and then rotate it sideways with your closed palm facing upwards. Make sure to keep hold of the stick while turning it both directions.

Wrists/ Hands

·                     Wrist Rotation: Rotate your wrists as far as you can away from the normal straight posture.

·                     Wrist Flex: Hold up your hand close to your chest with your elbow bent facing downwards while grabbing your hand with the other. Now, push your arm out away from your body while maintaining the grab with your other hand.

·                     Finger Press: Extend your arms in front of you with your palms facing away from you. Clasp your fingers and push your hands downwards. This stretch can be changed by performing it with your arms over your head.

Feet

·                     Ankle Rotation: In a seated position, rotate your feet both directions while supporting the leg with your hands.