Muscles Emphasized: Hamstrings
Keep your feet positioned one in front of the other. Maintain the back straight, bring the hands to the hips, and start bending from the hips.
Muscles Emphasized: Glutes
This stretch affects the whole body. In case you are experiencing some knee-issues or you are unable to keep the heels on the ground, perform the squat prior proceeding. Start by standing the feet apart in the width of the shoulders and start lowering into the deep squat gradually. Once you reach the position of deep squat, bring the arms inside the legs and apply some pressure to the inside of the knees, sitting into the hips and heels. You can also perform this stretch by lying on the back with the feet against a wall.
- Seated Half King Pigeon Pose
Muscles Emphasized: Glutes
Start in a seated position and pull the leg to the chest gradually. Then, rotate the hip towards outside, keeping the spine straight. This stretch is supposed to be felt in the glute.
- Standing Calf Stretch at the Wall
Muscles Emphasized: Soleus and Gastrocnemius
Begin in the lunge position, keeping the back of your foot a bit turned out. Bring the back of the heel to the floor in order to stretch the calf muscles.
- Lateral Flexion at the Wall
Muscles Emphasized: External Obliques
Extend the spine and push the hips outside very slowly. People who have some problems with their lower back shouldn’t perform this stretch.
Muscles Emphasized: Glutes and External Obliques
This stretch is especially beneficial for people suffering from sciatica and trying to eliminate this agonizing pain. Start by lying flat on the back and bring one leg across the body. Rotate the gaze and upper body in the opposite direction. The most important thing about this stretch is that you use your breath to open up the rib cage and sacroiliac joint and hip area without applying too much pressure on the lower back. If you find this stretch too hard, stack both knees of top of each other. This will help you feel more stretch on the upper spine when the knees are higher and more stretch on the lumbar spine when the knees are lower.
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