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22-Minute POST WORKOUT STRETCH for Injury Prevention & Flexibility
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Jun 7, 2024
POST WORKOUT STRETCH for Injury Prevention & Flexibility Welcome to our latest video on "POST WORKOUT STRETCH for Injury Prevention & Flexibility"! In this comprehensive guide, we delve into the importance of post-exercise stretching for both preventing injuries and enhancing flexibility. From dynamic stretches to static holds, we cover a wide range of effective techniques tailored to your post-workout needs. Whether you're a seasoned athlete or just starting your fitness journey, incorporating these stretches into your routine can make a significant difference in your overall performance and well-being. Our expert-led demonstrations ensure you're executing each stretch correctly for maximum benefit. Discover the science-backed benefits of post-workout stretching and learn how it can improve your recovery time and reduce muscle soreness. From buttock stretches to lunging hip flexor stretches, we've got you covered with a variety of stretches targeting different muscle groups. Join us as we guide you through a series of stretches designed to optimize your post-workout routine and take your fitness journey to the next level. Don't let stiffness and tightness hold you back—unlock your body's full potential with our comprehensive post-workout stretch routine! Ready to elevate your fitness game? Watch our video now and start reaping the rewards of a proper post-workout stretching regimen. #PostWorkoutStretch #InjuryPrevention #Flexibility #Fitness #WorkoutRecovery #DynamicStretching #StaticHolds #MuscleSoreness #Athlete #Exercise #Health #Wellness
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0:00
Welcome to this cozy winter warmer
0:09
A quick 20 minute practice for a day of recovery. So if you've been on a long run or you've taxed your muscles in some way or you're just
0:20
feeling like you need something more restorative but you still want to build some warmth
0:24
internally then this would be a good option. In terms of props, two bricks and a
0:30
a good thick blanket will be really handy and you'll need a little bit of wall space for one of the passive
0:37
stretches that we'll get to at the end when you've got your props join me on all fours and
0:44
step your hands one hand print further forwards begin to circle your hips big generous sweeping circles
0:53
moving the hips back towards the heels and forwards and across the wrists and as you do
1:00
this start to connect to your breathing. Taking about four to five seconds for the
1:07
inhale, a moment pause at the top before a four to five second exhale with a
1:16
pause at the bottom. Go for another few in this direction. You'll notice that the
1:21
shoulders and the spine also get involved and then switch out your direction
1:30
plug your palms actively into the ground. Gentle grip with the fingertips, feel how that secures your shoulders and upper back
1:43
Two more rounds. Just noticing how it's feeling in your body as you're waking up
1:52
And then come to neutral. Reset into all fours where your shoulders stack above your wrists
1:59
of your wrists and begin a few rounds of cat cow inhaling lengthening your chest forwards exhale
2:06
rounding your back so you don't need me to call through cat car you probably heard the instructions
2:16
a million times so just let yourself go inwards to feel what is the musculature of your spine
2:26
reflecting back at you. Are there any segments or joints of your vertebra that are feeling a little bit
2:33
more stuck, sticky, without judgment, just noticing. And on your, after your next round, come to stillness
2:49
and take a big step forwards with your right foot outside your right wrist. Spike up onto your fingertips
2:56
Press your hips forwards and down as you lift and spread your collar bones. Exhale, shoot your hips back into a half split variation
3:04
but don't worry about fully extending your right leg. We're just going to warm up. Inhale, bend your front knee, lift your chest
3:11
Exhale, extend your front leg, gently fold in. And if you have your bricks to hand and you feel like they would assist you
3:17
then bring them into the equation underneath your hands. Bending and extending, moving from low lunge to half split
3:26
just a few times. Keep your legs active as you're moving. We're building some heat before we go into some passive stretches
3:35
but don't worry, this is a cozy option, so it won't be anything too taxing
3:39
We're just allowing some space back into the body. All right, the next time you come back
3:46
into your half splits variation, I would suggest gathering the bricks underneath you
3:51
on whatever setting serves you, but having a little bit more height allows for what we're going to do next
3:56
Press actively down into your front heel and begin to windscreen wiper your foot from side to side
4:02
So there becomes an external and internal rotation deep within the hip socket
4:08
And we're not swaying the bum around. It's just the thigh bone moving within the hip socket as best as you can control
4:15
Go for another two or so rounds. And neutral. Now you're going to bring you both of your bricks out
4:26
outside your right thigh. You may need to scoot your right foot a little bit further in towards the midline
4:32
And if you need more height on your bricks, take it. Inhale, pull back on the heel as you draw your right hip up and back
4:40
Exhale, elongate your chest forwards and out. And then you're just exploring the sensations. Notice where your foot points
4:49
Track your toes straight up, skywards above the heel. And you're actively pulling your foot back towards
4:56
your calf muscle throughout. Keep fighting for lengthen your spine, shining the right sit bone up and back
5:03
behind you. Two more breath cycles. One more in and out. Leave the bricks where they were
5:17
Inhale, bend into your front knee deeply. And you might want to scoot your right heel back a bit
5:22
so that your shin can track forwards beyond the toes, pivot your back shin across to the right side and now you going to use your right elbow to really spread your right thigh bone forwards and down so that your sit bone is tracking down towards your heel if your heel is lifted
5:41
off the ground you've gone too far we're aiming to stretch the calf and the Achilles tendon so just
5:46
pause there it's like you're pushing your foot through the ground throughout and you'll also be
5:51
getting a generous outer hip stretch on the back left thigh check your knee is tracking in line with
5:57
with your toes and keep a lift through the inner arch so that your footprint is active
6:01
Few more breaths. And then keep the weight pouring forwards and spike up onto your front tippy toes
6:09
Now you're going to be getting into the big toe joint like wearing your invisible heels
6:17
Keep pouring some weight forwards, for just a few more breaths. Still stretching the outer back leg
6:25
And release. right heel comes down to the ground fingertips to the front tuck under your back toes and lift the knee
6:33
plug your right hand down flat sorry left hand down flat under the shoulder the back of your right
6:39
hand will come to your left jawbone inhale twist right elbow to the sky screw your left shoulder
6:46
onto your back for support twist down exhale right elbow slides towards the inner right ankle
6:53
moving between the two twist elbow to the sky breathe in twist elbow to the ankle breathe out go for a few more rounds
7:04
inhale twist exhale reach down inhale twist exhale twist exhale down exhale down one more up to the sky
7:17
and this time stay down lizard you could stay on your hands or you could lower down on your forearms
7:23
If you're feeling fatigued in the back leg, no problem, pop the knee down
7:27
If you want something a little bit more active, you can keep the back knee lifted. So we're preparing for our final stretch where we'll be using the blanket in the wall
7:37
And it will be getting deep into our quads and hip flexes. So this is the buildup in Lizard
7:43
You could rock forwards, you could circle the hips gently, whatever helps you marinate in this stretch
7:51
Breathing in and out through your nose. as your body opens. Pop the back knee down if it was lifted
8:01
Rise onto your hands if you were on your forearms. Slide your right heel back and press to an upright in 1990
8:10
So we want a right angle beneath both knees. Scoop the pubic bone up, tailbone down so you get neutral in the pelvis
8:18
Inhale, reach both arms up to the sky. Exhale, interlace your hands behind
8:23
your head but scoop the elbows forwards. We'll introduce a slight upper back bend
8:28
So the aim is to keep all of the lower body super secure so that the upper body can move away
8:33
Inhale, lift up through your collar bones. Exhale, arch just the thoracic spine
8:39
So what we tend to do is make it really dramatic and dump our weight down
8:43
Instead, focus on it being really lifted, buoyant and elevated, and you're just using the upper back muscles
8:51
to extend the thoracic spine. One more breath in and out. Come up and reset downward facing dog
9:02
Tuck under the back toes. Step back. Plank, inhale, roll forwards. Exhale, lower your knees and come down to the ground
9:12
Cobra. Inhale, squeeze your upper back. Down dog, exhale, push hips to heels and extend your legs
9:23
Inhale to high plank. Exhale, hover your knees just above the ground
9:30
Use your core for five, four, three, two, one, place the knees
9:38
Second side, step your left foot outside your left wrist. And spike up onto your fingertips
9:46
Inhale, pelvis sinks forwards and down as you lift your chest. Exhale, move your hips back as you come into a half
9:53
variation but the left foot is wide. Moving between the two, inhale, bend your front knee
10:00
lift your chest. Exhale, extend your front leg and fold in. And of course you could use the
10:06
bricks if that supports you, but don't worry about fully extending your leg. You're just
10:13
moving within whatever range is available. And as this is a recovery class, it might be so
10:20
that there is some sensation and some tenderness in your body. So just honour that
10:28
Treat this movement as self-care. One more inhale and bend. And the next time that you exhale and extend stay
10:38
gather your bricks under your hands and have it on a height setting that means you can lengthen your spine
10:44
The wrists are directly under the shoulders. We'll go for the windscreen wipers
10:49
turn the toes out and in without anything else moving, just the bones of your thigh
10:56
rotating internally and externally deep within the hip socket. So it almost like all of the muscles of your leg are wrapping around the bone so nothing floppy It all controlled And you pulling your heel back sucking the thigh bone really up into the hip
11:17
and then find your foot neutral, pointing straight up. Take your bricks over to the left side of your left thigh
11:26
Inhale, drag your heel back as if you could shine your sit bone up the back wall
11:32
Exhale, push into the bricks and stretch your chest forwards and across to the left side
11:39
And you'll be feeling this right deep in the outer hip, the IT band
11:44
maybe even all the way down to the outer calf muscle. Depending on where you hold tension in your body, this might feel quite sensational
11:53
For me, it definitely does. Feel for softening through the back of the knee as you let space come behind the knee joint
12:00
wash your breath through whatever is arising. One more breath in and out
12:14
Inhale, re-bend your front knee. Leave your bricks where they were on the side
12:19
hands down inside your front foot. Exhale, tuck under your back toes and lift the knee
12:26
If you're feeling like keeping the knee down, will support you more do that
12:30
and we'll go for our twists. The back of your left hand comes to the right cheek
12:35
Inhale, twisting to the sky. Elbow lifts and feel how with the hand on your cheek
12:40
it moves the rotation all the way up into the neck. Exhale, elbow down inside your front ankle
12:48
Moving between the two. Inhale, twisting up. Exhale, twisting down. And then just move freely between the two
12:59
at a pace that allows you to feel it and articulate as many bones of your vertebra as you can
13:09
I like to imagine myself like a wet towel wringing myself out from the center
13:17
Last twist to the sky, inhale. And when you twist down, stay exhale
13:22
Option to come down into a lizard, meaning you're lowering the forearms
13:27
or you could stay up on your hands, the back knee up or down, as you wish
13:32
And you could wiggle around, you could hold it static, just allow yourself to prime the opening of your right quad
13:41
softening around the left hip crease, keeping your feet active and your breath study
13:52
One more breath cycle here. Coming into your 1990 lunge, slide the front foot back slightly
14:03
Press to rise and organize your foundation before you go further. So we want these 90 degree angles beneath the knees
14:12
tailbone down, pubic bone up just to level out the pelvis, front to back, but also side to side
14:17
Arms up, inhale. Bending the elbows, hands behind the head, exhale. Turn your armpits forwards, feel your scapula, wrap around your
14:27
side ribs. Thoracic upper back bend. Inhale, lift your ribs all four corners away from your hips
14:34
Exhale, arching just through the thoracic spine. I like to squeeze my legs together like a pair of
14:40
scissors and breathe. Finish up and now we're going to use the wall. So I like to really double triple quadruple fold my blanket
14:57
wedge it all the way up to the base of the wall. Bring your blocks with you
15:03
I like them on the highest setting possible. Start with your left knee back against the base of the wall
15:11
with your toes pointing up. It might be that your knee has to be a little bit away from the wall
15:18
but eventually you'll get your knee to the back, to the base rather. Then utilize your bricks to take some weight out of your front knee
15:26
and lunge your front foot forward. So like 1990 stance that we began with
15:31
You could leave your blocks there and then take a moment just finding an upright position
15:35
through the spine. If you need to keep the weight forwards on your bricks, do that. But eventually we're looking to get your back
15:43
tailbone, spine all the way towards the wall. But as you'll notice, this is a deep quad stretch
15:49
Like a very, this is a very big muscle group, the four muscles of the hip flexes
15:55
down the front of your thigh. and they go, the rec femme goes over the kneecap, so it's a really big muscle and it does a lot of work for us
16:03
which means that this can also hold a lot of tension, especially if you're a runner, a cyclist, a dancer
16:10
whatever other movement you do throughout your week. So give yourself the time to soften into this one
16:18
As we were doing in our 1990, feel the pubic bone lift up towards your belly button
16:24
The tailbone tracks down the wall towards the floor. And you can even press the top of your left foot into the wall slightly
16:33
It might move your hips away from the wall, but that's okay. You just notice how it recruits the muscles that you stretching slightly And then we can take it into more of a front lunge
16:46
So allow your hips to move away from the wall. Front knee tracks forwards over the toes
16:51
That's just made me realize that we forgot the calf muscle stretch on the second side
16:55
but we'll get there, don't worry. Luckily, we did prepare this side
17:00
So let your right knee track forwards in line with your toes, right sit bone moving down towards the right heel
17:05
the right heel like we practice. And then you can go in for your thoracic upper back bend
17:11
maybe even the fingertips on the bricks. Inhale, squeeze the legs together like scissors
17:15
lift through your thoracic spine. Exhale, arch just the upper back. You could even raise your arms up
17:23
hands behind the head like we were doing. Press into the wall and arch. Few breaths to feel it all come together
17:34
And release. to the bricks, bring your right knee down and then you can slide your left knee forwards, sit
17:41
back onto your heels. So before we go on to the second side, we'll do a quick left calf muscle
17:47
warm up. So lunge your left foot forwards and just let your knee track forwards over the toes
17:52
You can pivot your right shin over to the side slightly just to allow you to sit your weight into
17:56
the front ball of the foot whilst keeping the heel rooted. I like to use my forearm to press
18:03
the knee away from me to help encourage more weight to stretch the Achilles tendon
18:10
As we did on the first side, spike up your front heel just to stretch the big toe mound
18:15
It's good and you'll be getting an outer right hip stretch. Few breath cycles
18:24
And release the heel down. Now we're switching sides. The right knee will come onto your blankets down by the base of the wall ish
18:33
Use your hands on the bricks, steady, and then you can lunge your left foot away
18:39
Start by exploring the pelvis moving back towards the wall. But if you need to stay forwards because it's too intense, your bricks are there to help you
18:54
And you may notice quite a vast disparity from one side to the other
18:59
For me, the right side is a stronger muscle group. it's more dominant than my left and therefore it also holds a bit more power and tension
19:09
So notice that for yourself and when you come to practice this class again you could even pause the
19:15
class and hold the side that needs more space for a little bit longer, maybe five or so more breaths
19:24
Use your intuition. No one will know your body better than you
19:28
I like to imagine that my knee, the bent knee at the back, is sinking down through quicksand
19:40
You can press the front of the foot into the wall slightly, engaging the glute
19:45
This will help track your tailbone down. And then we'll come into the front lunge
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Let your left knee track forwards as your pelvis moves away from the wall. you could use the blocks as much or as little as you like here
19:59
And you're pushing the floor away so that although the gravity is helping
20:03
you're also active within that. Optional backbend, inhale, arms up. Exhale, hand behind the head if you wish
20:11
And then you can take as much or as little of a backbender's feels good for you
20:16
Stretching through your abs, through your armpits, to your thoracic spine. coming out hands to the bricks pop your left knee down and slide your back knee away from the wall
20:30
we'll come into our closing pose child's pose bring your toes together at the back knees up wide
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and then walk your way out into a passive child's pose your hands could be as active or as passive
20:48
as you like, you could use any props that you have to hand. You can even pop on a jumper and some
20:53
sucks, but we're just using this pose to neutralize. Calm your breathing. Perhaps you're already
21:04
able to notice some more space in your body. Some more ease in the musculature of your spine
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and upper back take take one more full breath in
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and a complete breath out walk your hands back
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and lift up You could close your practice here or you could take any version of final relaxation that serves you
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That could be classic shabasana, leg us up the wall, anything, or you can just close with me now
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Eyes, quiet, chin bowed, just taking a moment of gratitude for this practice, for this active self-care
22:07
Namaste. I'm
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