Gluteal Stretching

In our continued focus on stretching, today we'll wrap up our coverage of the leg with the muscle group which is arguably the biggest and strongest in the body, the Gluteal muscles. Two muscles, the Gluteus Maximus and Gluteus Minimus, make up what is also referred to as the buttocks (and other names which I will not mention here).

These muscles are responsible primarily for extension of the hip joint (and to help keep our pants up above our waistline unless you are one of those unfortunate souls who thinks its cool to walk with the waist of your pants hanging precariously on the minor curvature of your hamstring muscles!)

Stretching these muscles requires a combination of hip flexion and also a little bit of internal rotation of the hip to get the most optimal results.

Basic Gluteal Stretch

Advanced Gluteal Stretch

Combination Flexion/Rotation Stretch

Adductor - Inner thigh stretching

In our continued discussion about stretching, I thought I'd continue today with the inner thigh muscles, also known as the hip Adductors (like adding 1+1=2, these muscles pull the legs closer together when contracted). These muscles are also part of the group people refer to when they have "pulled a groin muscle."

As seen in the diagram these muscles consist of the Adductor Longus, Adductor Magnus (my personal favorite), Adductor Brevis, Pectinius, and the Gracillis.

The same principles for stretching apply to these muscles as with any others. The stretch should be done slowly, until you can feel the stretch, but not fast or excessive where you may injure the muscle and cause the exact opposite desire you want from stretching. Hold each stretch for 20-30 seconds and repeat if needed.

Depending on your fitness level, I'll again show several different levels of stretching exercises possible.

Low level Adductor Stretch

Intermediate Adductor Stretch

Advanced Adductor Stretch

Quadricips Stretching

Today we'll address stretching one of the major muscle groups of the leg, the Quadriceps (or Quads). This group of 4 muscles is located on the front of you thigh and is responsible for knee extension or straightening. These are some of the main workhorses that allow you to stand from a chair, jump, kick, and so on. Theya re some of the most powerful muscles in the body because they are constantly working to hold our bodies up against the effects of gravity whenever we are performing any typs of standing activity.

All 4 of these powerful muscles (vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius, vastus medialis and rectus femoris) merge together into one major tendon, the patellar tendon. This is the tendon on the front of your knee in which your knee cap (patella) is supended as a lever and attached to the front of you lower leg just below the knee joint.

Because of the powerful nature of these muscles and the fact that they exert all their pressure on one spot, it is a common injury, if proper stretching and warm-up is not performed before activity, to develop a tendonitis or inflamation injury in the front of the knee as a result. So depending on your fitness and activity level, you will probably want to incorporate one of the stretches below as a preventative measure. (I'll address the treatment of tendonitis at a later time).

Basic Side Quad Stretch

Intermediate Quad Stretching

Advanced Quadriceps Stretches

Again, as with all stretches, go slowly and hold each stretch for approximately 20-30 seconds and repeat as needed.

Intermediate Quad Stretch

Daily Fitness For Life - Stretching

One of the basic components of any fitness program, both in order to prevent injury and allow for proper warm-up and cool down, is a basic stretching program.

Over the next while I will adress several basic stretches that anyone of any fitness level should incorporate into their pre and post exercise routine. In fact, these stretches can and should be done for your health and daily function, even if you aren't going to be working out.

Like with any excercise program, there are several different fitness levels or intensities in which a stretch can be performed, but one common thread exists among all of them: Stretches need to be performed SLOWLY! Stretching which is performed too rapidly can result in injury or instead of loosening the muscle as intended, it will generate a reflex response which will actually cause the muscle to tighten (similar to when the doctor hits your knee with that little reflex hammer during your yearly check-ups).

To be effective a stretch should be done at a slow pace, until you can feel the muscle stretching, but not painful, and hold that position for at least 30 seconds. The same stretch can also be done more than once, especially if the muscle you are stretching feels particularly tight.

I will address several stretches over the coming week or so, with a different stretch being discussed each time, but today we will start with one of the basics = The Calf Stretch.

The "Calf" is made up of two main muscles, the gastrocnemious and the soleus, and is located on the back of your lower legs.

Basic/Low level Calf stretch: (see illustration at right)

To advance the intensity of this stretch you can step the leg you are stretching further back from the wall or object you are leaning against.

Also, in order to stretch both muscle groups, you can stretch as shown in the illustration, with the knee extended to stretch the gastrocnemius, and also bend the knee forward slightly to stretch the deeper soleus muscle.

This stretch is important because the foot, ankle and lower leg are the first part of the body to contact the ground with any type of walking or standing exercises.

Happy Stretching!