1 Stand in Mountain pose with big toes touching and heels about 2.5cm (1in) apart. Lift your right foot off the floor and grab your big toe with your right index and middle fingers. Keep your arm inside your lifted leg.
This balancing posture provides a deep hamstring and calf stretch, while improving strength and mobility in your core and hips. It is good for athletes to help prevent common soft-tissue injuries in the lower body, as well as an excellent stretch for runners to correct muscle imbalances.
TARGET AREAS
• hamstrings • calves • hips • core
BENEFITS
• Improves calf, hamstring, and hip mobility • Strengthens and prevents knee injury • Strengthens calves, hips, thighs, and core
1 Stand in Mountain pose with big toes touching and heels about 2.5cm (1in) apart. Lift your right foot off the floor and grab your big toe with your right index and middle fingers. Keep your arm inside your lifted leg.
2 While keeping your left leg straight and quadriceps fully engaged, slowly straighten the right leg until you feel a stretch in the right hamstrings. Keep chest upright, core engaged, and hips level. Press down firmly through the planted foot to lift the hips and stand as tall as possible. Hold the posture, inhaling as you lift and get taller, and exhaling as you press your foot further forwards and maintain the lift in your leg. Repeat on the other side.
YOU SHOULD FEEL
• Maximum engagement of both legs
• Stretch in hamstrings and calves
• Engagement of hips and core
YOU SHOULDN’T FEEL
• Pain in hamstrings or lower back; if you do, don’t lift leg as high, and bend knee
• Passive legs; if so, squeeze quadriceps and hip flexors
NOT THERE YET?
