Leg Raise Stretches

A regular stretching program helps you maintain or increase your flexibility, and it may also help improve your athletic performance and decrease your risk of injury. Just as a strength-training program should cover all your major muscle groups, so should your stretching routine. You can perform many effective lower-body stretches by raising your legs off the floor.

  1. Standing

    • When you’re stretching from a standing position and extending your leg forward, you’ll typically stretch the hamstring muscles in the back of each thigh. Perform a single-leg stretch by raising one foot onto a bench or another raised platform, straightening your leg and leaning your upper body toward your raised foot. Perform a similar stretch by placing the ball of your raised foot against the edge of the bench’s surface and keeping your knee bent slightly. Stretch the quads in the front of each thigh by lifting only your lower leg as you stand straight and pull your heel toward your butt. Hold the standing stretches for 30 seconds each, and perform them with both legs.

    Lying Down

    • To stretch your hamstrings while lying on your back, raise one leg vertically, loop a towel or belt around the ball of your foot and pull the leg toward your head. Alternatively, you can use a wall of door jamb to hold your leg up: lie with your butt at the corner of a wall or a door jamb, so you can keep one leg one the floor while you position your other leg vertically against the wall or door jamb. Do the hamstring stretches with both legs. Stretch the groin muscles in your upper thighs by positioning your butt against a full wall, then lifting your legs and positioning them against the wall at 45-degree angles relative to the floor.

    Seated

    • You can stretch your hip and gluteus muscles while you’re sitting on the floor. Bend your right knee and position your right heel on the floor against your left hip. Lift your left leg and pull your knee toward your chest while setting your left ankle against the outside of your right thigh. Stretch your calf while sitting in a chair or a bench by leaning forward a bit and raising your leg so it’s parallel with the floor. Perform the stretches with both legs.

    Dynamic Stretches

    • Unlike static stretches, during which you remain still, you perform dynamic stretches while you’re in motion. Dynamic, leg-lifting stretches include walking with high knees, power skips, and straight or lateral leg swings. Do dynamic stretches before a workout and static stretches afterward.