Ten minutes is all you need to wake up your muscles and limber up your joints with this morning stretching routine. It’s easy to add it to any new fitness regime.
We all know we should stretch more. Whether we’re focusing on hip stretches during our morning routine or directing our attention toward our upper body, regular mobility work can improve post-exercise recovery, flexibility and injury prevention – just like foam rollers for post-workout recovery can. However, we often find there’s limited time to work out, and we want to maximise the time we do have by getting our sweat on as quickly as possible.
The solution? Incorporate a short but effective series of pre-workout stretches into your fitness regime. This short morning stretching routine to prime and protect your body will take just ten minutes or less. From hip flexors and quads to chest and upper back, each stretch is designed to target a different area and muscle group.
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At Men’s Fitness we pride ourselves on delivering information that serves a singular purpose: to improve some aspect of your health, fitness or wellbeing. For over 16 years, we’ve been publishing authoritative health and fitness content – written by our expert editors and contributors – in the form of the monthly Men’s Fitness magazine. Each of our workouts has been created by either a highly experienced editor or expert contributor, and has been tested and used in real-world situations. This morning stretching routine has been suggested by the personal trainers at f45training.com.
Exercises in this morning stretching routine
Hold each stretch for 30 seconds on each side.
- Low lunge (targets hip flexors)
- Elevated kneeling lunge (targets quads)
- Half kneeling hamstring stretch (targets hamstrings)
- Pigeon pose (targets hips and glutes)
- Twisted cross (targets chest and shoulders)
- Thread the needle (targets upper back)
1. Low lunge
Targets: Hip flexors
Why we like it: We’d recommend these low lunges to anyone experiencing tightness in their hips. As well as stretching the hip flexors, this will also work your glutes, helping to elongate the spine and improve posture.
- Start by kneeling tall, then step one foot forward
- Keeping your chest proud, tuck your pelvis under and squeeze your glutes, dropping your hips forward and down
- Keep your weight in your front heel and don’t let your glutes relax
2. Elevated kneeling lunge
Targets: Quads
Why we like it: Elevating and holding the foot of your kneeling leg works your quads and glutes harder, increasing both the load on the front foot and instability in the hold, which inevitably calls on your core muscles to counteract.
- Start by kneeling on one knee
- Keeping your core and glutes engaged and pelvis neutral, grab your back foot and pull it up toward your bum – be sure to keep your chest tall and allow your hips to press forward
- If you feel comfortable, grab your foot with your other hand as well
3. Half kneeling hamstring stretch
Targets: Hamstrings
Why we like it: This is our go-to exercise for reducing hamstring tightness. It’s also a useful one to have in your armoury if you’re suffering from lower back pain. An added bonus is improved trunk stability too.
- Again, kneeling on one knee, extend one leg out and place your heel on the floor
- Pull your toes back toward your shin and drop your chest toward your knee
4. Pigeon pose
Targets: Hips and glutes
Why we like it: This is a popular hip-opening yoga pose, and for good reason. While the extended leg receives a hip flexor stretch, you’ll also be stretching your outer hip, groin, thigh, back, piriformis and psoas muscles.
- Start sitting on your hip with both your knees at 90-degree angles
- Raise your hips and make them square with your front leg, then drop them down onto the floor and take your chest forward over your front leg
- This is quite an advanced stretch – if you feel any pain in your knee, allow your leg to bend further
5. Twisted cross
Targets: Chest and shoulders
Why we like it: This deep stretch helps open up the shoulders, chest, and hips while releasing tension in the spine, improving spinal mobility. Plus, as you twist your torso, it compresses the abdominal organs, increasing blood flow and stimulating the digestive system.
- Start by lying on your front with your arms out to form a T shape
- Crawl your right hand a couple of inches higher than the line of your shoulder and bring your left arm in under your chest
- Now press with your left arm and reach your left leg up and over your right – try to place it flat on the floor
- If you are very flexible you can continue to rotate your body until both feet are flat on the floor
6. Thread the needle
Targets: Upper back
Why we like it: We swear by thread the needle, particularly for those suffering upper back and shoulder stiffness. The twist opens up the chest and shoulders, releasing tension and relieving stress.
- Start on all fours, with your hips stacked over your knees and feet apart so they remain in line with the knees
- Keeping your knees and hips exactly where they are, walk your hands further out in front of you
- Once you have reached a comfortable stretch, slide your right arm, palm up, along the floor under your left arm, allowing your shoulder and temple to rest on the floor
- Remember to breathe
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