5 stretching workouts made easy.

Some days, the thought of exercising is the equivalent of walking to school uphill both ways in a raging blizzard with no shoes. Yeah, I went there. 

Your body feels tired and mentally you have been talking yourself out of the workout all morning. 

If you have been exercising for any amount of time, I am sure you can relate to this scenario. So what should you do?

Sometimes, the body does actually need a break so ignoring what your body is telling you might not be the best idea.

Most times, you will be fine and feel much better after doing your workout. 

The take-home message… do something. Motion is lotion to your body.

In almost every situation you will feel better doing something. It does not have to be overly intense, but doing a little something can be just what you need and what your body will tolerate. 

You could do only part of the workout.

You could perform all the exercises but cut back on the number of sets you perform.

You could do a completely different workout and work on things that feel “good” for that day.

Or, you could do a quick stretching and mobility workout and call it a day. This one will have you feeling better no matter what is actually going on. 

These can be done as part of a different workout or as their own standalone workouts.

Here are 5 quick and dirty stretching routines you can do when you want to do a little something but not too much. 

Every one of these can be done in less than 10 minutes. 

Workout 1

1/2 kneeling hip flexor stretch

2-3x30s each leg

1/2 kneeling hamstring stretch

2-3x30s each leg

Supine glute stretch

2-3x30s each leg

If you are not familiar with the hip flexor or hamstring stretch or you have trouble feeling them in the proper spot, check out the tutorials for each.

Start in a half kneeling position with the knee down on the hip you intend to stretch. Set up next to something you can use for balance or grab a foam roller...

If you are tired of stretching your sciatic nerve instead of your hamstring, watch this video. Nerves do not typically like to be stretched. So not only are ...

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Workout 2

Standing quad stretch

2-3x30s each leg

Dynamic hip adductor stretch

2-3x20s stretch each leg

Supine lumbar deload

6x5s holds

I find performing the quad stretch this way is the easiest way to set up instead of trying to grab the foot.

If your quad is tight, getting your foot up is quite challenging. 

If you do decide to grab the leg, make sure to grab just above the ankle bones (on the lower leg) instead of the foot. Grabbing the foot puts a lot of stress through the ankle joint in order to stretch the quad, which is unnecessary.  

If you have never tried lumbar deloading, check out this tutorial.

Deloading is a technique used to take pressure off of the lumbar spine. It is a preferred way to "stretch" the low back as it allows the spine to stay neutra...

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Workout 3

Spiderman with rotation

3x5 each side

Foam roll IT band

At least 30s each leg

Quadruped glute stretch

2-3x30s each side

Let’s get something out of the way right now. Foam rolling your IT band is really painful. Surprisingly painful.

But, the more it hurts, the more you should do it. If you do not have a foam roller, you can sit and use a rolling pin to accomplish something similar.

Make sure to focus on turning with your hips when doing the spiderman stretch. Many people just twist their spines because their hips are tight.

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Workout 4

Ankle mobilizations

2-3x30s each leg

Thoracic mobilizations

10x5s holds

90-90 hamstring stretch

2-3x30s holds

Tight ankles and stiffness in the mid back are incredibly common. Don’t be surprised if you have both and do not be surprised if you struggle with both of these mobilizations at first.

Here are a couple of tutorials to help with the finer points.

Start with the foam roller around the shoulder-blade level. Cradle the head and neck. The goal is to keep the neck relaxed during the mobilization. An often ...

When the ankles do not move like they are supposed to, altered mechanics can result which can lead to pain in the foot, ankle, knee, hip and even the low bac...

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Workout 5

Standing thoracic mobilization

5x5s holds

Standing hamstring stretch

2-3x30s each leg

Standing lat stretch

2-3x20s holds each side

I perform the standing thoracic mobilization multiple times every day. You can use kitchen counters, the back of the couch, the side of your bed or any other surface that isn’t too low and won’t tip over.

If you are not feeling these in the correct spots, check out the tutorials to help you make some subtle corrections.

Standing thoracic mobility tutorial

Standing hamstring stretch tutorial

Standing lat stretch tutorial

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There you have it. 5 different stretching workouts you can do in under 10 minutes. That seems like a pretty sweet deal to me.

Know anyone who might be able to use there? Make sure you share this post with them.

Until next time,

Dr. Tom