Een if you're consistent with your muscle-building programme, you may find yourself waking up with achey muscles and in need of a good stretch. For you, elite strength and conditioning coach Jeff Cavaliere, aka Athlean-X, has shared a four-minute mobility and stretching programme to be done first thing in the morning in order to wake up and seize the day.
'I promise that if you do this within 10-minutes of waking up, you'll feel amazing,' said Cavaliere.
'The reason I want you to perform these lower-body stretches within 10 minutes of waking up is because after about 10 minutes, you will likely forget to do it. I understand that our mornings are busy and we have a limited amount of time to get things done. However, this routine will take just four minutes to complete and your hips and legs will absolutely thank you for getting it done,' the Athlean-X coach adds.
Set your morning alarm and roll out your mat.
The Stretching Routine
'This short, four-minute stretching routine will have your legs feeling amazing which will in turn have the rest of your body feeling great as well. This mobility flow is not one to overlook because by unlocking our hips and the rest of the muscles in our legs, we will be ready to perform lower body movements with greater efficiency,' said Cavaliere.
Frog Stretch
Cavaliere recommends: 'The stretching routine begins with a simple frog stretch for thirty seconds. Make sure you sit your hips back towards your heels in order to get the greatest stretch possible on your groin. By sitting back you're putting the muscles in your groin on stretch and sitting further back on your feels will increase this stretch. This is often an area that we ignore when it comes to working on mobility, but by unlocking these muscles, you will not only feel better physically, but your performance in the gym will be improved as well. This is a great move when preparing for any leg workout.'
Downward Dog
Cavaliere recommends: 'Next, in a single flowing movement we are going to adopt a yoga manoeuvre called downward dog. Most people, when performing the downward dog, are lazy with it. What do I mean by this? They stay on their toes but don't let their heels come down to the ground. By getting your heels to the ground, you are increasing the stretch on the calves, hamstrings, and hips as well. If you are having trouble getting your heels down to maximise the stretch, then you can walk your hands back so that your torso is at a steeper angle. This move should be performed for 30 seconds as well.'
Step Through
Cavaliere recommends: 'From the downward dog position, you are going to perform a step through. This is taking one leg and stepping it through to the opposite side. When you are in this position, I want you to slide your body a bit towards the foot that is stepping through to the opposite side. Allow your foot to rest on its side. These muscles rarely get targeted with our stretching routines, but I promise that if you start to focus on them, your legs will feel looser and ready to go for the day. Hold this stretch for thirty seconds on one leg and then thirty seconds on the other.'
90/90 Stretch
Cavaliere recommends: 'In our stretching flow, your next move is to perform a 90/90 stretch on one side in order to stretch out the glutes and hips. With the glutes and hip muscles often not being stretched either, you will likely feel a deep stretch, but I promise when it’s over with your legs will be feeling nice and loose. To get a more intense stretch on these muscles, lean forward more. You can even try touching your torso to the ground, but if you can’t, don’t worry. The more you perform these moves, the better you will get at doing them and the more range of motion you will achieve over time. Perform this 90/90 stretch on one side for 30 seconds.'
Hip Flexor Stretch
Cavaliere recommends: 'Once your 30 second 90/90 stretch is completed, raise your torso up tall. This will help to target the hip flexors on the opposite leg. Often, when we perform a move that we think is stretching the hip flexors, the reality is that we are getting a quad stretch, which is easily confused for the area we are trying to target with our stretches. Perform this stretch for 30 seconds. After you have completed the hip flexor stretch, you will go back to the 90/90 stretch, but this time on the other side and complete the flow with your hip flexor stretch on the other leg for thirty seconds again.'
Kate is a fitness writer for Men’s Health UK where she contributes regular workouts, training tips and nutrition guides. She has a post graduate diploma in Sports Performance Nutrition and before joining Men’s Health she was a nutritionist, fitness writer and personal trainer with over 5k hours coaching on the gym floor. Kate has a keen interest in volunteering for animal shelters and when she isn’t lifting weights in her garden, she can be found walking her rescue dog.
