Best Stretches For After Running

Running stretches after

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Many women love to walk or run for exercise yet they feel too tight and stiff to keep going every single day.

The best way to reduce the tightness and stiffness is to stretch after every walk or run. Stretching doesn’t need to be extensive or elaborate to be effective. Read on to see the best stretches to do after a walk or run.

  • Standing calf stretch

  • Quad stretch

  • Pigeon pose with quad stretch

  • Kneeling hip flexor stretch

  • Hamstring stretch

  • Soleus stretch

That’s 6 stretches, each one for 1 minute (split up) on each side means these stretches should take you less than 15 minutes to complete once you get the hang of them.

I love these stretches because they stretch out the big muscle groups that you’re using when you walk and run. You may decide a stretch feels really good and you want to stay in it longer (hello pigeon pose!)... if you’re new to stretching, ease into it by splitting up the 1 minute total of each stretch into repetitions.

Beginner stretching:

When I’m doing a new stretch I like to hold each stretch for 15 seconds at a time. To complete the 1-minute total stretch that means I’m doing it for 4 repetitions, alternating right to left.

As I get used to each stretch I’ll hold the stretch longer, 30 seconds for 2 repetitions.

Running injury stretching

When you’re an injured runner stretching can help rehab your running injury. A few tips to help stretch your injury:

  1. Go light —> if you can’t hold the stretch, just move into the position slowly and then out of it slowly

  2. If you can hold the stretch, but not too long, don’t force it.

  3. Make sure your body is warm when you stretch.

  4. Ice the area after you stretch, not before.

Best stretches after run

Ready to Conquer Your runDisney Goals After Injury?

Ali Marty

Hi! I’m Ali. I’ve been in the health and wellness space since graduating with a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree in 2012. I worked in the typical outpatient clinic with active men and women with orthopedic injuries (shin splints, Achilles tendonitis, muscle and ligament tears, knee pain, IT Band pain, plantar fasciitis, and hip and knee arthritis until 2018 at which point I started Mobile Physical Therapy in Las Vegas, Nevada. Over the past few years I’ve transitioned to helping women running runDisney races after they’ve had an injury and they want to finish strong and enjoy the rest of their runcation.

https://dralipt.com
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