Four Mobility Stretches For Men To Do Daily

Incorporate these daily mobility stretches for men into your weekly schedule for improved performance and injury prevention…

Mobility exercises are so often overlooked, but the benefit they bring not only your training but your overall wellbeing shouldn’t be underestimated. Everyday niggles like those twinges you feel when touching your toes or loading a bag into an overhead locker can easily be ironed out with some basic hamstring or shoulder work.

In the gym you’ll notice improvements too. If you’ve been paying attention to you mobility and flexibility, you’ll find it easier to hold the correct form lifting big during workouts for more effective gains and fewer injury concerns.

Give these four exercises a go to begin with and you’ll soon notice the difference. They can all be done from the comfort of your own front room too.

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Flexibility exercises for men: areas to target

When incorporating flexibility exercises for men into your fitness routine, concentrate your efforts on the body parts that take the biggest battering from work and play, and you’ll see results fast.

“Upper-back work is essential for basically everyone,” says Jarlo Ilano, managing director at Gold Medal Bodies.

“Everyone is hunched forwards during the hours they spend driving and doing computer work. Ideally you need to counteract that daily by using flexibility exercises and mobility stretches for men.

“Similarly, pretty much everyone needs to work on their hip extension – with all the sitting or slumping on the sofa we do, it’s an area that needs constant work.

“Finally, you should work on hip rotation: again, everyone needs it, and it has direct benefits for squatting and jumping.”

Best flexibility exercises for men

1. Cobra with Back Emphasis

• Get on your stomach with your elbows underneath your shoulders and forearms on the floor. 
• Bring your shoulders upwards gently and, when you get used to the stretch, straighten your arms.
• Hold the top position for 20-30 secs.
• Repeat twice.

2. Kneeling Lunge

• Get into a modified lunge position so your back instep and knee are on the floor.
• Shift your hips forward to rock gently.
• To make it harder, bend your back knee and grab your foot – this will stretch your hip flexors.
• Hold for 20-30 secs.

3. Modified Pigeon

• This is modified from the full yoga version, which you don’t need if you haven’t got the flexibility. 
• Bring one leg ahead of you with your shin parallel to your body, your back leg bent at a comfortable angle behind you.
• As you get better, work on straightening the back leg.
• Hold for 20-30 secs.

4. Travelling Butterfly 

• Sit with your legs straight out in front of you, then put your hands behind you and your weight on your heels, bringing yourself forwards into a butterfly stretch – knees out to the sides. 
• Repeat 5 to 10 times.