Best Stretching Exercises

Looking to improve your full-body mobility? These are the best stretching exercises to try, according to world-renowned PT Luke Worthington.

An effective training programme should cover all five measurable health and wellbeing components: strength, work capacity (cardio fitness), mobility, body composition and emotional wellbeing. Stretching exercises fall under the banner of mobility, and this is a component you can’t afford to ignore if you want to get the best results from your workouts. 

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So, why is stretching so important? Maintaining the ability to move through a full range of motion will not only reduce your risk of injury, but also ensure you’re maximising both muscle and strength progressions.

If you’re new to mobility work, you should try our stretching exercises for beginners before attempting these more advanced stretches.

Both sets of stretches – beginner-focused and those featured here – are designed to stabilise the core and loosen the glutes, hip flexors, adductors, upper back and ankles. These are all areas commonly associated with stiffness. Equally, they’re all areas that will improve strength training performance if you can move them efficiently.

Related content:

1. Best hip stretches
2. Best shoulder stretches
3. Yoga for men: a beginner’s guide

How to get started with these stretching exercises:

The best stretching exercises can be performed as a standalone session, or as a dynamic warm-up before strength training.

If performing as a standalone session, aim to work through them as a continuous circuit – with 4 complete circuits your target. Or, if performing these exercises as a dynamic warm-up, the intent should be to move swiftly from one exercise to the next, therefore helping to elevate the heart rate as you mobilise your whole body.

These exercises are a little more technically demanding than the stretching exercises for beginners. So they require more body awareness to perform.

Best Stretching Exercises 

1. Dynamic Pigeon
2. Spiderman
3. Thread the Needle
4. Adductor Dip
5. Ankle Hip Lift

Keep reading for full instructions on how to perform these stretching exercises.

Dynamic Pigeon 

Reps: 6 each side 

• Aim to get the knee and ankle both to the floor at the same time, with the shin as close as you can manage to being at 90 degrees to your body line.   
• Also, be sure to keep bracing the core to prevent extension of the lower back. 

Spiderman

Reps: 6 each side 

• The knee on the stepping foot should just brush against the outside of your shoulder on the same side.
• Try to keep the back knee raised from the floor to allow a greater range at the hip. 

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Thread the Needle

Reps: 8 each side 

• Ensure you rock the hips back on to your heels before initiating the rotation. This keeps the movement in the upper back.
• The gaze should follow the fingertips of the moving arm. So, you should end up looking under your armpit.

Adductor Dip

Reps: 8 each side 

• Aim for 90 degree angles at both knees, with the weight centred over the knee on the floor.   
• Also, keep the torso as upright as possible as you dip – this ensures length in the adductors. 

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Ankle Hip Lift

Reps: 10 each side 

• Use the weight of the non-working leg to assist with pressing the heel to the floor as you lift your hips.   
• Ensure the core stays braced to avoid extension of the lower back.