You started with a dynamic warm-up, crushed a treadmill run, and are ready to hit the shower. Before you do, spend a few minutes doing these stretches for flexibility. Stretching may not be the most exciting part of your workout, but it’s an important tenant of a well-rounded fitness routine. Taking time to stretch after a cardio workout will help your body cool down, improve your flexibility, and keep your body working like a well-oiled machine.
Why should you stretch after a cardio workout?
As SELF has previously reported, stretching post-workout gives your body a chance to cool down properly. It’s important to make time for that—versus just abruptly stopping your workout—so that your body has a chance to slowly recalibrate. Otherwise, you might feel lightheaded or dizzy if your heart rate and breathing rate are trying to go from one extreme (intense!) to the next (less intense!).
Stretching after a workout may also help you recover more quickly, thanks to the way it increases blood flow to muscles and soft tissues that need all those good nutrients and oxygen to repair themselves, Jennifer Morgan, P.T., D.P.T., C.S.C.S., a sports physical therapist at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, previously told SELF.
Focusing on stretches for flexibility post-workout is typically recommended over doing them beforehand. Dynamic stretches, which are more active and focused on moving your body through similar motions that you’ll do in your workout, are great for warming up. But static stretches, which are the classic hold-a-stretch moves you think about when you think about flexibility training, are best to save until the end of the workout. As SELF has previously reported, research suggests static stretching can potentially reduce strength, power, and explosiveness if done right before a workout—all things you might need to crush your cardio routine.
It’s also best to stretch when your body is already warmed up (to reduce the risk of pulling or straining anything). There’s no better time for warm muscles and tendons than right after a sweaty cardio workout.
What are the best stretches to do after a cardio workout?
In general, you want to focus on stretching the muscles you just used in your workout. After a cardio workout, that probably means your lower-body muscles. But remember that your core—including your abdominal muscles and back muscles—also do some serious work when you run, bike, or spend time on your favorite cardio machine. Even your upper back and shoulders might feel fatigued. They, too, just worked hard helping you to maintain correct upright posture.
So, there’s no reason not to take advantage of your whole body being warm and primed for flexibility. Feel free to stretch anything that feels tight, or any problem areas you have—like, say, the lower back or neck and shoulders.
The Best Stretches for Flexibility After Cardio
Try these moves after your cardio workouts to improve your flexibility and range of motion. Hold each one for at least 30 seconds to get the best benefits. If you don’t have time for all of them, pick the ones that target the areas you feel tightest, or the areas that feel the hardest hit from your workout.
1. Frog Stretch
- Start on all fours.
- Slide your knees wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Turn your toes out and rest the inner edges of your feet flat on the floor.
- Shift your hips back toward your heels.
- Move from your hands to your forearms to get a deeper stretch, if possible.
The frog stretch targets the hip flexor muscles and inner thigh muscles.
2. Runners Lunge to Side Lunge
- Start standing with your feet together.
- Take a big step forward with your right foot, so that you are in a staggered stance.
- Bend your right knee and drop into a runner’s lunge, keeping your left leg straight behind you with your toes on the ground, so you feel a stretch at the front of your left thigh.
- Place your hands on the floor next to your right foot.
- Hold for two counts.
- Walk your hands underneath your body toward your left foot as you straighten your right leg and bend your left knee. Your right leg should be extended directly out to your right side, foot resting on your right heel.
- Hold for two counts before walking back to the runner’s lunge.
- Repeat on the other side.
This lunge combo stretches your hip flexors, quads, and hamstrings.
3. Knee to Chest Stretch
- Lie on your back with both legs extended.
- Pull your right knee into your chest, while keeping the left leg straight and your lower back pressed into the floor.
- Repeat on the other leg.
The knee to chest stretch stretches the hip flexors, glutes, lower back, and hamstrings.
4. Thread the Needle
- Start in a tabletop position with your shoulders stacked directly over your wrists and hips over your knees.
- Reach your right arm underneath your left and across your body with your palm facing up.
- Bend your left elbow as you gently lean into your right side; you should feel a stretch in the back of your right shoulder.
- Hold this pose for 8–10 breaths and then repeat on the left arm.
This stretch gently rotates the spine while also stretching the side and back of the shoulder.
5. Heel Drop
- Stand with the balls of your feet on the edge of your step.
- Drop one heel toward the floor. Bend your other leg and try not to put much weight into it.
- Repeat on the other side.
- To make this a dynamic stretch, you can slowly pedal your heels back and forth, or drop both heels toward the ground and raise them up and down.
The heel drop stretches the Achilles tendon and the gastrocnemius and soleus calf muscles.
6. Piriformis Stretch
- Sit on the floor with both legs extended in front of you.
- Cross your right leg over your left, and place your right foot flat on the floor.
- Place your right hand on the floor behind your body.
- Place your left hand on your right quad or your left elbow on your right knee (as shown) and press your right leg to the left as you twist your torso to the right.
- If the spinal rotation bothers your back, omit it and simply use your left hand to pull your right quad in and to the left.
- Switch sides and repeat.
The piriformis stretch gently rotates and stretches the spine. It also stretches the muscles in the outer hips and glutes, including the piriformis muscle.
7. Pretzel Stretch
- Lie on your left side with your head resting on your arm.
- Bend your right knee and hip up toward your chest as far as you can, and let it drop to the floor.
- Bend your left knee and grab your left foot (use a strap if you can’t reach it) with your right hand.
- Make sure your leg and torso remain in a straight line as you gently bring your top shoulder blade toward the floor.
- For more of a spinal twist, turn your head to look over your right shoulder.
- Switch sides and repeat.
The pretzel stretch stretches the quads, glutes, obliques, hips, and spine.
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