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Prep Your Body Thoroughly With These Stretches For Runners

These stretches for runners are an important part of preparing for your run. They will...

  • Increase the blood flow to your muscles
  • Lubricate your joints
  • Decrease the tightness in your muscles (without relaxing them too much)
  • Increases your heart rate
  • Put your muscles through their full range of motion.

All of these things increase your performance and decrease your chance of injury.

Before you do these stretches for runners, you should do 5-10 minutes of light aerobic exercise. This will raise your core body temperature and prevent stretching injuries.

 

WARNING:

 

Check out the stretches for runners below...

 

Swinging Leg (Front)

This stretches your hamstrings and your hip flexors.

  1. Hold onto something for balance if you need to.
  2. Swing your leg back until you feel a gentle stretch.
  3. Swing your leg forward until you feel a gentle stretch.
  4. Repeat x10 and then swap legs.

 

swinging leg out to the front preparing for a runswinging leg out to the front preparing for a run

 

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Swinging Leg (Lateral)

This stretches your inner thigh and outer thigh.

  1. Hold onto something for balance if you need to.
  2. Swing your leg across your other leg until you feel a gentle stretch.
  3. Swing your leg outwards until you feel a gentle stretch.
  4. Repeat x10 and then swap legs.

 

lateral leg swinging, preparing for a runlateral leg swinging, preparing for a run

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Lunges With A Twist

This warms up your glutes, thighs and core. Interestingly enough, it also relieves pain and tension in the region of your achilles tendon. This is a problem many runners encounter.

When doing the lunge make sure your knee doesn't move past your toes.

  1. Stand up straight.
  2. Step forward into a lunge position.
  3. Turn your body to the right (if your right leg is forward)
  4. Step forward with your back leg into the start position.
  5. Now step forward with the other leg.
  6. Do 10 in a row, turn around and do 10 back.

 

lunges with a twist

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Straight Leg Kicks

Your hamstrings, vital for running, need to be warmed up well. This stretch is perfect for it. Swing those legs high and feel a nice (not sore) stretch.

  1. Stand up straight.
  2. Kick one leg up while keeping your leg straight.
  3. Step forward and kick the other leg up.
  4. Repeat x20

 

straight leg kicks to stretch the hamstrings and glutesstraight leg kicks to stretch the hamstrings and glutes

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Walking Flamingo

It's also important to make sure your thighs are warmed up and stretched properly too.

  1. Stand up straight and pull your leg up behind you.
  2. Tuck your hips to feel a quick stretch.
  3. Lower the leg down and step forward.
  4. Repeat with the other leg.
  5. Do 20x in a row.

 

walking flamingo

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Lunges With Knee Up

This stretches your glutes and puts them through their full range of motion.

  1. Step forward into a lunge position.
  2. As you step forward pull your rear leg up into your chest.
  3. Now step forward into the lunge again and repeat x20

 

lunges with a knee pulled up to stretch the glutes

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Groin Stretch

This is a great stretch for your inner thighs and groin.

  1. Stand up with your legs wider than hip width apart.
  2. Move your hips to one side. You should feel a stretch on your inner thigh.
  3. Now move your hips to the other side.
  4. Repeat.

 

stretching the groin muscles

stretching the groin muscles

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Return from stretches for runners to aerobic exercise

 

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