Welcome to our next Move With Us video. This week is all about the lower body. We’ll go through some great stretches to target all the major muscles groups in your legs to help decrease tightness and tension. If you’re sore after a run, ride or walk, need an after work out cool down or just want to do something good for yourself today then join us for this next 5 minute series and lets stretch it out!

Roll Downs

• Our aim is to stretch through the back of our legs while also helping to mobilise the spine and hips

• Start standing then drop your chin to your chest and keep rolling down towards your toes, articulating vertebrae by vertebrae

• Coming down as far as it comfortable and hold for 3-5 seconds

• Slightly bend your knees and start restacking your spine, returning to standing with your head the last part to move

• Roll back down and repeat, you can do as more if you’d like

Hip Flexor and Hamstring Stretch

• Targeting both the front and the back of your leg, this stretch is great to lengthen through 2 of our major muscle groups

• Starting on your knees, place one leg out in front of you

• Lean your body forwards and feel the stretch down the front of the back leg, placing your hands on either side of your front foot and relax your upper body

• Hold for 5-10 seconds

• Begin to straighten the front leg, lean back and sit onto the back foot

• Lift the toes of your front foot towards you, lean your body forward and feel the stretch through the back of the front leg

• Hold for 5-10 seconds

• Move through these two stretches another 3 times, then return to kneeling and swap legs

Glute Stretch

• Our aim is to target our glute muscles to open up through our hips and lower back

• Laying down on your back, you can place a pillow behind your head if you need to

• Crossing your right leg across your left leg so that your right ankle is sitting on your left thigh

• Reaching your hands through and wrapping them around your left leg, lifting your legs off the floor

• You can either use your arms to pull your left leg towards you or simply move your left leg closer to your chest to increase the stretch

• Hold for 10-15 seconds, focusing on your breathing

• Swap legs and repeat, you can always do more if you’d like

We hope you found this helpful! Feel free to repeat this series multiple times through out the day and keep Moving With Us. If you have any questions or need any advice on any of these exercises, please don't hesitate to reach out and chat to us.

Remember that you shouldn’t feel pain during any of these exercises. If they are painful for you, consider avoiding that exercise or decreasing the intensity. We are always here to help if needed.

If you’re after some more advice or are in need of some hands on help, we’d love to see you at Collective Motion! Collective Motion offers Osteopathy and Pilates and is conveniently located to service our Bentleigh community as well as its surrounding suburbs including Bentleigh East, McKinnon, Ormond, Glenhuntly, Murrumbeena, Carnegie, Oakleigh, Gardenvale, Brighton East and Hampton East. Click below to book an appointment and let us help you get moving again.