Most Important Areas of the Body to Stretch 

Whether you’ll be doing a cardio session or plan to hit the weights, your stretching routine is one of the most important parts of your workout. It’s beneficial to stretch both before and after your workout. Doing the right stretches and holding it for several seconds at a time can help increase your range of motion, reduce soreness the next day and minimize your chances of injury while working out.

Top Body Parts to Stretch

While your body is made up of muscle, there are some specific muscles to stretch during your workout routine to get the best benefits. Some of the top ones to focus on include:

Core

Stretching your core, or abs, can help with everything from improving your posture to relieving back pain. Your core helps support your body’s balance and stability. Some of the best stretches for this area of your body include the cobra pose, where you lay face down on the ground and then slowly push your upper body upward, and the cat-cow, where you start on all fours and then inhale as you drop your lower back and arch your back up like a cat.

Hamstring

To help prevent or relieve soreness when doing leg routines, incorporate some hamstring stretches. These stretches can be as simple as doing toe touches when you are either sitting down or standing up before or after you are done exercising. You can also stretch out your hamstrings by placing one leg on something that’s waist height and then slowly bending at the waist to loosen the muscle.

Quad

Your quad is one of your largest muscle groups, making it an important area to give a little TLC. To improve your mobility and prevent injury, you can stretch out your quads by standing and kicking one leg back and then holding it in that position for 30 seconds.

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