Lower Body Exercises to Be More Flexible

Last week we looked at the best exercises for those who want to be more flexible, but we only focused on the upper body. This week we continue with lower body exercises that are sure to make you more flexible all-around.

Combining the following stretches with the upper body exercises we’ve mentioned will result in much better flexibility, offering the best results for just about all the moves you’d like to perform.

Some might be wondering why it’s important to be flexible and the answer is quite simple. When you think of doing the high kicks, moving faster and avoiding injuring, having stiff muscles wouldn’t be ideal. For most who don’t work out, attempting a high kick is simply impossible and risk seriously hurting a muscle.

Muscle injuring could have a serious effect on your success, especially if you’re aiming to make progress faster and get to a professional level. Therefore, doing some of the stretches below for just a few minutes a day, could have huge advantages and help you progress even faster.

Point and Flex Toes

This is a simple one, but it’s very effective and has great results, especially for beginners. It allows your entire left to stretch and even warm up a little, making it a great starting point for the stretches to follow.

Simply stand on both feet and stretch out your leg in front you of, about a foot and a half out. Be sure to straighten your toes and bend your ankle to get it in the same line as your leg. Keep it there for about 60 seconds and then start to slowly rotate your ankle, allowing all the muscles in your leg to react and stretch out.

Remember to do the other side and feel free to hold onto something if you need to in the beginning. It’s important to stretch the muscles as much as possible.

Toe Touches

With your muscles all warmed up, the next best exercise would stretch the back of your legs all the way through to the lower back. For those who are a little stiff, this one might hurt a little, but hold on as long as possible as the results are simply amazing.

Sit flat on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you. Lean forward towards your ties and try to grab hold of them with your hands. Even if you can just touch your toes it would be a good start. Try to hold the position for as long as possible while feeling how the muscles are stretching and loosening up.

If you can’t reach your toes, start by grabbing your ankles. However, make sure you feel the burn as this would indicate progress. Keep the position for at least 60 seconds if you can and then move on to do one leg at a time by moving it out about a foot to the left or right of the centre point where you started.