During flexibility training, I often get the same question: “where is this supposed to stretch?” The answer: wherever you feel the stretch during your stretch exercises is where it’s supposed to stretch!
Everyone has certain muscles that are tighter than others. The goal of a flexibility training program and any form of stretching workout, is to correct imbalance. You want your flexibility to be equal from left to right and front to back. If you’re more flexible on one side than the other, you may experience slow onset injuries from the imbalance in your structure. This is why stretching is so important!
For example, if your hamstrings are really tight but your glutes are not, you might feel a stretch that’s meant for your glutes more in your hamstrings. That’s ok! If your hamstrings are too tight for the stretch to reach your glutes, it’s because they need it more, so let them have it! Your glutes will get their turn once your hamstrings catch up.
If you’re on the more flexible side of the spectrum, you might not feel a stretch at all. In this case, I suggest you play around with your stretch exercises. Turn your hips more, move your arms a different way, or adjust the position until you feel a stretch. Often there are things you can do to make the stretch either more difficult or easier, and the way to find the variation you’re looking for is to play around with each position.
Experiment With Your Stretching
To get more from your stretching workout, try experimenting with your five favourite stretches. Spend a minute on each stretch and play with the position. You may find that a stretch intended for a particular muscle group becomes more beneficial to others with a little tweaking.
Happy stretching!
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