Kick start recovery with post-workout stretching! Stretching helps to re-lengthen muscles contracted and shortened while training. In this Fit Life episode, Nicole Wilkins shares a few of her favorite LOWER BODY stretches. Check it out!
This information is for general purposes only. Always consult your doctor before beginning any training or diet/supplement program.
Improve your flexibility with this lower body stretching routine. Add these leg, hip and glute stretches at the end of your workout routine to reduce the risk of injuries, relax the muscles and improve joint range of motion.
Start your workout routine with a lower body warm up, continue with a set of lower body exercises and finish your workout with this stretching routine.
1. Lower back stretch: 30 seconds. Lie down on your back and then slowly pull your knees toward your chest.
2. Hamstring stretch: 30 seconds + 30 seconds. Extend and lift your right leg, hold your thigh and gently pull the leg toward the chest. Repeat with the left leg.
3. Glute stretch: 30 seconds + 30 seconds. Bend both knees, cross the left leg over the right and bring both knees toward your chest. Repeat on the opposite side.
4. Inner thigh stretch: 30 seconds. Sit on the floor and bring both feet together. Drive your knees down into the floor with the help of your arms.
5. Outer thigh stretch: 30 seconds + 30 seconds. Bend your left knee and cross your left leg over the right. Place your left hand on the floor and rotate your upper body to the left. Repeat on the opposite side.
6. Quad stretch: 30 seconds + 30 seconds. Stand up, lift your right foot and grasp it with your right hand. Pull the foot toward your butt, hold and repeat with the left foot.
7. Calf stretch: 30 seconds + 30 seconds. Hold onto a wall and extend one leg back while keeping both feet flat on the floor. Lean forward and slowly bend your front leg. Switch sides and repeat.
8. Hip flexor stretch: 30 seconds + 30 seconds. Kneel on your left leg and bend your right leg in front of you at a 90-degree angle. Shift your weight forward and feel the stretch in your hip. Switch sides.
Enter your weight to find out how many calories you can burn doing this lower body stretching routine:
I know we do a lot of high intensity workouts together, so today I wanted to slow things down and show you another style I use to train that really fires up the intrinsic stabilizing muscles of the hips, butt and core – those muscles that support our posture, alignment AND sculpt those dangerous curves
You can do this at home with a couple jars of peanut butter (or coconut oil, or light dumbbells) for props like I am – I had to eat some to even out the jar weight LOL. You’ll want an ottoman or bench handy as well for some of the elevated moves.
Doing low-impact workouts doesn’t mean low intensity – there are many ways to turn up the heat. I was sweating just halfway through this sequence, and you’ll definitely find it challenging at any fitness level.
I’ve got modifications in there for you so you can build strength in your body – be where you are at, and remember that giving it the best you’ve got is just right!
Time Stamp - Workout Begins: 2:30 if you'd like to repeat it & skip the warmup
Special thanks to my friend Cassey Ho from Blogilates for my gorgeous Spring Yoga mat!
Pre and Post Workout Eating...
Just a note about peanut butter and healthy fat in general - and when I eat it, since I ended this video with me stuffing a giant spoonful of peanut butter in my mouth haha
There is a lot of random and mixed information floating around about pre and post workout nutrition.
While many supplement companies and fitness magazine ads would love you to spend money on pre and post workout drinks, they're just packaged versions of the same things you can get from the whole food meals you're spending your money grocery shopping for. So don't get bamboozled into thinking you need a bunch of fancy stuff.
The bottom line is it's way more important to be eating healthy, whole foods and balancing your nutrient intake consistently than it is to worry about perfect meal timing unless you're a pro athlete.
This is one of the best articles about pre, during and post workout nutrition in my opinion if you want to dig in a little deeper from a reliable source.
Here's what I do...
I don't generally include fat post-workout, as I don't want it to slow down the delivery of carbs to replenish muscle glycogen stores or the amino acid pool. Fat has the important job of slowing down how fast nutrients get absorbed, which serves an important role in keeping our blood sugar stable and helping us feel full - but just after a workout I want the opposite effect.
I'll often make a green smoothie right after my workout with a scoop of wholesome protein powder (you can check out my top protein powder picks in all categories here), a big handful of greens, some almond milk and fruit.
Since that's a pretty small portion of nutrients, I'll be hungry for a fuller meal 45 minutes to an hour later, at which point I'll enjoy something like chicken, turkey or fish with some quinoa and pesto and avocado. Or I'll just eat that meal after my workout, depending on what's going on.
I tend to eat a small meal or just workout an hour or so after I've eaten a normal meal rather than having a "pre-workout." It really just depends on what is going on in my day, like if I'm starting to get hungry but I know I want to work out within the hour, I'll make a smoothie similar to that one above, but I'll add a scoop of nut butter to it. A little fat prior to my workout just gives me more brain power.
Here's a great interview I did with 2 other awesome women trainers, where we go over some of our top strategies when it comes to training - we're talking about weight training in this article, but the nutrition questions we covered relate to all training styles.
Post-workout snack
Low sodium Ritz, Colby-Jack cheese, and ½ Pink Lady apple
According to a study of runners, hip strengthening exercises reduce patellofemoral pain, a typical knee pain encountered by runners, as well as improved the gaits of the runners
The study results reveal that the hip strengthening exercises were successful in reducing knee pain, which corresponded to improved mechanics.
Only recently have researchers begun looking at the hips as a possible cause of patellofemoral pain.
The runners in the research received no training or coaching on proper running form, which makes the improvements more notable. The improvement in mechanics was similar to those of uninjured runners, when limbs, muscles and joints move in synch with each other.
The study involved 4 runners and a control group made up of another 4 runners. Measurements of Hip strength and kinematic data, fine measurements of how the knees, hips and shin bones moved and rotated when running, were noted before and after the runners in the control group kept their normal running routine for 6 weeks, and noted for all of the runners before and after the next 6-week period when they all performed the exercises.
The exercises, single-leg squats and resistance band exercises which can all be performed at home were performed twice each week for about 30 – 45 minutes.
On completion of the 6-week program, the movement of the hips and knees in relation to each other improved for both groups of runners, showing increases in joint angles between the shin, foot and thigh.
A pain scale of 0 – 10 was used, 3 representing the start of knee pain and 7 representing really strong knee pain, the stage where runners typically quit running because the knee pain is too much. The injured runners started the 6-week study registering pain of 7 after they ran on a treadmill and completed the study registering pain levels of 2 or less; i.e. no onset of pain.
Patellofemoral pain, one of the more typical running injuries, is brought about when the thigh bone rubs up against the back of the knee cap. Runners having patellofemoral pain normally don’t feel knee pain when they start running, but when the pain begins, it gets progressively worse. Once they stop running, the pain disappears almost immediately. Research shows that patellofemoral pain basically wears away cartilage and can have a similar effect as osteoarthritis. The participants exhibited many of the typical indications of patellofemoral pain, the most notable being the knees collapsing inward while running or performing squats.
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