Best Stretches Before a Lower Body Workout

As colder weather approaches, many individuals take the opportunity to bulk up in the gym. With this comes a multitude of heavy lower body workouts such as squats, deadlifts, lunges, and more. While these workouts are undoubtedly effective, it’s important to stay safe while doing them, and the largest part of this is stretching. Here are some of the best lower body stretches to do before a workout.

Figure 4 Stretch

To do this, lay on your back bring your right knee towards your chest, then bring your left foot on top of your right knee, and bull them both towards you. When done right, you should feel a burn in your hip flexor, and by stretching this you’ll be able to increase flexibility, and take stress off the back during squats and deadlifts.

Hamstring Stretch

The hamstrings are arguably the most engaged muscle while squatting and deadlifting, so its important to get them stretched out at the beginning of a workout. To stretch them, lay on the floor, grab your own ankle, and pull it up towards your head while keeping your leg straight. This can also be done by taking a stretching band, wrapping it around your foot, and then using the band to pull your foot upwards. By doing this stretch before a workout, you’ll be engaging the hamstring in a far less stressful manor, which will greatly decrease your risk of pulling the muscle.

Pigeon Stretch

To perform this, start on your hands and knees, and bring your left foot perpendicular to your body, and kick your right leg back. Then, bring your upper body over your left leg for about 10-20 seconds, and switch sides. The beauty of this exercise is that it involves basically every muscle group involved in most lower body workouts. The hamstrings, hip flexors, pelvic bowl, glutes, and lower back are all involved in some capacity, so it's a fantastic stretch to do prior to a lower body workout.

At the Abs Company, we offer a variety of equipment to help our customers strengthen their lower bodies. Whether your toning your glutes on the Glute Coaster, or bulking your quads on the SledMill, we want you to stay safe while doing it. So, always make sure you do ample stretching before getting into your workout, and these three stretches are some of the best you can find!