Stretching can often be just what you need to help your tight, achy body feel better. Thing is, it’s not always feasible to lie down on a mat and bust out a whole routine. With standing stretches though, you can reap all the benefits of gently moving your body in a convenient, do-it-anywhere format.
Having a go-to list of moves you can perform on your feet can help you easily fit stretching into your day, especially if you’re in a setting where you don’t have space to lay down on the floor—or if you would feel self-conscious doing so (say, in a shared office or in a crowded public place), Kelcie Wittman, PT, DPT, spokesperson for the American Physical Therapy Association, tells SELF.
And there’s good reason to do so: There are tons of benefits of stretching that just may encourage you to add it to your routine. For one, it can help you maintain or improve your flexibility, especially in areas that are tight and stiff either because of your workouts or from being locked into certain positions for long periods of time—like sitting hunched and leaning forward at a desk all day, says Wittman. This positioning can tighten up your quads, hip flexors, neck, and shoulders.
Additionally, stretching may improve blood flow to your muscles and help your joints better move through their full range of motion, Wittman says. And if you do it after a workout, it can help loosen your tired muscles and put them in “a little better shape to perform activity again” the next time you exercise, she adds. Perhaps most important, though, is the fact that regular stretching can help you feel less achy and stiff, and improve your ability to perform daily tasks comfortably and with ease.
Okay, so making time for any kind of stretching is important. But it turns out, there’s even a specific benefit to staying on your feet to do so. Some standing stretches can help loosen up certain areas—like the calves and Achilles—that are difficult to target while lying down, Kellen Scantlebury, DPT, CSCS, founder of Fit Club NY, tells SELF.
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In terms of how often to stretch, there’s no blanket guidance. It really depends on a whole bunch of factors, including your activity level, goals, how much time you have, personal health history (including current and past injuries and medical concerns), as well as how much you enjoy stretching, says Wittman. She advises folks to do it at a frequency that works for them—you can even do it daily, if that feels good for your body and your schedule.
It can also be helpful to have multiple types of this movement in your routine, including both static stretches (those where you get into a position and hold—for example, a forward fold and lunging calf stretch) as well as dynamic stretches (exercises where you move fluidly through the full range of motion of a joint, like standing toe-touch kicks and standing trunk rotation). Both can have a place in your routine, though they don’t fill the same need. Dynamic stretches prep your body for the movement that’s coming in a workout, while static stretches help calm you after exercise, which can kickstart your recovery, as SELF reported previously.
We’ve compiled a list of some really amazing standing stretching below to pencil into your routine. Try some of these dynamic options before your next exercise session, or a static move or two to help your body cool down afterward. You can also do these stretches outside of a workout—simply sprinkle them into your day whenever works best! While the moves below will hit every area of your body, by no means do you have to do all of them to reap the benefits of stretching. Start by focusing on ones that target areas that feel especially tight to you.
Ready to loosen up with some awesome, do-anywhere moves? Here are 14 standing stretches worth adding to your routine.
