10 Stretches That are Recommended by Flexibility Trainers For Desk Jockies

1. Hamstrings: Stand with your legs straight and bend forward at the hips, wrapping your arms around the back of your legs.

2. Piriformis: Sit on the floor and cross one leg over the other, placing the foot of the crossed leg flat on the floor. Twist your torso to the side with the crossed leg, leaning on your knee to extend the stretch.

3. Thoracic: Starting in a standing position, take a lunge forward and twist your upper body until you are facing the ceiling with your arm stretched up.

4. Triceps: Extend your arms over your head and use one hand to push down on the other elbow until one hand reaches the middle of your back.

5. Hip rotator: While lying on your back, cross one foot over the other knee. Lift the leg with the knee crossed over it, gently pulling from the thigh.

6. Hips/groin: Starting on all fours, gradually stretch out your knees until they are as far apart as is comfortable. Shift out your toes until the sides of your feet rest on the floor and gradually lean your hips back to your heels.

7. Thighs: Sit on the floor and put the bottoms of your feet together so your knees are bent. Hold onto your ankles or feet and gradually bend towards your feet while pressing your knees down toward the ground.

8. Shoulders: Sit on the floor and hold your hands together behind your back. Straighten your arms, squeezing your shoulder blades together as they are extended.

9. Obliques: Kneel on one leg and stretch the other leg out to the side. Extend the arm on the kneeling side upward and lean toward the extended leg.

10. Quads: Kneel on one knee and put the other leg out behind you with the bottom of the foot facing upright. Lean into the bent knee and squeeze your butt muscles.

In-Person Instruction Can Help

Are you finding it challenging to mimic the recommended stretches? Stretching is a skill that is often best learned in person from an experienced instructor.

High-quality flexibility trainers can help you achieve ideal stretches in a number of different ways:

• Come to you at your home
• You meet them at a gym
• They instruct you over a video chat
• You watch a video that they have made

You can easily choose the option that works best for your budget and schedule.

You are very likely to find that the kind of in-person help you can get from an instructor in this way can make a big difference in how successful you can achieve stretches. 

If you’ve been trying to stretch on your own for a while, you may be amazed by how much more quickly you can master these techniques with the help of an instructor.

If you are unsure about paying more for an in-person instructor or choosing a video based instruction program, you may want to try the video instruction first.

Video instruction can actually be extremely effective, as well as being more affordable and convenient.

Why Have These Stretches Been Chosen?

These are the stretches most often recommended by flexibility trainers for good reason. They are quite easy for the average person to do without risking injury.

Furthermore, in combination, these stretches are very competent at providing flexibility training to your entire body so that no one part of your body will end up getting more of a stretch workout than any other. 

These stretches can easily be performed in your own home without requiring extra equipment like exercise balls, resistance bands, etc. 

How to Know When You are Ready for More Advanced Stretches

If you have mastered these stretches, it may be time to start looking for more advanced options to consider.

An instructor is your best bet for recommending stretches that will meet your fitness goals and stretch your body in optimal ways. 

If you don’t have an instructor, a yoga class can be another great way to extend your stretching safely and effectively.

You may also want to look up more advanced stretches that take the principles mastered in these basic stretches and push them to a more advanced level. 

However, even if you start to look for more difficult stretches to pursue, there’s no reason to abandoned these practical, helpful stretches, as they will continue to be beneficial for your workout routine going into the future.

Incorporate These Essential Stretches Into Your Life

There are all kinds of advantages to stretching, both for your mental and physical health and your general sense of well-being.

These ten stretches are extremely easy to do and are recommended by flexibility trainers for good reasons.

They won’t take long and are very easy to work into your everyday schedule, so there’s no reason not to try them and to stick with them.