Here’s an absolutely magical glute stretch.... It can be done sitting on the edge of the bed or the bath, at your desk, lying on your back with your feet on the wall (or rested on the couch)- there’s no excuse not to indulge really!

Benefits

Stretching the gluteals will open up the back of the hip and relieve tension in the lower back and sacrum, free up the legs, AND it feels oh SO good!

Who's it for?

There’s not many people who wont benefit from this stretch but it’s best to avoid if you have a suspected hip tendinopathy. Take special care to keep the spine in neutral if you have low bone density or osteoporosis of the spine, and if you’re in the second or third trimester of pregnancy then it’s safer to do the stretch from a seated position.

How?

Lie on your back or sit high on your sitting bones and cross your left ankle over your right knee.
Rest your right foot on a wall or on another surface and use your left hand to gently push your knee away from you to feel the stretch.
If you’re feeling a bit like a twisted pretzel then move away from the wall to decrease the stretch a little, if in the sitting position you should sit on something a little higher.
Take care to keep your spine in neutral and keep equal weight across both hips

Spend thirty seconds to a minute on each hip and take the time to do some deep belly breathing (see our last post below) which will increase circulation, relax the body and help rid the body of lactic acid build up as you stretch. Your body will thank you for this one, enjoy!

Rachael Sheridan

Create the same shape with your legs from the seated position.