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.
Try to keep your spine relatively neutral to get the best stretch, and keep even weight across the back of your hips
If you’re not sure where your neutral spine is, then you might opt to rock the pelvic back and forward once you’re in the stretch in order to find the place where you get the most effective stretch. If you’re lying down you might feel like you have to stick your bottom out a little, and if you’re sitting you’ll want to be right up on your sitting bones so you can feel them on the chair underneath you.

Spend thirty seconds to a minute on each hip and take the time to do some belly breathing to relax your abdominals and waist muscles.

Your body will thank you for this one!

Rachael Wright

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