Flexibility training is an essential component of a healthy running routine.
Regularly carving out time for flexibility exercises can help keep muscles flexible and maintain joint range of motion. If your joints can’t move through their entire range of motion, your muscles can’t either, causing them to shorten and become tight, according to Harvard Medical School.
In addition to being potentially uncomfortable, muscle tightness can limit your running performance and increase your injury risk.
“I emphasize flexibility training for runners because tight muscles can alter proper running mechanics, putting strain on joints and connective tissue,” says Ashley Castleberry, a National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM)–certified personal trainer in Tampa, Florida, who works with runners. “This greatly increases injury risk in an already-high-impact activity like running.”
Muscle Groups Runners Should Be Stretching
Two areas runners often complain about are the quadriceps (the large muscles in the front of your thighs) and hip flexors (a group of muscles along the front of your upper thighs). As Tori LaBrie, an NASM-certified corrective exercise specialist and certified athletic trainer with Texas Orthopedics in Austin, explains, while running involves all of the major muscle groups, many runners tend to overcompensate with their quads and hip flexors. The added stress can make these muscles feel especially tight, which can affect your performance in the long run.
Tight hip flexors, for example, limit how far you can extend (straighten) your hips while running, which prevents your glutes (buttocks) from kicking in to provide speed, says Mike Thomson, CSCS, a USA Track and Field–certified running coach with Life Time in Overland Park, Kansas.
If your quads are tight, your legs can’t extend back far enough. This may cause you to overstride, or land with your front foot too far forward, Castelberry notes. According to Boston Children’s Hospital, overstriding means landing with stiffer, straighter legs that can’t absorb your body’s landing forces very well, which may lead to shin, knee, or hip injuries.
Thomson points to the calves as another running-centric muscle group to focus on. The International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA) notes that tightness in the calves can contribute to plantar fasciitis, a common running injury that’s characterized by heel pain.
Achilles tendinitis, a condition that causes pain and inflammation in the tendon that connects the calf muscles to the heel bone, can also occur if the calf muscles are tight, per the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS).
In addition, calf tightness can lead to pain upstream, particularly in the side of the knee, Thomson says.
Knee pain may also result from tightness in the iliotibial (IT) band, a long cord of connective tissue that extends from the hip to just below the outside of the knee. Per the Hospital for Special Surgery, knee pain that’s caused by IT band tightness is known as IT band syndrome, a common overuse injury in runners,
Targeting the muscles you use when running with flexibility practices like stretching can increase your range of motion, preventing and improving muscle tightness. This may boost running performance and reduce injury risk, though the authors of a recent review say more research is needed.
12 Stretches to Complement Your Running Workouts
Castleberry recommends doing the following stretches before and after every run to target the muscles used during your workout.
Dynamic Stretches
Dynamic stretches (moves that lengthen the muscles as they’re in motion) are the best type of stretching to perform before your run because they help prepare the muscles for activity and rev up the heart rate, LaBrie says.
Do one to two sets of 10 to 15 repetitions per movement.
1. Forward and Backward Leg Swings
Stand with feet hip-width apart and place your right hand on a wall for balance. Keeping your left foot anchored to the floor and a soft bend in the left knee, engage your core as you propel your right leg forward and backward in a slow, gentle swinging motion. Ensure the swinging leg remains extended (straight), the core engaged, and the hips facing forward. Repeat with the opposite leg.
2. Side-to-Side Leg Swings
Stand with feet hip-width apart and place both hands on a wall for balance. (You’ll want to be standing a bit further than arm’s length away from the wall so you have some space to move the swinging leg in front of you.) Keeping your right foot anchored to the floor and a soft bend in the right knee, engage your core and swing your left leg gently out to your left side. Then swing your left leg across and in front of your right leg before reversing the motion to swing the leg back out to your left. Keep your swinging leg straight and the hips facing forward. Repeat with the opposite leg.
3. Ankle Circles
Stand with feet hip-width apart, arms at your sides. Shift your weight onto your right leg and lift your left foot a few inches off the floor in front of you. Place your hand on a wall or lightly grip a chair if you need help with balance. Flex your left ankle to point your toes. Then, slowly rotate your left foot clockwise, making small circles with your ankle. Once you’ve finished all repetitions, rotate your left foot counterclockwise. Repeat with the opposite foot.
4. Windmill Reaches
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, toes pointed slightly outward. Extend your arms to the sides so they’re parallel to the floor. Keep arms straight and a soft knee bend, and hinge forward at the hips. Reach your left hand toward the outside of your right foot and allow the right arm to reach upward. Only reach your left hand as far as possible without hunching forward or bending your knees. Rise up so your arms are parallel to the floor again. Then, reach your right hand toward the outside of your left foot and extend your left arm toward the sky. Continue alternating sides until you’ve completed an equal number of windmill reaches per side.
5. Walking Lunges
Stand with feet hip-width apart and place your hands on your hips (or clasp them in front of your chest). Brace your core and step the left foot forward, bending your knees to lower your hips so your shin and thigh form a 90 degree angle (or as close to 90 degrees as you can). Keep your front knee behind your toes and tuck your pelvis slightly under. Push through your left foot to step your right foot forward, planting it on the floor about two feet ahead of your left foot. Continue alternating legs as you step forward with each lunge. Do an equal number of lunges per side.
6. High Knees
Stand with feet hip-width apart, arms at your sides. Lift your right knee toward your chest, slightly above waist level, if possible. Simultaneously bend your left elbow and move your left hand up in a pumping motion. Quickly lower your right foot and left hand. Repeat with your left foot and right hand. Stay light on your toes as you alternate lifting the opposite foot and hand. You can perform this stretch in place or moving forward.
7. Butt Kicks
Stand with feet hip-width apart, arms at your sides. Squeeze your right hamstring (the muscle behind your thigh) to bring your right heel to your right glute. Quickly return your right foot to the floor, and then bring your left heel to your left glute. Gradually pick up the pace and stay light on your toes as you alternate lifting heels. You can perform this stretch in place or moving forward.
8. Skipping Arm Swings
Stand with feet hip-width apart, arms at your sides. Hop on the ball of your right foot as you lift your right knee so your right thigh is parallel (or almost parallel) to the ground, flexing your right foot. Place your right foot on the floor and immediately hop on the ball of your left foot to lift your left knee. Keep alternating feet to move forward in a skipping motion. As you do, swing both arms out to the sides away from your torso before swinging both arms toward your torso as though you’re giving yourself a hug. Swing your arms back and forth while you skip.
Static Stretches
Static stretching (holding your muscles in a lengthened position for a set time) helps lengthen the muscles post-run, LaBrie says. Avoid static stretching before a run, as lengthening the muscles pre-exercise may increase your injury risk.
Do the following stretches after every run, holding each for 30 to 60 seconds while taking deep, controlled breaths.
1. Standing Quad Stretch
Stand with feet hip-width apart. Shift your weight onto your right foot and lift your left foot off the floor, bringing your left heel toward your left glute. Grab onto your left ankle with your left hand and gently press your left knee into your right inner thigh. Tuck your tailbone (the bottom part of your spine) slightly and pull your left leg back until you feel a gentle stretch along the front of your left thigh. Hold. Repeat on the opposite leg.
2. Supine Figure-4 Stretch
Lie on your back with your feet flat on the floor. Lift your left foot off the floor and cross your left ankle over your right knee. Interlace your fingers around your right thigh just below your knee. Flex (straighten) your left foot. Keeping your back on the floor, pull your right knee toward your chest until you feel a gentle stretch in the opposite glute. Hold. Repeat with the opposite leg.
3. Pigeon Pose
Get on all fours with your hands and knees on the floor, shoulders over wrists, and hips over knees. From this position, bring your left knee forward between your hands and set it on the mat behind your left wrist. Position your left shin parallel to the front of the mat if your flexibility allows. Otherwise, try to get your left shin as close to parallel as possible. Bring your left outer hip, shin, and ankle to the ground. Extend your right leg behind you, aligning it with your right hip. Set the top of your right foot on the floor and allow your toes to point back. Square your hips and draw your shoulder blades down and back. You should feel a gentle stretch along the top of your left hip and the side of the right glute. Hold. Repeat with the opposite leg.
4. Runner’s Stretch
Begin standing in front of a wall at arm’s length from it with your feet hip-width apart. Place both hands flat against the wall and bend one. Step the other foot back so your leg is straight, heel flat on the ground. Keep both feet pointed forward and gently press into the wall until you feel a stretch in your back calf and heel. Hold. Repeat with the opposite leg.
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