Feelgood Fitness: More Stretches for Runners

by Becky Striepe March 24, 2011, 4:30 am 74 Views 5 Comments

Squatting

This isn’t the repetitive squat you’d do in weight training, but a stretch you want to hold to release the muscles in your quads. For some reason, this stretch also seems to relieve tension in my arches. Start by standing with your feet hip distance apart with your toes turned out slightly. Bend your knees, and squat down. The idea here is to have heels on the floor, your butt pretty close to your heels and your back straight. You may not be able to flatten your heels right away, so just do what you can. If your quads are particularly tight, you may need to hang onto the wall or a chair for balance until those muscles get more used to this stretch. Eventually, this squat becomes quite comfortable!

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by Augapfel

>>Next: Hamstring stretch.

Written by Becky Striepe

My name is Becky Striepe (rhymes with “sleepy”), and I am a crafts and food writer from Atlanta, Georgia with a passion for making our planet a healthier, happier, and more compassionate place to live. My mission is to make vegan food and crafts accessible to everyone!. If you like my work, you can also find me on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.