Good form: End your workout with a tension-releasing stretch
Conclude your workouts with this move. It helps release tension in your hips and stretches the backs of your legs. If you’re not very limber, practice the easier version first, using a towel or stretch band to hook around your foot.
-- Karen Voight 1Sit on the floor with your left leg straight in front of you. Bend your right knee and move your right foot to your inner thigh. Hook a towel, band or belt around the ball of your left foot. Holding the ends of the band in each hand, inhale and sit upright. On the exhale, lean forward at the hips while keeping your back straight. Engage your middle back muscles and pull your shoulders down away from your ears. Hold this position and breathe deeply for 20 to 30 seconds. Feel the deep stretch in your right hip and your left calf and hamstrings. Release and repeat on the other side.
2When you feel ready to progress to a more intense variation, release the band, bend forward at the hips and reach your hands around your foot. See if you can grasp the left wrist with your right hand; otherwise just hold the bottom of your left foot with both hands. Be sure that your chest and hips are facing forward; don’t allow them to twist to the side. Hold for 30 seconds while breathing fully. Release and repeat on the other side.
Voight is the creator of a line of fitness DVDs, including “Sleek Essentials.”