How To Do The Door Stretch Video

The door stretch is an effective stretch for your chest and shoulders. Learn exercises and stretches for your workout routine in this fitness video.

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Works out chest & anterior deltoids
Lean body weight into stretch
Hold 15 to 30 seconds
Feet shoulder-width apart

About this Author

Amy McCauley has been a certified personal fitness trainer since 1995. She specializes in pilates, combat cardio, core conditioning and overall strength training. She works with clients ranging in age from 16 - 69. She has worked at Gold's Gym in Wilmington, NC since 2006. She loves her job because it gives her the opportunity to change peoples' lives in a positive way.

AMY MCCAULEY: Hi. I'm going to show how to do a door stretch. Door stretches work really well for the chest and the anterior deltoids. Take your hands up the wall. You can either come up halfway or you can reach all the way up. So just find where you're comfortable. It's going to work two different sections of the chest and the shoulders. So, we're going to start off here. Arms are out nice and wide. Elbows are slightly bent. You're just going to lean your body weight into the stretch. You should feel that chest wall open, nice and slow. You breathe in, breathing out. Breathing into the nose and out to the mouth. It's a nice slow breath. We're holding it for 15 to 30 seconds, repeating two to three times. Another way to do the door stretch is take the arms all the way up to the top, and if you're tall enough, curl up those fingertips around the ledge of the door and pull forward. This is going to get a little bit deeper into your shoulders and down into to your lats even. Pull forward, take a breath, slow, let those shoulders open, and release. So, things to remember about your door stretches. Feet are shoulder width apart. Hands are going to reach up to where you're comfortable, are lengthening to the shoulder blades, and we're just trying to stretch the chest wall in through the shoulders. You're holding stretch for about 15 to 30 seconds, repeating two to three times. Option number two is to take the arms all the way up. For a deeper stretch it would actually get down into the back, so try to find which stretch works for you the best and hold them, and that is how you do your door stretch.

How to Do the Door Stretch Video

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