Stretching the quads, or quadriceps, is important in warming up the large muscles of the thigh before exercise or sports. Learn how to do quad stretch exercises in this stretching and flexibility video.
Point knee straight to the floor
Keep knees together
Hold stretch for 30 seconds
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 you how to stretch the quadriceps. Quadriceps are muscles. There are four muscles on the quad attaching from the hips to the knees. Stabilize on your bottom leg. You're going to grab toes securely. You're going to rotate the pelvis under slightly. You want to take the hips and rotate them. Just think about your knee and your hip going on a straight line, straight down. You want to avoid pulling out of your stretch and coming up. Think about the knee going straight down to the floor. You want to rotate the shoulder back. Chest open and just relax and do your stretch. You want to hold the stretch anywhere up to 30 seconds. Trying to let that muscle relax. So, when the muscle relaxes, you know you can switch sides. The knees need to be slightly glued together. You don't want to have that knee flaring out. Keep it pointed straight down towards the floor and breathe. Hold it for about 30 seconds and then you're going to switch sides. When you switch sides, keep in mind that the knees needs to be slightly bent. We're pulling heel towards glut opening up the chest. You want to avoid locking out that elbow. You want to avoid pulling hip forward. Here's another option. You lie down on the floor. While lying down on your side, take the top of the bottom foot, anchor it to the front corner of your mat, and pull the knee again. We want the same thing, knees close together, and we're rotating the hip forward. Third option is to lie prone on the floor and bring that knee pulling the hip back. So, you're just going to relax the head. Relax the neck. You can place your hand on your head and pull that knee or you can let that leg slightly off the floor. So, you got three different levels to work the quadriceps, whatever is comfortable for you. So, again, keys to remember. Knees stabilizing, needs to be slightly bent. Hips are going to tuck and rotate under. We want to avoid the hip rotating backwards. Knee needs to go down towards the floor. Again, keep in mind that you're stretching your quadriceps. Heel goes to glute. Breathe slowly. If you need to support yourself, hold on to a chair or on to a wall, and that is how you stretch your quadriceps.
