Stretch out the long muscles of the outer thigh in order to keep them from tearing or straining during exercise. Learn how to do outer thigh stretch exercises in this strength training video.
Start in bent-knee position
Hold pose for 30 seconds
Do leg cross over as alternate stretch
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 your outer thigh. The outer thigh is between the glute and the outside of the kneecap. I want to get you into a bent-knee position. The back leg needs to go straight. Relax your toes, and I want you to do is just take your hands out. If you're not very flexible, you're not going to go too far on this stretch. Keep the knee bent and just gently lean into it. This is going to help stretch and lengthen all the way down to your glutes. If you feel like your flexibility will allow you, you're just going to drop down and relax. This is also called pigeon pose in yoga. Chest is down on the knee. Body is relaxed. Think about lengthening the spine. You're trying to stretch that muscle as you breathe into it. We're going to hold for about 30 seconds and then repeat on the other side. Another way to stretch the outer thigh if you're uncomfortable with that is to do a leg crossover. Now, some of you are only going to be able to get to this position. Some of you are going to get the knee stacked. If you stack the knees together, you're just going to drop again. Chest to the knees. You're going to feel a great stretch go all the way down that outer thigh muscle. Again, breathing into the muscle, relax the shoulders, neck is long, and you exhale as you breathe down and inhale as you come up, holding that stretch for about 30 seconds. Then, you're going to repeat on the other side. So, if you have issues with your knees, these are not necessarily the best exercises for you. You might need to do more of a bent-knee position and just lean into it. You may feel that stretch just holding at this position. So, just find where you're comfortable. If you need to, you can also lengthen that leg, giving that knee a little hug. This is a little bit easier on the joints. So, if you do have knee issues, this is a great exercise for you. You're just wrapping your arm around the knee and pulling the knee to your chest. Sit up nice and tall, and breathe nice and deep into your muscles, holding it in for about 30 seconds and then relax. So I've shown you three different variations on how to stretch the outer thigh.
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