Active stretching can really help to open up your range of motion in the joints and hip areas. Learn how to perform active stretching properly from a professional trainer in this workout video.
Helps with running
Lift knee to chest
Pull foot back
Side lifts
Michael Rosengart is a professional fitness trainer in Santa Monica, California.
Off-season training for football: Active Stretching. So right after the warm-up, now we're going to do some active stretching to help open up your range of motion to your joints especially your hip joint which is crucial for your running. So what we're going to do is we're going to walk across the floor lifting the knee up into the chest and squeezing and then stepping through and doing the same thing, squeezing in. So I'll show you from this side. We're going to lift and squeeze, lift and squeeze. That's the fist phase. The second phase is grabbing your ankle or your foot and pulling back, pulling back. Try to keep the knee underneath your hip as you pull back. And I'll give you a side view [DEMONSTRATION] like that. So that's the second phase. Then the third phase is grabbing the outside edge of your foot with your opposite hand and hugging your shin up into your gut as much as you can, like so, like so. So from the side [DEMONSTRATION]. And now Jonesy's going to show you walking across the floor with these three phases together. And now we're--Jonesy's going to perform the active stretching at full speed. Basically we want to find some space where you could walk about 10 to 15 feet and you just want to slowly walk through and lift the knee up. So it's as if you're just taking normal walking stride and then performing the stretch with it. So that was the first phase and now this is the second phase, where we pull up and behind. Again, up and behind. And still feel that your body progresses forward along the way--each step along the way. Excellent. And now we'll go for the third phase. [DEMONSTRATION]. That's it. So as I was saying before 10 to 15 feet. You could even take it further. If you feel that you have more energy to take it further, then go ahead bring it out to maybe 20 yards and see how that feels. So go ahead give it a try.
