Legs can get quite stiff for a variety of reasons
so it's good to know some leg stretches with a band to help improve this.
The band can help assist you and just can help push into that stretch just a little bit more than without the band.
My name's Claire. I'm a Physiotherapist from Physiofit Health.
For these stretches, we are using a grey band which is extra extra firm and it's 1.5 meters long.
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So your first exercise, you're going to grab your grey band.
You're going to have a lay down on your mat, bending both of your knees.
Take the band, you're gonna loop it around your left foot.
I'd suggest crossing the band over and holding the other side just for a little bit of security.
Your elbows are then going to come down and rest on the mat and your left knee is bent - that's your start position.
You are going to be breathing out as you straighten your left knee.
Now, you're now using that band to pull in to a stretch
and you're looking for a stretch sensation down the back of the thigh.
It might be into the back of the knee and it might even go down into the calf.
So that's your stretch that you're looking for.
You're breathing in as you bend your knee and then you're breathing out as you straighten up.
You are aiming for 5 or 6 repetitions with this stretch.
Your second exercise, you are going to keep that left knee nice and straight.
Keep the tension on the band. That's your start position.
Breathing out, you're going to take that left leg all the way out to the side.
So you're looking for a stretch on the inside part of that left thigh
and then you're breathing in as you slowly return that leg
so your foot points up to the ceiling.
Breathing out, leg moves out to the side and you're breathing in it returns.
Aim for your 5 or 6 repetitions.
With this one, just a check whilst you're doing those repetitions that right knee stays nice and still.
That it's not really moving around.
All that's meaning when you keep that right leg still is that you're focusing
and isolating the left leg a little bit more.
Your third exercise, you are going to straighten that right leg so it's flat on the mat
and your start position with your left leg is with the knee straight and your foot's pointing all the way up to the ceiling.
You're breathing out, you're going to take that left leg across over to the right side.
And with this one, you can lift your hips and pelvis up and away from the floor
so your left hip and pelvis will lift up and it will get you a stretch down.
The leg might get you a stretch into the outside part of the left hip and pelvis
and potentially even into a little bit of your lower back.
And then you're breathing in, you're returning back to your start position.
Breathing out, left leg goes over to the right.
You're lifting that left hip and pelvis up
and then you're breathing in as you are returning.
You are aiming for those 5 or 6 repetitions with this one
and then you are going to ease off by bending your knee.
Take the tension off the band
and then you can put the band away.
With the leg exercises with the band, it's actually quite nice to link all three together.
So, you stretch that left leg out first
and then shift over to the right leg.
Try these leg stretches with a band and compare right to left just to see if there's a difference.
You might find that one side is perhaps just a little bit tighter than the other.
If you do notice that there's a difference and one side is tighter,
I'd suggest just doing a few more exercises or repetitions on the side that's a little bit tighter
and you're just trying to see if you can get the right and the left to be equal.
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