Welcome back to our Move With Us series. Today we’re going to be working through a lower body cool down.

This series is really great to do after any form of exercise, from running to walking or after a session at the gym. However, today’s Move With Us doesn’t have to be done only after exercise! Our leg muscles are working all day long and can often get neglected, so this week we wanted to focus on our big muscle groups of the lower body.

Grab your mat or take a seat on the floor and let’s get started..

The Saw Stretch

• Our aim is to open up through the hips and groin, while lengthening the hamstring muscles

• Sitting on the ground with both legs out in a V shape, as wide as is comfortable

• Sitting up nice and tall with your arms out to your side, rotate towards one side and flex forwards reaching your arms down towards your leg and hold for 10 - 15 seconds

• Reach as far down your leg as your flexibility allows, stopping at a point that is comfortable to hold

• Return to sitting, rotate to the other leg and repeat twice each side

The Saw Stretch With Calf Streth

• Same as the Saw Stretch above, but now we add in a calf stretch to target more muscles of the leg

• Sitting on the ground with both legs out in a V shape, as wide as is comfortable

• Sitting up nice and tall with your arms out to your side, rotate towards one side and flex forwards

• When you reach down your leg, if you can grab your toes pull them back towards your toes to bring in the calf muscles

• If you can’t reach your toes, just pull your toes back towards your nose

• Hold for 10 - 15 seconds and repeat twice each side

Seated Glute Stretch

• This stretch targets our glute muscles which allows us to open up our hips and low back, releasing tension through the area

• Sitting on the floor with your legs out in front of you, bend your right knee and cross it over your left leg so that your right foot is flat on the floor next to the outside of your left thigh

• Hold onto your right leg and rotate your body around to the right, feeling a stretch through your right glutes

• Hold for 10 - 15 seconds, then return to centre and straighten out both legs before swapping sides

• Repeat as desired

Supine Spinal Stretch

• Our aim is to increase mobility through the lower back and hips, while also stretching through the surrounding muscles

• Lying supine (on your back) with your legs straight, bring your right knee into your chest

• Gently pull your right knee across your body, trying to get your right knee as close to the floor as comfortable

• Reach your right arm out straight horizontal to your body and look towards your fingertips

• Hold for 10 - 15 seconds then slowly return to the starting position before swapping legs

• Repeat as desired

We hope you found this helpful! Feel free to repeat this series multiple times through out the week and keep Moving With Us. If you have any questions or need any advice on any of these exercises, please don't hesitate to reach out and chat to us.

Remember that you shouldn’t feel pain during any of these exercises. If they are painful for you, consider avoiding that exercise or decreasing the intensity. We are always here to help if needed.

If you’re after some more advice or are in need of some hands on help, we’d love to see you at Collective Motion! Collective Motion offers Osteopathy and Pilates and is conveniently located to service our Bentleigh community as well as its surrounding suburbs including Bentleigh East, McKinnon, Ormond, Glenhuntly, Murrumbeena, Carnegie, Oakleigh, Gardenvale, Brighton East and Hampton East. Click below to book an appointment and let us help you get moving again.