Beth Skwarecki is Lifehacker’s Senior Health Editor, and holds certifications as a personal trainer and weightlifting coach. She has been writing about health for over 10 years. If you’ve been ...

While you might be tempted to just hop on the treadmill or dive right into your lower body strength training routine, it’s always a good idea to take a few minutes to stretch your legs first. If you ...

Whether you’re tight from your last workout or from sitting at a desk all day, here’s an idea for you: Do some leg stretches. Why? They’ll help you decrease that pesky, stiff-feeling discomfort and ...

Whether you are walking a ton, incorporating leg days into your fitness routine or are stuck at a desk and haven’t worked out in ages, the lower body is a smart area to stretch because the hips, ...

There are tons of different stretching exercises—you can stretch the whole body, or just focus on specific areas like the legs or hips. There are also static and dynamic stretches. The choice between ...

When talking specifics, stretching terminology can get confusing. “Passive” and “static” generally refer to the same old-school method of relaxing into a stretch and holding it for 30 to 60 seconds.

Professional sprinters sometimes spend an hour warming up for a race that lasts about 10 seconds. In fact, it’s common for many athletes to perform dynamic stretches in their warmup and static ...

Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) is a form of assisted stretching. It combines passive stretching with muscle contraction. First, your partner applies force to stretch your muscle ...