Stretching

IT Band Stretches

Cliff Scherb ·

Crossed Ankle Standing Half Moon

Begin by standing up and crossing your left ankle in front of your right. Bring your pinky toes as close together as they will comfortably come, and make sure both feet are firmly on the ground.

  1. Reach your arms above your head and grab your right wrist with your left hand. Take a breath in to find a long spine and engage your abs.

  2. Then, exhale and use your left hand to pull your right hand over your head to the left. Feel a stretch through the outside of your right leg and upper body. Hold for 30 seconds and then come back to center. Switch sides by crossing your right ankle in front of your left.

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Wall IT Band Stretch

This stretch helps to release tightness in the TFL.

  1. To begin, stand slightly more than arm’s distance from a wall with your right side facing it.

  2. Lean your right hand on the wall, with your right arm straight. Place your left hand on your hip. Keeping your legs straight and your hips square, move your right hip toward the wall until you feel a stretch in your right outer hip.

  3. Squeeze your glutes and engage your abs. Hold for 30 seconds, then repeat, turning your left side toward the wall.

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Figure 4

This stretches the TFL and the gluteus maximus.

  1. Start by standing up with your feet together and your hands on your hips. Bend both knees to start to lower your hips back into a half squat.

  2. Shift your weight onto your left foot and pick your right foot up off of the ground. Then, bend your right knee and cross the ankle over your left thigh. Keep bending into your left leg to sit low.

  3. Place your right hand on the inside of your right thigh to deepen the stretch and hold for 30 seconds. Then slowly stand all the way back up and switch sides.

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Crossed Leg Twist

This stretch relieves tension in the TFL.

  1. Start sitting down with your knees bent and your feet on the floor.

  2. Straighten your left leg out in front of you and flex the left foot. Then, bend your right knee and cross your right leg over your left, bringing your right foot to the floor outside of your left leg.

  3. Place your right hand down to the floor behind your right hip and wrap your left arm around your right shin. Inhale to sit up taller, then exhale to twist deeper. Hold for 30 seconds and then unwind on an inhale. Switch sides.

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