Mel is stretching her quads in bed.

There are many reasons why you should stretch your quadriceps, the large muscles on the front of you legs. Pain in the knees, bad back, or poor posture from having spent a lot of time sitting down are just a few reasons. It’s very common to have tight quadriceps and it takes a bit of time to get them loosened up. There are several ways to stretch your quads and the lying side quad stretch is on of the easiest and most effective versions. This stretch works just as well in the bed as in the sofa in front of the TV.

HOW:
Lay on your left side and place your right hand on your right ankle while flexing your left leg slightly. Tense your butt and pull your right ankle up towards your butt and at the same time gently extend your leg. Don’t pull your heel all the way up to your butt because this puts too much force on you knee instead of stretching your muscles. Hold the position for the desired amount of time and then switch to the other side. Stop if you experience pain in your knee.

An alternative is to use a towel for help. Lay face down on the bed with one leg standing on the floor. Wrap the towel around your ankle and pull above your head. This version reduces the strain on your knees and is to be preferred. If you can reach you can use your hand to pull instead of a towel.

You can also do the good old standing up quad stretch but it’s not as effective as the ones where you lay down. If you do a standing quad stretch, lean forward to get a good angle on the stretched leg and avoid injuring your knees. Use the opposite hand to hold the foot to deepen the stretch.