Standing, holding on2 min
Counter Balance Hold
Confidence on your feet in the dark, or on a wet floor
How to do itSeated Hamstring Stretch
Reaching your own shoelaces
- Position
- Seated
- Takes
- 4 minutes
- How much
- 30 seconds each leg, twice
Why this one
Tight hamstrings are why putting on socks becomes a project. A bath towel is all this needs — looped under your foot, it does the reaching your hands cannot, so nothing about the stretch depends on how far you can bend.
How to do it
Sit forward on a firm chair with one leg straight out, heel on the floor.
Loop a long towel under the ball of that foot and hold one end in each hand.
Sit tall and lean forward from the hips — not by rounding your back — until you feel a pull behind the thigh.
Hold for thirty seconds, breathing normally. Swap legs.
Watch for
Bouncing. A stretch that bounces tightens rather than releases — hold it still and let it go quiet.
Make it easier
Bend the knee slightly, and hold the towel further up its ends.
Make it harder
Walk your hands a little further down the towel. Progress is visible that way.
