Increase Flexibility in 10 Minutes a Day Without Pain

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The CompleteBody approach to fitness is comprised of six essential elements: Strength, Flexibility, Cardio, Nutrition, Meditation, and Rest. Here, we highlight flexibility, why it’s an integral part of your health, and how to improve it.

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Many people struggle to increase flexibility due to pain, extreme stiffness in ligaments, tendons, and muscles, or a lack of knowledge about which stretches to use, making it difficult to move around. Unfortunately, staying inflexible is not a good option. Inflexibility can lead to more injuries and severely impact mobility, hindering your overall health and workouts.

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The good news is that you can increase flexibility quickly and steadily without needing to go to the gym. You can do it at home or with a professional, it's totally up to you. While it doesn’t happen overnight, if you stretch every day, you will notice more mobility and movement in your muscles. This guide will cover ways to increase flexibility in just ten minutes per day. The key is to commit to stretching. Stay as consistent with a stretching routine as you would with a fitness routine or diet program.

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Five Ways to Increase Flexibility Quickly and Without Pain

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Incorporate these five stretching techniques daily. This well-rounded routine will help you stretch your entire body. Often, we focus just on muscles that are tight. However, it's important to note that muscles are connected. Sometimes, we increase flexibility in our tightest areas by working out other muscles we didn’t realize were also inflexible!

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1. Warm Up with Dynamic Stretching (2 mins)

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Dynamic stretching involves stretching through movement, which is crucial for preparing your muscles for more static stretches.

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Examples include:

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- Burpees

- Lunges

- Squats

- Jumping Jacks

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You might not think of these movements as stretches, but they are. Experts suggest that you should do dynamic stretches during a warm-up, rather than relaxed or static stretching.

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In a 10-minute daily stretching routine, you only need a couple of minutes to warm up. Take 2 of the 10 minutes to warm up your body with these exercises. Do not pause in between them.

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1. Start with burpees - Complete 5 full burpees. 

2. Complete 10 lunges with both legs.

3. Squat 10 times with your own body weight (bring knees to 90 degrees and keep your feet flat on the floor).

4. Complete 20 jumping jacks.

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If there is any time left, continue with jumping jacks, squats, or lunges.

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2. Stretch Your Upper Body (2 mins, 30 secs)

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All too often, people stretch only their lower bodies (hips, hamstrings, quads, and calves). Unfortunately, doing that misses the mark because our bodies are connected in many ways. For example, people who have tight hips also likely have tight shoulders.

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Take three minutes to stretch your upper body. When you stretch, never stretch to the point of pain. There are many variations of these, and you may have to find one that doesn’t cause pain.

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Follow this upper body stretching routine. Once you’ve gone through it, repeat it one time.

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1. Simple neck stretch: Lean your head to the right, attempting to bring your ear to your shoulder. If needed, gently hold your head in place with your right hand, but do not push your head down. Hold for 30 seconds. Repeat on the left side and hold for 30 seconds.

2. Chest stretch: Lying on a bench, hold dumbbells in either hand (light dumbbells work fine for this). Open your arms wide and allow your hands to fall to the floor, opening and stretching your chest. Hold for 30 seconds.

3. Shoulder stretch A: Extend your right arm straight across your body as you stretch your shoulder. Hold for 30 seconds, and then repeat on the left side.

4. Shoulder stretch B (alternate days or if you have extra time): Kneeling, extend both arms all the way out, palms flat. Hold for 60 seconds for an intense, deep shoulder stretch.

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3. Stretch Your Back Gently (2 mins, 30 secs)

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Borrowing simple movements from yoga, stretch your back to increase flexibility in your entire body. Do the following exercises daily. Extend the movements as far as possible to increase flexibility over time. Remember not to push further than your body can go.

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1. Cat-cow: Start on your hands and knees. Breathing in, lower your chin to your chest and tilt your pelvis inward, arching your back outward (cat). Your upper back should be very rounded. Hold for 3-5 natural breaths or 30 seconds. Take a deep breath in, and then breathe all the way out, lifting your chin to the ceiling and bowing your back (cow). Hold this position for 3-5 natural breaths or 30 seconds.

2. Supine twists: Lay on the floor with legs outstretched. Lift one leg toward the ceiling, and then cross it over the opposite leg, bending at the knee. Allow the knee to fall to the floor, twisting your back. If your knee does not touch the floor, do not force it. Twist only as far as your back allows without pain. Hold for 30 seconds. Repeat with the other leg.

3. Lower back: While lying on your back, lift both knees to your chest. This simple, gentle stretch increases flexibility in the lower back. Hold it for 30 seconds.

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4. Stretch Your Lower Body (3 mins)

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This is the longest part of your daily stretch. During these three minutes, you’ll increase flexibility in the hips, quads, hamstrings, and calves using just a few gentle stretches. These stretches are well-known for improving mobility and increasing flexibility quickly.

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1. Hip Flexor Stretch: You can do this stretch a number of ways. The simplest way is to kneel on one knee. For a deeper stretch, push the hip forward. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat with the other leg.

2. Inclined Glute, Hamstring & Calf Stretch: To stretch safely, gently, and without pain, squat and stretch one leg straight out. This stretch uses gravity to stretch the hamstring, glutes, and calves. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat with the other leg.

3. Quad stretch: Wrap up your stretch routine by standing and gently pulling one foot back toward your glutes, bending at the knee. Ideally, your knee should be able to bend all the way back, but if it doesn’t, no worries. It will eventually. Hold for 30 seconds and then repeat with the other leg.

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Conclusion

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To increase flexibility long-term, you have to stretch every day. It is absolutely possible to get bendy without stretching for hours. Remember to keep at it, though, because some days you may notice improvement, and then other days, you might feel like you’ve taken a few steps back. That’s okay. The key with stretching is to keep going until you see a breakthrough.

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