How to Stretch

Step 2 Touch Your Toes

Depending on your flexibility, you may be able to touch your toes, you may not. Touch Your Toes is only a generic term used to describe this stretch. When done, this will stretch your mid-back and hamstrings.

With both feet parallel to one another, slowly bend at the hips and try to touch your toes with your finger tips. To do this stretch properly and to get the most from it, don't bend at the knees, keep your legs straight. If this is painful to do, you may be reaching to far, just ease up a bit. It is important not to bounce when reaching for your toes.

Hold this stretch for 30-60 seconds and move on to the next stretch.

Comments

[duck_tape_]

Its a good idea to do some dynamic stretches before you do static stretches (what you have shown).  Although running helps warm up your muscles it doesn't do it that well, so you can get micro-tears in in your muscles when you do static stretches after only running to warm up.  if you  exercise after this, you can enlarge those tears.  If you are not doing exercise after you stretch, doing just what you said is fine, but if you do some dynamic stretches, they help warm up your muscles much more fully, and greatly reduce the risk of you injuring yourself.

[Ladilola]

It helps to drop the head, too, and lean forward rather than back - it's a lot easier on the neck and reaches lower down the back legs.