B Limber: Windmill Hips & Sides Stretches

Stretching your sides may be one of the most underestimated ways of energizing yourself. Something about waking up the muscles that surround your major organs feels amazing for your body.

[Windmill]
Purpose: to lengthen your sides from your hip to your shoulder, reducing tension in the lats and hips.
- Feet a little wider than hips, turn both toes right and poke your left hip side - "stick your sass out!"
- Reach left arm to ceiling and look at it, don't look away.
- Drag right hand down inseam of right leg. Goal is to reach your ankle, (if not today, eventually).
- Right knee can bend, left leg stays straight, left arm always points straight to ceiling.
- Are you still looking at your left hand?!
- Once you get as low as you can without your left knee bending, press your right arm into your right elbow & twist your chest open toward the ceiling.
[Windmill Reach Over]
Purpose: to further lengthen serratus & lat muscles.
- Once you're at the bottom of the windmill & have taken several deep breaths, slowly let your left arm reach side & over your head and hold there for several more breaths.
[Staggered Stance Forward Fold]
Purpose: To stretch hamstrings and reduce tension in hips so pelvis can move toward proper alignment.
- Slowly rotate your chest toward your front leg, pivot your feet to point in the direction of your front leg, and drop each hand to either side of your front foot.
- Relax your neck, let your head hang.
- Square up your hips; whatever foot is in back, that hip should be no further back, hips are side by side.

How energized do you feel now?! Tell me on IG/FB/TW @cassiebstrong!

B Strong,

Cassie B.

B Limber: Sides, Neck & Traps Stretch

Feeling lethargic, sore or stressed? Or worse, a combination of all of the above?? You'll want these stretches in your life.

[Side Stretch]
Purpose: To open up your body through your obliques, serratus muscles and lats. You'll feel your muscles lengthen with every breath & swear you grew a couple inches after you're done.
- Feet slightly wider than hips.
- Keep equal weight in each foot, even though you're leaning to one side.
- Pull on the wrist of your top arm with your bottom arm like you're trying to stretch your arm longer.
- Turn your chest slightly up toward the ceiling.
- Hold 5-10 deep breaths per side.

[Neck & Trap Stretch]
Purpose: to relieve tension in your neck and jaw. I love doing this when I have a headache or feel super stressed - I automatically feel better after!
- Drop your left ear toward your shoulder, then reach your left hand behind you to grab your right wrist and pull it toward the floor.
- Do it twice: once with right palm facing back, then once with it facing forward.
- Repeat on other side.
- Hold 5-10 deep breaths per side.

Is the world a better place now? I thought so ;-)

B Chill,

Cassie B.

B Limber: Hip & Shoulder Joint Mobility

Another hard workout should = another deep stretch. Showing your muscles some TLC when you're training hard is often the difference between developing results & developing injuries. I, for one, will take results over injury any day ;-)

The stretches in this video focus on loosening up the muscles that tend to create tension in 2 common problem joints: shoulders and hips. Slow, constant movement, like I'm doing in the beginning of the video, is a perfect, dynamic movement for a pre-workout warm-up.  Holding these stretches will be more affective when your muscles are warm, post-workout.

You'll notice I also progress the dynamic movement as I get warmer by reaching 1 arm back to my opposite foot as I do the downward dog. This increases the stretch at the same time as it works your stability in the shoulder girdle of your supporting arm and really gets the blood pumping to warm that body. [**Safety note: be sure you're not on a surface where your hand can slip out from underneath you! No head dives into the floor please ;-)**]

FORM:
[Downward Dog]
- Lift your hips toward the ceiling and keep your arms and legs straight as you press your chest back toward your toes. Make a triangle shape with your body.
- Drive your heels toward the floor to stretch your calves.
- Lift your tailbone toward the ceiling to stretch your hamstrings.
- Press your chest back to open up your shoulders.
- Press all 5 fingers of each hand into the floor so your wrists aren't overloaded.
- When you return to plank, stack your shoulders over your wrists and keep your hips at shoulder height.
[Deep Forward Lunge]
- The foot that steps forward should land flat, (don't just tap your toe).
- Your aim is for that foot to land directly beside your hand.
- Let your hips sink low to stretch your hip flexors, but squeeze your lower belly tight so avoid straining your lower back.

Which of these 2 stretches was harder for you? The downward dog or the deep lunge?! Tell me on IG/TW/FB @cassiebstrong!

B Strong,

Cassie B.