Do you know what the last thing you should do before bed is? In this video, I am going to show you 5 stretches you can do before going to bed that will help you to not only have a more restful sleep, but will help you fall asleep faster, and make you wake up feeling more refreshed and loose. With just these 5 moves, you’ll improve your sleep, guaranteed.
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Sleep is known to be one of, if not the most important aspect of muscle recovery after a workout. This is when muscle repair occurs, allowing you to come back bigger and stronger for your next workout. Sleep also allows for a neurological reset of sorts that prepares you to have the energy you need to attack not just your next workout, but also get you through the rest of the day.
Enter in this 5 stretch stretching routine. These are static stretches as dynamic stretches are more likely to make you more alert, raise your heart rate, and make it more difficult to fall asleep.
Since sleep is so important, wouldn’t you want to have the highest quality sleep possible? This where these stretches come in. Not only will they help undo some of the tightness that you experience throughout your day from sitting, but they will also help you to unwind better. Think about it, if you are thinking and focusing on the stretches at hand, you are less likely to dwell on the events that occurred throughout the day. This relaxation will help you to fall asleep faster and experience higher quality sleep.
The first stretch for better sleep targets the calves and hamstrings. Simply stand with one foot up against the bottom of the wall and the other leg staggered back behind you. Lean in towards the wall while keeping your front leg straight. You will feel your calf and hamstring being stretched, but don’t push yourself to where there is pain. Hold this position for 30-60 seconds before switching legs.
The next stretch in this bedtime stretching routine is a modified child’s pose. With all fours on the ground, sit back into your heels and try to get as low to the ground as possible while reaching your hands forward. This stretch will target not just your thoracic spine, but your lats as well as promoting shoulder mobility and deep hip flexion. These are all areas that get tight not just throughout the day, but when we sleep too.
After that, you will modify this stretch slightly. Instead of your forearms being in contact with the ground, you are going to get them off the floor while still reaching. Keep your head off the ground as well. This will further target thoracic mobility and extension. The thoracic spine is one of the areas most affected by our posture during the day. Sitting at a desk all day or being on your phone for extended periods of time will cause thoracic rounding and limit not just thoracic mobility, but shoulder mobility as well.
The fourth static stretch in this stretch routine is a modified pigeon pose that you might have seen done in yoga. Cross one leg in front of you while extending the other leg back behind you. Place both hands on the knee that is in front of you and sit tall. This will not only stretch your hips, which are likely tight to begin with, and your hip flexors. Sitting all day shortens the hip flexors which leaves them overly tight. A simple hip flexor stretch like this will make you feel so much better afterwards.
Last, but not least, you will lie on your back and rotate your body so that one leg crosses over the other. Then, with the arm on the same side as the leg that you are crossing over to the other side reach behind your head. Grabbing the opposite side of your head, you will then open up your upper body by leaning back and down. This will promote a stretch on the lats which is important because having tight lats can internally rotate your shoulders – a position that will limit shoulder mobility over time and can even cause impingement. This will also allow for some relief for a tight low back. The muscles in the low back often get tight as well and can cause discomfort throughout the day, so stretching it will give you relief.
With this pre-bed stretching routine, you will now have the tools you need to fall asleep faster, sleep better, and wake up feeling better.
If you are looking for a complete workout routine and meal plan to compliment your flexibility and mobility routine, be sure to head to athleanx.com and check out the program selector tool. It will take you just minutes to find the exact plan that fits your current goals and will help you to build ripped athletic muscle quickly.
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