So here it is, finally , the long awaited and eagerly anticipated finale to my epic trilogy of posts on the Wonders of Static Stretching. If you haven’t already done so I’d recommend reading Parts One and Two first

Okay so with you now well clued up on the basic theory of static stretching let’s dive straight into the performance aspect – what stretches to do and how to do them.

Static Stretching Performance

I recommend stretching at the end of your workout, after your cool down. Ideally, it is best to perform a stretch that isolates a particular muscle group but it’s almost impossible to stretch some muscles without also stretching other supporting muscles. By stretching in a certain order you ensure that the supporting muscles are never a limiting factor in how “good” a stretch you can attain.

Brad Appleton – and obviously you know who he is as you’ve read part one – suggests the following when putting together a stretching routine:

• stretch your back (upper and lower) first
• stretch your sides after stretching your back
• stretch your buttocks before stretching your groin or your hamstrings
• stretch your calves before stretching your hamstrings
• stretch your shins before stretching your quadriceps (if you do shin stretches)
• stretch your arms before stretching your chest

I personally recommend stretching in the following order – fingers/hands/forearms, triceps, shoulders, chest, biceps, back, sides, glutes/bum, inner thigh/groin, quads/frontal thigh, calves and finally hamstrings.

I’ve put together the following videos to illustrate the stretches I use both myself and with my Edinburgh personal training clients.

So start with this stretch for your fingers, hands and forearms.

Now move onto your triceps. Focus carefully and take care to stretch your triceps and not pull on your shoulder.

Next up is your shoulders. Take care to stretch the muscle and not yank your shoulder out

With your arm and shoulder already stretched you can now move onto your chest. Ease very carefully into this as it’s quite an extreme stretch.

I don’t generally stretch my biceps separately as they are difficult to isolate and get a good stretch from my back stretch but if there are any requests – hint, hint – I’ll put together some more footage and post it as extras in a ‘Deluxe Writer’s Cut Edition’ of the stretching trilogy

Next up are your sides, which I also neglect, due to a combination of time and the fact that they also get involved in your back stretch. Ditto that last ‘Deluxe Writer’s Cut Edition’ comment The next stretch for me is my back. Take care to keep the focus on your back and not to yank your shoulder out of its socket

With your upper body done let’s now sit down and shift the focus to your lower body, starting with your glutes/bum.

Your groin/inner thighs are the next area to be worked. Again be extra careful here as it can be quite an intense stretch.

Next up is the most well known of all these stretches, for your quads/frontal thigh.

Calves are on the ‘DWCE’ list – they get stretched a LOT when I train them so next up for me are hamstrings. This is my favourite stretch I pay really close attention to easing really gently into it. I push my hips back before unrolling my spine, starting at my lower back and moving up through my upper back into my shoulders. I also take a lot of care to easing gently out.

So there you have it the final instalments of the Wonders Of Static Stretching trilogy Smilies aside, it’s great to get feedback on these posts, so if you do want to see a ‘DWCE’ with those ‘missing’ stretches get typing