Frog Stretch

I really hate static stretching.  I find it to be boring and a lot of research has come out over the past few years stating that it doesn't help prevent injuries or get you ready for physical activity.  People are gravitating more towards dynamic movement to get the muscles loose and ready for action.

 

While I think static stretching is a large part, on the way out, I feel it can still be beneficial for people who are overly tight in certain areas.  For runners, tight hips and weak glutes are turning into a major issue.  A large part of this is a result of sitting down all day while working away for the man.  This is an even bigger issue for cyclists, who sit down on the bike and shut off the glutes.

 

Over the years, my hips have become super tight.  It's hard for me to get to a parallel squat and if I get in a deep squat, my legs feel like they are ripping.  When I run up steep hills, I look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame because it's too hard for me to "stand tall".  The other day, I read about the frog stretch, so I decided to try it out.  Right away, I could feel extreme tightness in my groin/adductors, which is the exact area that gets super tight on hills.  This stretch is a more extreme and less sissy version of the butterfly stretch.  Since I ain't no stretching expert, I decided to leave it to YouTube to show you how to properly do it.  This has no turned into one of two stretches that I've been doing consistently lately.  I guess I could do more, but I don't want to be an overachiever (or one of those yoga sissies). So here is a very charismatic fellow showing you how to properly do it.