I was introduced to a “7 in 7” stretching routine by a good mate on a snow trip once – jumping out of bed and doing some quick stretches seemed to get the day underway more quickly, and then doing the same after returning from the slopes made the next day not so bad.
Since then, I’ve evolved this to a 10 minute stretching routine, which I try my hardest to do after I exercise. This is a very lower-body focused program – most of the sports I do work the legs and hips (road cycling, mountain biking, running, OzTag, Hypaball). I need to revisit and find a similar program for the upper body, and to combat the hours I spend sitting at a desk!
Setup
Using your preferred Interval program, set up for 16 sets of 30 seconds, with 7 seconds break in between. You’ll execute the stretch in the long interval, and get ready for the next stretch in the short interval!
Here’s how I set up using Deltaworks “Interval Timer” (Apple / Android)
- Name: “7 in 7”
- Type: Simple
- Warm Up: 00:05 (Just to allow enough time to get set for stretch #1 after clicking start!)
- Interval Cycle
- Number of Sets: 16
- First Internal: Low
- Low Intensity (This is where you stretch)
- Duration: 00:30
- Sound: Alarm
- Colour: Green
- High Intensity (This is where you move around)
- Duration: 00:07
- Sound: Bell
- Colour: Red
- Repeat: No
- Cool Down: No / 00:00
Stretching Routine
- Hamstring Floor Stretch (Right and Left)
- Knee to Chest (Right and Left)
- Piriformis (Right and Left)
- Spinal stretch (Right and Left)
- Quadriceps Lying Down stretch (Right and Left)
- Inner Thigh Seated Stretch
- Hip Flexors (Right and Left)
- Calf Stretch (Right and Left)
- Total Back Stretch