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Tight Quadricep Muscles?

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๐ŸšจThe quadriceps consist of 4 muscles: 
The rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius.

The larger rectus femoris muscle crosses two joints, the hip and the knee joints while the other three muscles only cross the knee joint. The action of the rectus femoris is hip flexion and knee extension whereas the action of the vastus lateralis, medialis, and intermedius is knee extension. Therefore, in order to effectively stretch the entire muscle group you would perform the opposite motions at BOTH the hip and knee: hip extension and knee flexion. Very often people will only stretch the quadriceps at the knee while forgetting the stretch at the hip. A combination of these two motions at the hip and knee joints will greatly stretch and mobilize the quadricep while targeting all 4 parts. 

๐ŸšจDonโ€™t have a bench? No problem! Use the edge of a couch instead. Equally as effective! The use of the couch will give you more support and stability, allowing you to rock back further into hip extension and knee flexion, giving you a deeper stretch! Great stretch for anyone who has tight quads, especially runners!

๐Ÿ‘Try these two stretches out and let me know what you think! 

Enjoyed this video? ๐Ÿ‘ like, ๐Ÿท tag, or ๐Ÿ“จ share with someone who can benefit from this post! 

**This video is not intended as medical or professional advice. This video is for educational purposes only and are not intended to serve as medical or physical therapy advice to any individual. Consult a physical therapist for an individualized treatment plan.**

Music: Tropic
Musician: Jeff Kaale