There are many different muscles in the leg area that are prone to injuries during and after workouts. The legs take on an important role as they receive a lot of pressure during the routines. The muscles, if not properly prepared, can buckle under that amount of pressure. Bones creak; muscles cramp and tendons will tear. Pain will soon follow.

The leg muscles must be properly stretched before putting them through the ringer of exercising or just normal daily routines. When those muscles are over used or forced to contract quickly, injuries will be inevitable. Flexibility is what enables them to move about more efficiently and handle the stress of the muscles being stretched past their normal limits.

Flexibility within the muscles can be obtained easily by performing a stretching routine for your legs before and after every aggressive fitness program. By increasing your flexibility, you’re increasing your muscles range of motion, thus avoiding the common leg injuries that general physicians see in their clinics every year.


Since the legs are made up of several different groups of muscles and tendons, there are numerous stretching exercising that could be performed to target each group. The most important muscles one should target are the calf muscles, hamstring and quadricep muscles. These face the most injuries among athletes.

The calf muscles should be stretched by standing away from a wall approximately 3 feet. While facing the wall, move one leg forward. Place your hands on the wall and lean your body forward, keeping the leg closest to the wall bent and the one away from the wall as straight as possible. Lean towards the wall until you feel a nice pull from the calf muscle of the straightened leg. Be sure to repeat with the other leg.

To stretch your hamstring muscle, lie on your back on the floor. Bring the knee of one leg up towards your chest, by using your hands placed behind the knee. When you bring the knee up so that it aligns with your hips, try to straighten the leg by raising the heel of the foot toward the ceiling. Go as far as you can without causing pain. Hold the leg in that position for at least 10-20 seconds.

Make sure the stretches are done slowly on both legs, as this will help the hamstring to stay flexible. If this muscle stays tight when you try to use it, you could cause not only injuries to the legs, but to the back as well.