When Frank Mengel started running, "all his bones ached" after the first few days of running. He had never heard of stretching - unfortunately! Stretching after jogging is essential, especially for beginners. It demonstrably increases the feeling of well-being after a run and makes it easier to start the next session. Stretching promotes blood flow to the muscles, which means that the regeneration processes in the muscle cells are also accelerated. But: Explosive or bouncing stretching exercises are out. Instead, increase the stretching slowly and carefully. Pain is a sign that you are stretching too much and should release immediately. These three exercises are a good stretching program after jogging.

Back of the thigh

Here's how it works: An exercise for the back thigh muscles, which are extremely stressed when running: Rest your weight on your right supporting leg. Place the foot of the stretched left leg on the heel, pull the toe in and bring the upper body forward to create the stretch.

Front thigh

Here's how it works: An exercise to stretch the front of the thigh (quadriceps): Grasp the ankle with the free hand and pull the leg towards the buttocks.Upper body and standing leg form a line. Do not fall into a hollow back and grasp the back of the foot, not the toes.

Shin and calf muscles

This is how it works: Stand against a wall with your arms outstretched. The palms of your hands press against the wall, your outstretched left leg is about 90 centimetres from the wall, your right leg is bent. The tips of your feet point forward and your heels are firmly on the floor.

You can find more valuable tips on running at Runners World.

Text: © Martin Grüning