TempoLife › Features › Stretching and mobility routines
Every stretch, dosed
One page per stretch with the muscle it targets and how long to hold it, plus four routines — for desks, runners, hips and the lower back — built on the numbers the stretching literature actually reported.
This is mobility information, not physiotherapy and not a diagnosis. Pain is the border: a stretch that hurts at the attachment, sharpens, or sends pins and needles down the limb is loading a nerve or a tendon, not a muscle — stop and, for anything that persists or radiates, see a clinician. After an injury or surgery, stretching follows the treating clinician's protocol, not this page.
The four routines
Routines are the stretches in the order a situation actually needs them. Each routine page carries its sequence with the hold for every move, and each step links to the stretch's own page.
The desk routine
Six stretches that reverse exactly what a keyboard day shortens: hips, chest, neck and wrists, in about ten minutes.
The runners' routine
Static after the run, dynamic before it — the six stretches that follow a run and the two rules that keep them safe.
The hip routine
Six stretches for hips that sit all day: the flexors, the rotators, the adductors and the back line, in order.
The lower-back routine
Five stretches for a muscular low back — and the clear line where stretching stops being the answer.
Every stretch
One page per stretch: the muscle it targets, how long to hold it, the steps, why it exists, and the specific caution that keeps it safe.
| Stretch | Targets | Hold |
|---|---|---|
| Standing forward fold (hamstrings) | Hamstrings and the back line | 30–45 s, 2–3 rounds |
| Kneeling hip flexor stretch | Iliopsoas and rectus femoris (hip flexors) | 30 s, 2 rounds per side |
| Standing quad stretch | Quadriceps (rectus femoris) | 30 s, 2 rounds per side |
| Wall calf stretch | Gastrocnemius and soleus | 30 s each version, 2 rounds per side |
| Pigeon pose (glutes) | Gluteals and deep hip rotators | 45 s per side |
| Supine figure-four (piriformis) | Piriformis and gluteals | 30 s per side |
| Doorway chest stretch | Pectorals and the front of the shoulder | 30 s, 2 rounds |
| Thoracic extension over a chair back | Thoracic spine extensors and mobility | 5 slow reps, 10 s each |
| Chin tuck (deep neck flexors) | Deep neck flexors, upper neck posture | 5 s, 10 reps |
| Cross-body shoulder stretch | Posterior deltoid and infraspinatus | 30 s per side |
| Wrist flexor stretch | Wrist and finger flexors | 20–30 s per side, 2 rounds |
| Seated butterfly (inner thighs) | Adductors of the hip | 45 s |
| Knees-to-chest | Lower back (erector spinae) and glutes | 30 s, with a gentle rock |
| Cat-cow | Whole-spine mobility | 8–10 slow cycles |
| Child's pose | Lats, back line, hips | 30–45 s |
Hold and frequency figures: the standard stretching and range-of-motion literature — 15–60 second holds, two to four rounds per muscle (about 60 seconds total), two to three sessions a week for measurable gains, static holds after activity or as their own session, dynamic movement before. The injury-prevention position: the systematic reviews — stretching does not prevent injury or soreness; it buys range of motion and comfort. Checked 2026-09-06.
Frequently asked questions
How long should I hold a stretch?
The studied range is 15 to 60 seconds per stretch, repeated two to four times for about a minute of total time per muscle. The pages here dose every stretch in that range — 30 to 45 seconds per hold, two or three rounds — because that is the combination the range-of-motion trials actually tested and found effective.
Should I stretch before or after exercise?
After, or as its own session. Static holds before activity do not prevent injury and can cost a little power; the same holds after activity cost nothing and give back the range the work just used. Before activity, the warm-up is movement — walking, swings, easy reps.
Does stretching prevent injuries?
The honest answer from the systematic reviews is no — stretching does not reduce injury rates or muscle soreness. What it does is buy range of motion and comfort, which is worth having on its own terms, and that is the framing every page here uses.
How often should I stretch to get more flexible?
Two to three sessions a week is the dose the studies used for measurable range-of-motion gains; more is not clearly better. For the desk population the rhythm that matters is daily short doses against daily sitting, which is what the desk routine is built around.
Should stretching hurt?
No. A firm pull — discomfort — is the working zone; sharpness, pain at the attachment, or any sensation that travels down the limb is the border, and it means the stretch is loading something that is not muscle. The caution on every stretch page here names its own version of that line.
Mobility you can see on the chart
TempoLife tracks daily movement and streaks, so the weeks you actually did the routine are visible — which is what keeps a stretching habit alive.