SELF does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. A few variations of the toe touches allow you to pick the exercise … Keep your spine long and avoid hunching over. Standing toe touches are about as old-school as an exercise can be, but that doesn't mean they're too old-fashioned to work. Try not to touch the other foot down when you land. Starting Position: Standing; Set-Up: Stand with feet together and the balls of your feet up on the half foam roll with the round side up. Exhale as you bring your right leg straight up in front of you to hip height, and touch your toes with your left hand. Standing yoga poses are considered best for balance improvement and posture correction apart from other pose-specific anatomical and therapeutic benefits.Some of them are beneficial in strengthening Achilles tendon, hip flexor and hamstrings. Exercise 11: Toe Lifts. An avid runner and occasional weight-lifter, she fell in love with fitness while writing TV Animation in Los Angeles. Do not lock your knees. Your right foot should be flexed. After a couple weeks, you should notice improvement. Cross your left foot over your right quad, and bend your right knee. Raise your legs straight until they are perpendicular with the floor. Lie on an exercise mat, with your back flat, knees bent and your feet flat on the floor slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Inhale as you return to your starting position, keeping your belly button pulled in toward your spine. Depending on the variation, they can also offer an effective workout for your obliques. If it begins to open up toward ceiling, draw right foot back in toward body. Keep your toes and knees pointing straight up. Land on that starting side. “But a lot of people don’t know that prioritizing the extra 10 to 15 minutes [to stretch] is going to let you get more out of your workout.” When you’re tight, you have a limited range of motion, so you can only use your muscles so efficiently. Now switch positions. Find the best exercises with our Exercise Guides and build your perfect workout Learn to perform every exercise! Others who do a good job of being active don’t take the time to focus on flexibility and mobility. Do not bend to reach your toes. When done properly, standing toe touches not only work your abdominal muscles, but stretch and work your calves, your hamstrings, your butt and your shoulders. in journalism from the SI Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, a personal trainer certification from the American Council on Exercise (ACE), and a CPR certification from the American Red Cross. Shift your weight to the right. Step 1:Lay on the floor resting on your back. Sit in a straight-backed chair with your feet flat on the floor. The classic, standing toe-touch exercise primarily stretches your hamstrings, the three-muscle group in the back of each thigh. Hold your arms straight out from your sides at shoulder height. Do one set of 12 repetitions. Make sure to eat clean and keep doing your cardio exercise in addition to the core strength moves like the V-Ups. Sit with your right knee bent and open to the side and left leg extended straight behind body. Do 12 repetitions on each side, counting "One and two, two and two, three and two" and so on, until you get to twelve. Put your feet together. Do not simply round over to touch the ground. Just make sure that if you do them before a workout, that you do a dynamic warmup after (where you're moving and getting your blood flowing) so your muscles are properly warmed up. Lateral toe touches have a similar effect and can help you eventually touch your toes using the regular standing method. Stack your hands on top of one another. Walk your hands out in front of your body, allowing your chest to rest over right knee. Then push off your standing leg and jump back, swinging your arms to help you power the jump. 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