20 Best Exercises for a Full-Body Daily Stretching Routine for Men

Pulling on a pair of socks can become a challenge as we age. Without regular stretching, the body loses flexibility, leading to stiffness and a reduced range of motion. Stretching helps keep muscles pliable and resilient, so it's important to incorporate a daily stretching routine for men. This article will help with how to get flexible fast and reduce muscle stiffness with effective stretching exercises you can easily incorporate into your daily routine.

One of the best ways to achieve goals like improved mobility is by using Pliability's mobility app. This user-friendly tool will help you consistently incorporate effective stretching exercises into your daily routine to enjoy the benefits of reduced muscle stiffness and improved flexibility. 

How is Stretching Useful for Men?

Peak Performance with Stretching

Incorporate dynamic stretching before physical activity or sports to get the most performance benefits. Research shows that dynamic stretching helps ease the muscles into activity, preparing them for the work ahead. Stretching relaxes and elongates the muscles, making them more active throughout your activity. 

Stretching also helps improve balance and stability in the body overall. Longer, leaner, and more stable muscles are more flexible and successful at performing tasks. Another great benefit of stretching is reducing the effect of muscle soreness. This allows you to recover more quickly and increase the overall volume of your workouts.

Reduce Injury Risk with Stretching

One key benefit of stretching for men is reducing the risk of injury. Undue stress on the joints due to underactive muscles can cause joint injury. Strain and muscle damage can also happen when muscles aren’t properly warmed and cooled down. 

Stretching keeps muscles flexible and can use the joint’s full range of motion. Another major benefit of stretching is increased blood flow throughout the body. This helps heal nutrients in the blood and reach the muscles after a workout. 

Improve Your Health with Stretching

Stretching is a great way to relax and become more in tune with your body. Regular, deep stretches help release muscle tension, allowing the entire body to feel more calm and unwind. 

The increase in blood flow throughout the body promoted by stretching has been shown to reduce anxiety help people be calmer, and think more clearly. Taking care of the body in one aspect is also a great motivator to take care of other areas of health, such as good sleep and diet. 

Stretching Can Help You Look Better

Improving your physique with stretching may sound strange, but it’s true. Shrunken and underused muscles do not create an attractive physique. Weak spots in the muscles lend to bad posture, which can cause slouching and rounding of the shoulders and back. 

Stretching helps eliminate weak spots in the muscles and promotes proper body alignment. It can even help reverse bad posture after it has already begun.

Related Reading

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• Does Stretching Help You Lose Weight
• How to Release Tight Muscles
• Is Stretching Good for Arthritis
• Is Yoga Good for Stretching
• Morning Stretching Routine for Beginners
• Benefits of Stretching in the Morning
• Mobility Stretching Routine
• Daily Stretch Routine for Flexibility
• Mobility Exercise Routine

20 Exercises to Add to Your Full-Body Stretching Routine for Men

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A full-body stretching routine should target different muscle groups. Stretching helps improve flexibility, relieve tension, and reduce the risk of injury. Here are 20 effective stretches to incorporate into your daily stretching routine. 

1. Low Lunge 

Start position: Kneel tall on the ground.

How to perform:
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• Step one foot forward and lower your hips toward the ground.
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Muscle group target: 

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• Hip flexors
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We’d recommend these low lunges to anyone experiencing tightness in their hips. In addition to stretching the hip flexors, this exercise will work your glutes, helping to elongate the spine and improve posture. 

2. Elevated Kneeling Lunge 

Start position: Kneel on the ground with one knee on the floor.

How to perform:
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• Elevate the foot of your back leg on a bench or box. 
• Engage your core and glutes, then pull your back foot up toward your bum. 
• For a deeper stretch, reach for your back foot with both hands as you push your hips forward.
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Muscle group target: 
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• Quads
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Elevating and holding the foot of your kneeling leg works your quads and glutes harder. This increases both the load on the front foot and instability in the hold, which inevitably calls on your core muscles to counteract. 

3. Half Kneeling Hamstring Stretch 

Start position: Kneel on the ground with one knee on the floor and the opposite leg extended to the side.

How to perform:
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• Place your heel on the floor, then pull your toes toward your shin. 
• Keeping your back straight, drop your chest toward your knee.
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Muscle group target: 
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• Hamstrings
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This is our go-to exercise for reducing hamstring tightness. It’s also helpful to have in your armory if you suffer from lower back pain. A bonus is improved trunk stability, too.

4. Pigeon Pose 

Start position: Begin seated on the floor with both legs extended in front of you.

How to perform:
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• Bend your right knee and bring your right foot toward your torso. 
• Rotate your leg and place your shin on the floor so your right foot is in front of your left hip. 
• Gradually lower your hips down toward the ground. 
• Extend your left leg behind you and lower your torso toward the floor.
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Muscle group target: 
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• Hips
• Glutes
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This is a popular hip-opening yoga pose, and for good reason. While the extended leg receives a hip flexor stretch, you’ll also be stretching your outer hip, groin, thigh, back, piriformis, and psoas muscles.

5. Twisted Cross 

Start position: Lie on your front with your arms out to form a T shape.

How to perform:
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• Crawl your right hand a couple of inches higher than the line of your shoulder and bring your left arm under your chest. 
• Now press with your left arm and reach your left leg over your right. 
• Try to place it flat on the floor. 
• If you are very flexible, you can continue to rotate your body until both feet are flat on the floor.
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Muscle group target: 

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• Chest
• Shoulders
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This deep stretch helps open up the shoulders, chest, and hips while releasing tension in the spine, improving spinal mobility. As you twist your torso, it compresses the abdominal organs, increasing blood flow and stimulating the digestive system.

6. Thread the Needle 

Start position: Start on all fours, with your hips stacked over your knees and feet apart to remain in line with the knees.

How to perform:
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• Keeping your knees and hips exactly where they are, walk your hands further out in front of you. 
• Once you have reached a comfortable stretch
• Slide your right arm, palm up, along the floor under your left arm
• Allowing your shoulder and temple to rest. 
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Muscle group target: 
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• Upper back
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We swear by threading the needle, particularly for those suffering upper back and shoulder stiffness. The twist opens the chest and shoulders, releasing tension and relieving stress.

7. Hamstring Hinge Stretch 

Start position: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.

How to perform:
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• Hinge forward from the waist and reach your hands toward the floor, bending your knees slightly until your hands touch. 
• Keeping your back straight, walk your hands forward on the floor until you reach an angle where you can straighten your legs. 
• From there, walk your hands slowly back toward your feet, feeling the stretch in your hamstrings. 
• Walk your hands forward again to relax the hamstrings, then back toward your feet. 
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8. Standing Quad Stretch 

Start position: Stand with feet together and find a spot near a high table or wall you can use for balance.

How to perform:
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• Raise your right heel toward your butt. 
• Place your left arm against the wall or table for support, then grab your right ankle with your right hand, gently pulling your right foot closer to your butt. 
• The goal is to keep your back straight and hips tucked under you. 
• If you cannot achieve this pose without sticking your butt out, your quads/hips are too tight. 
• You should skip this stretch. 
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9. Upward Facing Dog 

Start position: Lie on your stomach with your legs extended behind you.

How to perform:
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• Bend your elbows and place your hands beneath your shoulders, palms flat against the floor. 
• Press your hands into the ground and raise your chest off the floor
• Lifting your head and focusing your gaze on the ceiling 
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Muscle group target: 
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• Pectoral muscles
• Deltoids
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10. Chest Opener 

‍Start position: Grab a rope or rolled-up towel at either end with your hands.

How to perform:
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• Standing with feet hip-width apart, straighten your arms overhead, raising the towel with you. 
• Bend your elbows and bring the towel down behind your shoulder blades. 
• Press back, elbows, and chest forward to feel the stretch in your chest and pectoral muscles.
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Muscle group target: 
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• Pectoral muscles
• Latissimus dorsi
• Biceps
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11. Shoulder Stretch 

Start position: Sit or stand.

How to perform:
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• Clasp hands in front of you, fingers interlaced. 
• Rotate your wrists so your hands face away from your body. 
• Press your palms skyward, straightening your arms overhead. 
• Reach as high to the sky as you can, allowing shoulders to rise, then pressing shoulders down. 
• Bend your elbows and lower your clasped hands behind your head, palms cupping your head. 
• Press your elbows back for a gentle chest stretch, then bring your elbows together in front of your head to feel an upper back stretch. 
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Muscle group target: 
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• Deltoids
• Rhombus
• Trapezius
• Latissimus dorsi
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12. Lower Body Twist 

Start position: Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor.

How to perform:
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• Place arms out to either side. 
• Raise your feet off the floor and bring your knees to your chest. 
• Slowly drop your knees to the right, allowing your hips to follow. 
• Turn your torso and head to the left and hold. 
• Bring your knees back to the center, drop them to the left, and turn your head to the right.
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Muscle group target: 
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• Erector spinae
• External obliques
• Internal obliques
• Glutes 
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13. Knees to Chest 

Start position: Lie on your back.

How to perform:
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• Bend your knees and bring them to your chest. 
• Hold the outside of each knee with a hand. 
• Round your back, and raise your head off the ground.
• Slowly rock back and forth for 60 seconds.
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Muscle group target: 
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• Lower back
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14. Cat-Cow 

Start position: Get onto all fours to start this popular yoga pose.

How to perform:
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• Inhale and raise your head toward the ceiling while imagining your core is being pulled toward the floor, creating an arch in your back. 
• Exhale and lower your head toward the floor. Round your spine, imagining a string pulling the center of your spine toward the ceiling. 
• Relax and repeat.
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Muscle group target: 
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• Erector spinae
• Splenius capitus 
• Splenius cervicis (neck muscles)
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15. Standing Hamstring And Calf Stretch 

Start position: From standing, step one foot slightly forward.

How to perform:
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• Bend at the hips, keeping the back straight, and lean toward the ground. 
• Let the back leg bend, but keep the front leg straight, toes up off the ground. 
• If you can reach it, grab your forward foot. 
• Hold, then switch sides. 
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Muscle group target: 
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• Hamstrings
• Calves
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16. Head Rolls 

Start position: Stand or sit with your back straight, your head facing forward.

How to perform:
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• Turn your head to the right, then use your chin to begin a slow circular motion.
• Drop your chin to your chest, raise it to the left side, skyward, and center it again. 
• Then, reverse direction.
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Muscle group target: 
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• Levator scapulae
• Trapezius
• Splenius capitus
• Splenius cervics (a.k.a. your major neck muscles).
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17. Doorway Stretch 

Start position: Stand in a doorway.

How to perform:
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• Raise each arm to the side and bend them at a 90-degree angle with palms facing the doorway. 
• Rest palms and arms against the doorway.
• Step forward with one foot until you feel the stretch. 
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Muscle group target: 

• Pecs

18. Sideways Lunge 

Start position: Stand upright with legs double shoulder-width apart, feet facing forward or slightly outward.

How to perform:
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• Keeping back straight, lean bodyweight to one side
• To increase the stretch, move feet further apart. 
• Hold, then switch sides.
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Muscle group target: 
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• Hip flexors
• Adductors
• Groin
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19. Forward Fold 

Start position: Stand with your feet under your hips.

How to perform:
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• Hingeing from the hips, bend your knees slightly, lower your torso, and head toward the floor. 
• Let your hands fall toward the ground. 
• Tuck your chin, relax your shoulder, and lengthen your spine. 
• With each exhale, deepen into the pose. 
• To return to start, bend your knees and slowly roll back to standing.
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Muscle group target: 

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• Erector spinae
• Glutes
• Hamstrings
• Calves 
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20. Child’s Pose 

Start position: Begin kneeling, legs separated about as wide as your hips, sitting on your heels.

How to perform:
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• Lower your torso to the ground while keeping your butt on your heels. 
• Allow your forehead to rest on the floor, if possible. 
• Extend your arms forward, palms down, so they rest on the floor. 
• Relax the entire body.
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Muscle group target: 
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• Trapezius
• Erector spinae
• Latissimus dorsi
• Teres major
• Obliques
• Glutes
• Hip flexors
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Related Reading

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• Hamstring Stetches
• Quad Stretches
  
• Ballistic Stretching
• Thigh Stretches
• Best Apps for Stretching
• Chest Stretches
• Types of Stretches
• Dynamic vs Static Stretching
  
• Best Mobility Stretches
  
• Best Lower Body Stretches
• Stretches for Arms
• Best Stretches for Athletes

Ways to Incorporate Stretching into Your Routine

Before starting a daily stretching routine for men, it’s wise to consult a fitness professional. They can assess your current flexibility and mobility levels and help you find the best stretches to integrate into your routine.  

Proper guidance will help reduce your risk of injury, especially if you’re targeting particularly stiff areas. A professional can also help you find effective stretches to meet your specific goals, whether you want to improve athletic performance, relieve muscle tension, or enhance your recovery after workouts. 

The Morning Stretch: How to Seamlessly Incorporate Stretching into Your Daily Routine 

Daily stretching has many benefits, especially in improving overall flexibility and mobility. You can maximize these advantages by consistently incorporating stretching into your routine. Consider starting your day with basic stretches or light yoga to help wake your mind and body. 

You can also find easy stretching videos online that target different areas of the body or focus on specific goals like relieving muscle tension or improving athletic performance. If you’re not a morning person, stretching before bed can help you relax and improve your sleep. 

Stretching Before and After Workouts 

Another effective way to incorporate stretching into your exercise routine is to stretch before and after workouts. Before you start your next workout, take about 10 minutes to perform a dynamic warmup with stretches that target the muscle groups you’ll be using during exercise. 

This will help prep your body for movement and improve your overall performance. After exercising, take another 10 minutes to cool your body down with static stretches. This will help reduce soreness and promote recovery so you can return to your next workout. 

Taking Stretching Classes or Designating Days for Stretching 

To boost your flexibility and mobility, consider taking stretching classes or designating days where you focus only on stretching. Depending on your overall goals and needs, it may be wise to incorporate entire days dedicated to:
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• Stretching
• Balance
• Flexibility
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You could even take a class that focuses on these. Many of these classes also incorporate calming elements such as calming sounds, music, or steam to create a relaxing vibe. 

Tools to Use to Enhance Stretching

1. Resistance Bands 

You can use resistance bands to stretch, especially in exceptionally stiff areas in your body that are hard to reach without bending in an unnatural position. They also help to increase flexibility and stability and, if they have a higher resistance, can even add a bit of strength training. 

2. Yoga Mat

Stretching on the bare floor can be uncomfortable and can also cause injury. Yoga mats are softer than the floor and provide some grip to reduce the chance of slipping while stretching. 

3. Exercise Ball 

Exercise balls are especially useful for stretching the back, hips, and legs and increasing balance. They are a great tool for beginners who need strength in underused muscles.

4. Foam Roller 

Foam rolling is especially useful for relieving muscle tension before or after a workout. Rolling the muscles also helps to lengthen them.

Improve Your Flexibility with Our Mobility App Today | Get 7 Days for Free on Any Platform

Pliability app can help people recover from: 
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• Injuries
• Surgeries
• Chronic pain
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The mobility routines are designed to improve flexibility and range of motion, helping the body move better and alleviate discomfort. If you’re feeling limited by pain or your ability to move, Pliability aims to complement your fitness routine and help you move better. 

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• Best Workout Apps for Beginners
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• Best Fitness Apps for Men

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