Single Straight Leg Stretch

How to do the Single Straight Leg Stretch

1. 1Lie flat on your back with your legs extended and your arms at your sides.
2. 2Engage your core and curl your head and upper shoulders off the floor, keeping your chin lightly tucked and your lower back pressed into the mat.
3. 3Lift both legs off the floor, then raise your right leg toward the ceiling while extending your left leg out at roughly a 45-degree angle.
4. 4Reach both hands toward your right calf or ankle, keeping your elbows wide and your shoulders lifted throughout.
5. 5Pulse your right leg gently toward you twice with light assistance from your hands.
6. 6Switch legs in a controlled scissor motion — lower your right leg to the 45-degree position as you raise your left leg toward the ceiling.
7. 7Reach your hands toward your left calf or ankle and repeat the two pulses.
8. 8Continue alternating legs with a steady, controlled rhythm while maintaining the spinal flexion position and the lower back contact with the mat.
9. 9After completing the prescribed repetitions on each side, lower both legs and your head back to the floor in a controlled manner.

Form tips

• Keep your lower back pressed firmly into the mat throughout — if it begins to arch, raise your lower leg higher until your core strength catches up.
• The curl should come from your upper abdominals, not from pulling your neck forward; keep your gaze angled toward your knees rather than straight up.
• Reach toward the calf rather than the ankle if hamstring flexibility limits your range — the grip is a guide, not a pull.
• Control the scissor transition rather than swinging the legs; the slower and more deliberate the switch, the greater the demand on your core.
• Exhale as you pulse the raised leg toward you and inhale as you switch legs to maintain intra-abdominal pressure.

Common mistakes

• Allowing the lower back to arch off the mat, which shifts load away from the abdominals and compresses the lumbar spine — raise the lower leg higher to correct this.
• Pulling aggressively on the raised leg with the hands, which can strain the hamstring at the insertion and reduces the ab work that the curl position is meant to provide.
• Dropping the head and shoulders back to the floor between switches, which breaks the core tension and eliminates the time under tension for the rectus abdominis and obliques.
• Letting the lower leg drop too close to the floor before core stability is adequate, which creates an excessive lever arm the lower back must compensate for.
• Bending the raised knee instead of keeping it straight, which reduces the hamstring and quadriceps demand and makes the movement significantly easier than intended.

Frequently asked questions