Quadriceps Stretch: The quadriceps is the muscle in the front of the thigh, important for lifting your knees and increasing your speed. It is the “quads″ that often go at the end of marathons, causing runners to come shuffling across the finish line because they have a hard time lifting their feet off the ground. To do this exercise while standing, simply grab hold of a stationary object for balance with one hand and use the opposite hand to grasp the leg around the ankle, lifting it toward your buttocks. Pitchford points out several form faults: “You want to keep your back straight and not allow the knee to drift forward ahead of the stance leg. A lot of runners slouch forward, which effectively negates the stretch’s effectiveness.”

An even more effective way to do this exercise, however, is lying on a bench, using a towel wrapped around the ankle to pull your foot toward your buttocks. You should position yourself on the edge of the bench with the foot of your dangling leg forward, knee bent, leg relaxed. As with the other stretching exercises, hold each stretch for 10 seconds and repeat as many as 10 times for each leg.