Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist Shares the Daily Stretch Routine That Makes Your Body Feel 10 Years Younger

So many of us push hard for our health, logging miles, hitting bench PRs, and meeting our daily protein goals, only to underrecover. If you constantly feel stiff or sore, it is a clear sign your body needs attention. One of the simplest ways to do so is daily stretching, which can improve mobility, ease stiffness, and prevent soreness. To make it easy, Jeff Cavaliere, MSPT, CSCS, of Athlean-X, recently shared a five-minute dynamic stretch routine that can leave you feeling a decade younger.

Designed to wake up your body and get the blood flowing, consistency is key. By performing these stretches daily, you can not only loosen tight hips, hamstrings, and shoulders but also activate muscles that tend to stay dormant overnight. The result is more energy, better posture, and a body that feels ready to move.

Related: The One Shoulder Move a Yoga Pro Swears by to Regain Overhead Mobility

Daily Dynamic Stretches

Squat Fold

The squat fold wakes up your spine, hamstrings, and lower back while engaging your thoracic muscles.

How to Do It

1. Stand with your feet close together.
2. Squat down with your hands out in front for balance. Find as deep of a squat as you can, keeping your butt low and shoulders up.
3. Shoot your hips up, hands toward the ground, pushing knees back.
4. Return to squat position and hold.
5. Repeat 5 to 6 times.

Side Bridge and Reach

This stretch strengthens and stretches the lats, glutes, and quadratus lumborum, which helps reduce low back pain from poor posture.

How to Do It

1. Lie on your side with your bottom hip on the ground and the bottom leg straight. Cross your top leg over the bottom leg, keeping the foot flat on the floor
2. Extend your top arm down into your side for support, while keeping your other arm straight on the ground.
3. Lift hips into a side bridge, reaching your top arm up and over your body as far as possible.
4. Lower, then repeat 5 to 6 times on each side.

QL Pullthrough

The QL pullthrough targets thoracic spine rotation and rear delts, improving mobility lost from hunching over devices or desks on a daily basis.

How to Do It

1. Drop and fully extend one leg back, landing on the opposite hip with your heel at mid-thigh.
2. Lower yourself onto your forearm on the side of the hip that’s on the ground. Place the back of your opposite hand on the floor and slide it through as far as you can.
3. Slide the arm back out, reach up, and rotate to open the thoracic spine.
4. Repeat 5 to 6 times per side.

Hip Switch Lean

This stretch opens the hips, targets the adductors, and enhances lower body mobility and rotational range.

How to Do It

1. In a seated position, cross one foot over the other knee. Bend that knee.
2. Move top leg left and right in a windshield-wiper motion.
3. Let upper body follow the legs for a deeper stretch.
4. Use top foot to press down for internal rotation.
5. Repeat 5 to 6 times per side.

London Bridge

The London bridge strengthens the glute medius while stretching the back hip rotators, addressing common glute weakness.

How to Do It

1. Lie on your back, bend one leg, and rotate the opposite leg so your toes are pointing outwards.
2. Lift hips into a bridge as high as you can, keeping your bottom leg extended.
3. At the top, drop the other leg across your body for an added stretch.
4. Return back, lower your hips, then lift again.
5. Repeat 5 to 6 times per side.

Related: FST-7 Training: Bodybuilders’ Favorite Method for Maximum Pump