maratoolChair Leg Extended Stretch
How to do the chair leg extended stretch
- Sit upright in a chair and grip the seat on the sides.
- Raise one leg, extending the knee, flexing the ankle as you do so.
- Slowly move that leg outward as far as you can, and then back to the center and down.
- Repeat for your other leg.
Muscles worked
The muscles under tension are the hamstrings, which extend the hip and bend the knee, frequently at both joints in the same repetition.
A stretch loads them at the far end of the range they normally work in, so the position you hold is itself the resistance.
Nothing travels, but holding the position is not the target muscle’s job alone: the adductors steady the thigh against the pull away from the midline.
Every exercise for:HamstringsAdductors
How this movement works
You get into position and hold. One joint sets the angle and one muscle group takes the tension, so the load stays exactly where you put it. Hold for time, breathe normally, and come out the moment the position drifts: a shape that has quietly shifted is no longer training what you set it up to train.
It is filed under stretching, so the target is range of motion rather than force — a position you can settle into and breathe in, held long enough for the tissue to give.
What you need
These train the hamstrings too, using equipment this one does not:
- Cleanbarbell
- Double Kettlebell Alternating Hang Cleankettlebell
- Dumbbell Cleandumbbell
- Flutter Kicksbench + body only
- Front Leg Raisesbody only
Difficulty
Listed at beginner level: the pattern is simple enough to pick up without coaching, and a position that goes wrong mid-set is obvious enough to correct on the next repetition.
Of the 86 hamstrings exercises in this database, 37 are listed at beginner level.
Photos: free-exercise-db — public domain (Unlicense) Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.