How to Touch Your Toes

Step-by-Step Guide

1. 1

   Step 1: Stretch your lower back.

   Many people don’t consider the muscle groups in their lower back when considering flexibility, but you can stretch these muscles to help avoid strains for any number of exercises.
   
   The cat-camel stretch is a great way to stretch lower back muscles.
   
   Simply get down on all fours and alternate between rounding your back toward the ceiling and pushing your stomach toward the floor while lifting your buttocks.Hold each position for 15-30 seconds at a degree where you feel a nice stretch but no discomfort.The alternating concave and convex postures will help stretch out several of your lower back muscles.
   
   For several other lower back stretches, you can consult How to Do a Lower Back Stretch Safely.
2. 2

   Step 2: Stretch your hips.

   A great hip flexor exercise consists of getting down on one knee as though you were proposing in a traditional fashion, and then leaning forward to put weight on the front leg to stretch glutes in the lowered leg.You want to hold the position for roughly 30 seconds before switching legs and completing the exercise again.
   
   If you’re working on total flexibility, you can find other great hip stretches at How to Perform Hip Flexor Stretches. , Though stretching several muscle groups helps, you are most likely to feel the stretch of touching your toes in your hamstrings.
   
   You can easily stretch your hamstrings by laying on the floor next to a wall corner or doorframe and placing the heel of one foot up on the wall before slowly straightening the knee until your feel a good stretch without discomfort.Hold this stretch for 30 seconds before switching to the other leg and repeating.
   
   Since stretching your hamstrings is so integral to touching your toes, you may also want to look at some of the other exercises elaborated at How to Stretch Hamstrings. , Next to your hamstrings, your calves are the second largest muscle group you’ll feel while touching your toes.
   
   You can stretch your calves in a similar fashion to the hip flexor stretch, but this time remain stranding and keep the heel of your back foot firmly planted while leaning forward on the opposite foot.You also want to hold this stretch for 30 seconds before switching legs.
   
   Make sure you don’t rotate your feet at all, and it may also help to brace against a wall in front of you with your hands.For this and additional methods for stretching your calves, you can consult How to Stretch Your Calves. , The above calf stretch is also good for one’s plantar fascia, but in addition to this, you can also stretch these muscles by placing a hard ball such as a lacrosse ball or baseball on the floor under the arch of your foot and rolling it side to side and back and forth with your foot for up to two minutes.You want to place some weight down onto the foot in order to feel the muscles stretch but not enough to cause any discomfort. , Once you have warmed up and stretched all of the component muscle groups needed to reach your toes, you should find it much easier to reach them, or at least get closer than you previously were able.
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   Step 3: Stretch your hamstrings.

4. 4

   Step 4: Stretch your calves.

5. 5

   Step 5: Stretch your plantar fascia.

6. 6

   Step 6: Touch Your Toes.

Detailed Guide

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