9 Best Stretches for Soccer Players
Soccer, like any sport, requires conditioning and taking care of the body. As important as it is to warm up your muscles and train your muscles to build strength, it’s likewise important to stretch after playing to take care of the muscles.
There are many benefits of stretching. Stretching has been found to significantly reduce the risk of injury. It can relieve pain, increase performance, increase range of motion, and increase the blood flow to your muscles to help them recover more quickly.
Many of my students ask me when exactly to stretch. This is a complicated question that has been debated for decades. Our current understanding is that dynamic stretches may be best before engaging in the activity, while static stretching may be best for after the exercise period. Here are a few must-do stretches for soccer players.
Runner’s
Sometimes called a psoas stretch, the runner’s stretch is one of my favorites for basically any athlete using their legs during their workout.
Start by standing with your feet in a split stance. With your right foot forward and left foot straight behind you, bend your right knee to a 90 degree angle. You can rest your hands on your front knee or thigh. Also, keep your hips even and facing forward.
As you press forward and down, feel the stretch in the left hip and groin. You can think of bringing your hips closer to the ground to get a nice stretch going through the front of the groin.
Hold for 15 or 20 seconds, and switch to the other leg.
Kneeling Quad
Your quads are huge muscles, and should certainly be stretched after a sport like soccer where a lot of running is involved. I find that a traditional standing quad stretch doesn’t always offer the deep stretch my students are lookin for, so here’s the kneeling variety that I find to be more useful.
Begin by kneeling with one foot on the floor in front of you and the other knee and leg on the ground. Keep both knees bent at roughly a 90 degree angle.
Grab your back foot or ankle, pulling it up toward your butt. To get a good stretch, keep your torso vertical, and lean forward. You should feel this stretch in your quad and the front hip flexors. Remember to keep the hips even!
Hold for 15-20 seconds and switch to the other side!
Standing Calf
I find that a lot of athletes have tight calves, yet calf stretches are often neglected. When you stretch your calves, you help protect both your ankles and your knees, which are commonly injured joints in soccer players. So don’t skip this one!
Stand a foot or so from a wall, and put one leg back. Keep your back heel in touch with the ground at all times.
As you lean forward, keep your hips aligned toward the wall, and try to really reach your calf back. This is best done as an active stretch, really trying to pull your foot and heel back as you push your body forward.
Hold for 15-20 seconds and repeat on the other side.
Piriformis
The piriformis is a deep muscle that sits below the glutes. It is important for hip rotation and abduction, and the sciatic nerve runs right beneath it. Stretching the piriformis will help your legs, hips, and lower back.
Lie on the floor with your feet on the ground and knees bent. Bring your left leg up and cross your ankle over your right thigh.
Lift your right foot up off the floor and toward your head.
You can gently push your left knee away from you, feeling the stretch in the butt and outer hip.
Hold for 15-20 seconds and do the same with the other leg.
Butterfly
The butterfly stretch is a classic, and works well to stretch the inner thighs and increase hip flexibility. Because it’s an active stretch, you can do this before or after playing soccer!
Sit with your feet in front of you, with the soles of the feet touching. Try to keep your back from curving too much.
Grab your feet or ankles, and rest your elbows on your thighs or knees, gently pushing down.
As you move your knees closer to the floor, you may adjust where your feet are or where your torso is to feel the stretch in the inner thighs.
Hold for 20 to 30 seconds.
Lunge Twist
The lunge twist is sometimes called the World’s Greatest Stretch, and is one of the best hip mobility exercises as well. It stretches out your hips, glutes, hamstrings, shoulder and back. I seriously recommend this stretch to nearly every athlete I work with!
Begin in a pushup position. Bring your left knee up to your left hand, bending the knee.
Keeping the hips as even as possible and your right leg straight, lift your left hand toward the roof. Twist your torso while trying to keep your hips straight.
Hold at the top for a few moments, and return the hand back down. Open and twist 10-15 times on each side.
Hamstring
There are many different ways to stretch the hamstring. Here I’ll offer a basic one that I find to be good for the majority of people. You can adjust it how you need and change the height to fit your level of flexibility.
Stand in front of a bed, table, or chair. Reach one leg up to rest your foot on the surface.
Slowly reach up and then forward toward your toes. If you can’t reach your toes, hold your leg or ankle. Imagine lengthening your hamstring, pushing your butt back and out from your foot.
Hold for 15-20 seconds, and repeat on the other side.
Heel and Ankle
Keeping our ankles nice and stretched is important for many athletes, but especially soccer players. You want to keep the muscles and ligaments flexible and mobile to prevent damage or injury.
Begin by kneeling and placing your front foot about fist-width distance from a wall.
While keeping the hips aligned forward, lean your front knee forward toward the wall. If you’re able to easily touch the wall and move the knee past the foot, scoot away from the wall.
Hold forward for 10 seconds, rest, and repeat. You can rest your hands on the front knee to help you push forward. Keep the heel in contact with the floor.
Child’s Pose
Extended child’s pose is another stretch I recommend quite a bit. It’s a great way to target your back, and with some small movements you can also hit your lats.
Start in a kneeling position with your knees hip-width apart. Sit as far back as you can.
Reach your arms foreward to the floor, and rest your forehead on the floor.
Allowing your chest to sink softly toward the floor, feel the stretch in your mid and lower back.
If you want to hit your lats, move your hands to one side or the other VERY slowly to hit them!
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