The Touch-Your-Toes Challenge: How to Touch Your Toes in 7 Days!

Even if you have tight hamstrings, we bet we can get you to touch your toes in only seven days!

The modern day lifestyle is the biggest contributor to stiffness. Most of us spend all day in a seated position, which shortens the hamstrings and hip flexors and leads to inflexibility.

Luckily, a consistent stretching routine can help bring your flexibility back to life.

Suffering from a sore neck, back and shoulders? Get our mobility guide to ease pain and soreness.
Get The FREE Mobility Guide To Fix Your Pain Today!

Anatomy of Touching Your Toes

In order to touch your toes, you need to have a certain amount of flexibility in the hamstrings, glutes, lower back, and calves. You also need to be able to properly shift your posterior weight backward. Here are the major factors to keep in mind for this challenge.

The Hamstrings

The hamstrings are made up three posterior thigh muscles that start at the sitting bones, at the base of the pelvis and cross at the back of the knee. These muscles become shortened from sitting and need to be lengthened in order to safely and properly touch your toes.

The Posterior Weight Shift

Learning to properly shift your weight backward is key to touching your toes. Without this crucial shift, your hamstrings will automatically contract to protect you from losing your balance. Use your core to shift your weight back to allow your hamstrings to relax so you can safely fold forward.

External Hip Rotators

External hip rotator muscles are also a key factor in touching your toes. This set of muscles externally rotate the femur and stabilize the pelvis, and when they aren’t flexible, they can pull on the sacrum, making it difficult to bend forward.

Proper Core Engagement

You’ll notice when watching people come into a forward bend, the lower back tends to round. When this happens, the hamstrings are no longer being stretched and the lower back can become strained. In order to properly lengthen the hamstrings, you need to learn to keep a neutral pelvis by engaging the abdominal muscles.

---

Rules To Remember When Attempting This Challenge:

1. Warm your muscles first: Go for a 5 to 10-minute walk before stretching your muscles.
2. Don’t lock your knees: It’s common for people to lock their knees in an attempt to stretch the hamstrings, but this is counterproductive and can lead to injury. Remember to keep a slight bend in the knees to protect them from hyperextension and to prevent strain on the hamstrings and lower back.
3. Engage your abdominal muscles: Always keep your abs engaged by drawing your navel up and in towards your spine. This will prevent strain in your lower back and help to keep your pelvis in a neutral position for an optimal hamstrings stretch.
4. Engage your quadriceps: Keeping a slight engagement through your quadriceps (the fronts of your thighs) will protect your knees from hyperextending and will help increase the stretch through your hamstrings.
5. Hold and breathe deeply: Hold each stretch for at least 30 seconds and focus on slow, mindful breathing so that your body can relax into the stretch.
6. Always listen to your body: Stay focused and tune into your body while stretching. If something doesn’t feel right, come out of the stretch right away.

---

The Touch-Your-Toes Challenge: How to Touch Your Toes

This challenge will guide you to touching your toes by releasing tight hamstrings, hip flexors, external hip rotators, and the lower back. All you need for this challenge is a yoga strap or towel and a yoga block or a medium-thickness book.

Ragdoll | 30-60 sec

This pose gently lengthens the lower back, hamstrings, and spinal erectors, which rotate and straighten the back.

1. Stand with your feet at hip-width distance and keep a small bend in your knees.
2. Slowly fold forward, bringing your chest and belly to rest on your thighs while reaching your hands towards the ground. Let your head hang heavy.
3. Grab your opposite elbows and allow your weight to slightly shift towards your toes. Hold for 30-60 seconds, feeling the backside of your body lengthen.

Supine Hamstrings Stretch | 30 sec per side

Grab a strap or towel for this stretch to relieve tension in the hamstrings, lower back, and the glutes.

1. Begin lying down on your back with a strap in one hand.
2. Straighten your left leg long down on the floor and bend the right knee into your chest. Flex both feet.
3. Hold the ends of the strap in both hands and loop it around the bottom of your right foot. Then, slowly straighten your right leg towards the ceiling until you feel a stretch through your hamstrings.
4. If you’d like to deepen the stretch, walk your hands up the strap towards your foot. Make sure to keep a slight bend in the knee at all times.
5. Hold for 30 seconds, then switch sides.

Toe Reach | 30 sec per side

This gentle hamstring opener will teach you proper form to begin touching your toes.

1. From a standing position, step your right foot out a couple of inches forward and flex the foot so the right toes are pointing up.
2. Bend into your left knee and sit your hips back.
3. Reach your hand towards your flexed right toes, bending your left knee as much as you need to in order to bring your hands to frame your right foot.
4. Hold for 30 seconds, then switch sides.

Runner’s Lunge | 30 sec per side

This stretch teaches you to engage your abs and neutralize the pelvis while lengthening tight hips flexors.

1. Start in a push-up position with your shoulders stacked over your wrists.
2. Step your right foot outside of your right hand and lower your back knee to the ground, untucking the toes on your left foot. Make sure that your right knee is stacked over the ankle.
3. Keep your hands on the ground and keep a lift in your chest. Draw your navel up and in towards your spine to feel the stretch increase in your hip flexors.
4. Hold for 30 seconds, then switch sides.

Seated Forward Fold with Strap | 30-60 sec

This stretch uses a strap or towel to open up the external hip rotators, hamstrings, and lower back.

1. Sit on the floor and straighten your legs out in front of you, keeping a small bend in the knees.
2. Hold a strap or towel in one hand. Draw your navel up and in towards your spine and engage your abs so that you have a neutral curve in your lower back.
3. Hinge at the hips and fold over your thighs with a flat back. Loop your strap around the bottoms of your feet and hold the strap in both hands. Reach your chest forward and try to keep your lower back straight. Your belly should be touching your thighs.
4. Hold for 30-60 seconds, and then slowly release.

Single Leg Seated Forward Fold | 30 sec per side

This stretch relieves tension in the external rotators, lower back, and the hamstrings.

1. Start seated on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you. Bend your left leg and place your left foot on your inner right thigh. Keep a small bend in your right leg and flex your right foot so it’s active.
2. Sit up tall and square your shoulders off over your right leg. Draw your navel up and in towards your spine and engage your abs so that you have a neutral curve in your lower back.
3. With your hands framing your right leg, crawl your hands towards your right foot as you hinge at the hips. Once you feel a stretch through the back of the right leg, stop and hold for 30 seconds. Then, switch sides.

Wide-Legged Forward Fold | 30-60 sec

This stretch uses gravity to release tension in the hips, lower back, and hamstrings while also lengthening the spine.

1. Stand up with your feet out wide, toes pointing forward.
2. Bend your knees and hinge forward at your hips, bringing your hands to the ground.
3. Keep your hands on the ground as you straighten the legs until you feel a stretch through your hamstrings, lower back, and glutes. Let your head hang heavy.
4. Hold for 30-60 seconds.

Side Lunge | 30 sec per side

This pose opens the hamstrings and inner thighs and helps to increase ankle flexibility.

1. Stand up with your feet out wide, toes pointing forward.
2. Bend your knees and hinge forward at your hips to place your hands on the ground.
3. Walk your hands over to the inside of your right foot. Bend into your right knee, sitting your hips back and keeping your weight in the heel.
4. Keep your chest lifted and your left foot firmly on the ground. Feel the stretch through your inner left thigh and your hamstrings.
5. Hold for 30 seconds, then switch sides.

Toes Up Forward Fold | 30-60 sec

This stretch uses a book or yoga block to help you properly shift your posterior weight back, bringing more length into the hamstrings and calves.

1. Place a book or block on the floor.
2. Stand with your toes on the book and your heels on the ground, with your feet hip-width distance apart.
3. Draw your navel up and in towards your spine to engage your core and find a neutral pelvis.
4. Then, hinge at the hips and bend your knees as much as you need to in order to touch your fingertips to the ground.
5. Keep a flat back and breathe into the back of your legs. Hold for 30-60 seconds.

Touch Your Toes | 30-60 sec (Hooray!)

You’ve made it!

1. Begin standing with your feet hip-width distance apart. Draw your navel up and in towards your spine to engage your core and find a neutral pelvis.
2. Keep your lower back neutral and hinge at the hips. Bend into your knees and allow your torso to fold over your thighs.
3. Touch your fingertips to your toes and straighten your legs until you feel a good stretch through your hamstrings. Hold for 30-60 seconds, taking deep breaths. Notice if your legs are able to get a bit straighter as you hold the stretch.

---

Stick to this easy 7-day schedule to do the full Touch-Your-Toes Challenge. All you need to do is a combination of three different stretches per day!

 

(Your Next Workout: 9 Easy Wall Stretches for Tight Hips)