- Denise Austin shares ‘best stretches’ for women over 50 Prevention.
- Fitness pros say focusing on your hamstrings is key to keeping them “healthy and flexible.”
- Austin provides detailed instructions on how and when to stretch for maximum benefit.
When it comes to health tips to help you feel your best and live a healthy lifestyle, look no further than Denise Austin. This fitness pro has been in the business for decades, inspiring women of all ages to stay healthy with her informative VHS tapes, TV shows, and Instagram videos. Austin: Prevention I share my “number one” stretches for women over 50 to maintain flexibility and relieve aches and pains.
“I’m a big believer in hamstring stretches because they’re good for your knees, hips and lower back, so I stretch my hamstrings at the back of my thighs every day,” Austin explains.
Her favorite hamstring stretch variation is to lie down and bring your knees up to your chest, which creates a deep stretch along the entire back of your leg. “This is a really great one,” she says, explaining that it can also be done standing up if you don’t want to get down on the ground.
“But hamstring stretches are the most important thing we as women can do to stay healthy, flexible and supple, whether we’re lying down, sitting or on our backs,” she explains. “If our hamstrings are tight, they can pull on the hips and cause back pain, or strain the knees or hips, so I make sure to stretch my hamstrings every day.”
Austin reaps the benefits of stretching by strategically incorporating it into her workouts. Before going for a walk or any other type of exercise, she performs dynamic stretches to “loosen up a little bit” and “get the blood flowing,” she explains. These stretches are more fluid (you’re actively moving in a stretched position) and are important for warming up and prepping your muscles before a workout.
Once Austin has worked up a sweat, she performs some static stretches to increase her range of motion and achieve a deeper stretch: “Hold the stretch for 20 seconds,” she explains.
If you’re looking for ways to stay healthy after 50, check out more of Austin’s workouts below.
