How to do the Figure-Four Stretch
Step by step
- Lie on your back with both knees bent and feet flat.
- Cross one ankle over the opposite thigh so your legs make a figure four.
- Reach through and hold behind the lower thigh, then draw it toward your chest.
- Feel the stretch in the hip and glute of the crossed leg, hold, then switch.
The thing people get wrong
Keep the crossed foot flexed to protect the knee, and pull from behind the thigh gently rather than yanking the leg in.
Coaching cue
Press the crossed knee gently away from you as you draw the other leg in.
Make it easier or harder
- Easier: Leave the bottom foot on the floor and just press the crossed knee away.
- Harder: Hold the shin instead of behind the thigh so the leg comes in closer.
Muscles worked
- Primary: Glutes, Hips
What to do instead
Same job, different movement — useful if you don't have the equipment or it doesn't feel right today.
Daily Coach builds this into a real weekly plan. It picks the exercises for your equipment and experience, swaps around injuries you tell it about, and tracks what you actually lifted.