Exercise
Pancake Stretch
Pancake Stretch is a deep forward fold with legs wide that intensely stretches the hamstrings, inner thighs, and lower back. Lead with your chest rather than rounding your spine, and only fold as far as your flexibility allows without forcing.
Also called: Straddle Stretch, Wide-Leg Forward Fold · Equipment: stretching
How to do it
Step by step
- Sit upright with your legs spread as wide as comfortable in a V shape.
- Flex your feet and keep your knees straight but not locked.
- Inhale and lengthen your spine, then slowly hinge forward from your hips.
- Walk your hands forward between your legs, folding as deep as your mobility allows.
- Hold for 30-45 seconds while breathing deeply.
Muscles worked
What it trains
Mainly Adductors, Hamstrings.
Programming
What the research says
Alternatives · VALDA FLEX
Swap it mid-workout
- Downward Dog
- Frog Stretch
- Seated Forward Fold
- World's Greatest Stretch
- Adductor Stretch
- Butterfly Stretch
With VALDA Pro, FLEX offers alternatives like these when you swap an exercise mid-workout.
Log the pancake stretch in VALDA, with these cues one tap away while you train and your history for it in one place.
General information about exercise technique, not medical advice. If you have an injury or a health condition, your healthcare provider is the right person to ask.