What is the most important stretch?

[Chris 9]

OK, I know that it is a bit silly to pick out one stretch, but please indulge me.     What is the single most important stretch for general wellness, and what is your reasoning?  I'm interested in your thought process in regards to this question.  I have two candidates myself for the most important stretch, but I'd like to hear your ideas  Thanks for you patience.

[Jim Pickles]

Nobody has replied - maybe because it is difficult to reply to such a general question with a single answer. But I'd say Downward Dog - it relaxes the whole posterior line of the body, which tends to be tight and weak, and to hold too much tension, and works on a lot of different muscles at once. It doesnt address the front of the body of course.

 

[MarkusO]

I would say that it's probably the one you aren't doing right now 🙃. I'd go with some (assisted) bridge progression. It covers the whole front line, including hip flexors and counters our sedentary lifestyle. It's also the one I'm not doing right now 🥲.

[Chris 9]

11 hours ago, MarkusO said:

 I'd go with some (assisted) bridge progression. It covers the whole front line, including hip flexors and counters our sedentary lifestyle. 

Hi MarkusO, I'd like to dig a little deeper into your thought process.  I totally agree that stretching the hip flexors is important.  In fact, I would place hip flexors as the single most important tissue to stretch.  But in my opinion a bridge is an indirect way of reaching the hip flexors because there is so much more going on in this exercise.  Instead, why not go directly to a hip flexor stretch?  In my opinion the most direct method of stretching the hip flexors is with a table.  See for example here. https://azopt.net/hip-flexor-stretch/   I have stretching table in my studio, although I use it a bit differently than this guy does.  I do my hip flexor stretch on the end of the table, rather than the side.  And I don't grab both hands over the top of the knee.  I put one hand under the knee to create some distraction of the  hip.  

[MarkusO]

1 hour ago, Chris 9 said:

a bridge is an indirect way of reaching the hip flexors because there is so much more going on in this exercise.

That's actually why I recommended it. 🙂 A single stretch that targets as many tight spots as possible and counters our sedentary lifestyle across the whole anterior chain. Of course there are more efficient stretches for individual muscle groups. And if we consider individual muscle groups, I agree wrt hip flexors!