Follow this nine-five stretching regimen to break up the day

From classic sportswear brands to high-end fashion houses, our selection of sportswear gets stretched to its limits in high octane photographs by Jori Komulainen. To match, we asked London-based stetching expert Blok studios to share some at-home movements for warming up muscles while you keep looking cool.

‘Morning uplift stretch’: low squat with chest opener 

1. Come into the lowest squat possible by bringing your feet wider than your hips and turning your toes out slightly.
2. Bring your hands to prayer and press your elbows against your inner thigh to open out across the chest.
3. Try to stay here for a full minute and focus on your breath.

‘Morning activation stretch’: cossack squat

1. From standing, spread your legs wide apart and go into a deep lunge.
2. Stretch out your right leg and try to send your hips back, as if sitting on a chair behind you. Find your lowest position and hold there for 10 seconds. 
3. While keeping your hips as low to the ground as possible starting shifting your weight to the same position on your left side. Hold here for 10 seconds.
4. Repeat this 5 times.

‘Mid-workday back stretch’: pulling back release

1. Find something belly-button height that you can pull against, like a bannister, door handle, or counter top.
2. Grab hold of it, step back until your torso is parallel to the floor and your legs are a straight 90 degrees to your torso.
3. Make sure you try to make your back as long as possible to help you elongate the muscles between your ribs and help you breathe deeper.

‘Late afternoon reenergize stretch': sphinx or seal stretch 

1. Lying face down on the floor, place your hands flat underneath your shoulders and press down. Lift your chest off the floor until your arms are straight. If this feels too intense, lower down onto your forearms.
2. Stay here for 30 seconds and repeat twice more with little rests in between. While doing this think about pushing your shoulders far away from your ears and squeezing your shoulder blades together.

‘Night time wind down stretch': supine twist 

1. Lying on your back with your left leg extended, hug your right knee into your chest.
2. Place your left hand on the outside of your right thigh and then draw the knee across to the left, aiming to bring the right knee to the floor. Make sure to keep both shoulder blades pressed down on the floor.
3. Spend 30 seconds on each side.

INFORMATION

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