Stretch of the week: Forward Fold IT Band Stretch. This stretch is simple but very effective. You won’t need anything for this stretch.

The only contradiction for this stretch would be if you have low back pain. Be conscious of how your body feels and please don’t overly push yourself in the stretch.

How to do the Forward Fold IT Band Stretch:

1. Start from standing. Cross your right foot over your left foot and place it on the ground. The outsides of your feet will now be touching, the toes all inline.

Tip: if you have trouble balancing and staying upright here, move yourself closer to a wall to use that as support.

2. From here, hinge at the hips and fold forward towards the floor. Engage the abdominals by bringing the belly button to the spine. This will reduce the pull in the low back.

3. Keep the legs as straight as you can, as shown in the left photo. Reach the finger tips/palms to the floor. If you can’t reach the floor, use the tip above and walk the hands down the wall as far as you comfortably can. You don’t want the knees to bend or the feet to stagger as shown in the right photo.

4. Stay here for a minimum of 30 seconds. Then switch sides!