Pregnancy Calf Stretch

Commonly Used For: Pregnancy-Related Pain.

Video Transcription: I'm going to show you how to stretch your calves, which is a good exercise to perform during pregnancy to help combat some of those calf cramps that you might be getting. So one way to do this is to get yourself into a stride stance. So one foot back, one foot forward. The leg you're stretching is going to be your back leg. You want to make sure your toes are pointed straight forward, not letting them turn out at all. Once you're in that position, you want to straighten your knee all the way, tighten your thigh muscles in the front here to make sure that leg is nice and straight. And then slowly lunge forward, until you feel a stretch in the back of your calf, here. You want to hold that position 30 seconds to a minute, get a good stretch in that muscle. If you need to hold onto a counter or a chair, anything stable for balance, then go ahead and do so. If you're on bed rest and not supposed to be up and about, another way to do this stretch, is in a seated position. So you can be sitting down. The leg you're stretching is going to be extended out in front of you. You'll need something sturdy to stretch, this is just a hand towel. So a hand towel, a belt, something like that. You're going to hook it around the ball of your foot, kind of up by your toes. Keeping your knee nice and straight again by tightening those thigh muscles on the top here. And then just gently pull back, until you feel a stretch in the back of your calf, or behind your knee. Hold that position 30 seconds to a minute. And then that is your calf stretch.