World's Greatest Stretch

An intermediate mobility exercise that works the hamstrings.

World's Greatest Stretch — Starting position Starting position
World's Greatest Stretch — End position End position
Difficulty Intermediate
Type Stretching
Equipment Not specified
Primary Muscle Hamstrings
Logged As Time held

How to Do World's Greatest Stretch

  1. This is a three-part stretch. Begin by lunging forward, with your front foot flat on the ground and on the toes of your back foot. With your knees bent, squat down until your knee is almost touching the ground. Keep your torso erect, and hold this position for 10-20 seconds.
  2. Now, place the arm on the same side as your front leg on the ground, with the elbow next to the foot. Your other hand should be placed on the ground, parallel to your lead leg, to help support you during this portion of the stretch.
  3. After 10-20 seconds, place your hands on either side of your front foot. Raise the toes of the front foot off of the ground, and straighten your leg. You may need to reposition your rear leg to do so. Hold for 10-20 seconds, and then repeat the entire sequence for the other side.

Muscles Worked

Front
Back

Primary

Where World's Greatest Stretch does most of its work.

Secondary

Assisting and stabilising muscles.

Alternatives to World's Greatest Stretch

10 movements that train the same primary muscle, closest substitutes first — same kind of training, then variations of the movement itself, then a similar difficulty.

  1. 1 Seated Hamstring and Calf Stretch

    Seated Hamstring and Calf Stretch

    An intermediate mobility exercise that works the hamstrings.

    intermediate Not specified
  2. 2 Intermediate Groin Stretch

    Intermediate Groin Stretch

    An intermediate isolation mobility exercise that works the hamstrings.

    intermediate Not specified
  3. 3 Runner's Stretch

    Runner's Stretch

    A beginner mobility exercise that works the hamstrings.

    beginner Not specified
  4. 4 Seated Floor Hamstring Stretch

    Seated Floor Hamstring Stretch

    A beginner mobility exercise that works the hamstrings.

    beginner Not specified
  5. 5 Split Squats

    Split Squats

    An intermediate mobility exercise that works the hamstrings.

    intermediate Not specified
  6. 6 Chair Leg Extended Stretch

    Chair Leg Extended Stretch

    A beginner isolation mobility exercise that works the hamstrings.

    beginner Not specified
  7. 7 Hamstring Stretch

    Hamstring Stretch

    A beginner isolation mobility exercise that works the hamstrings.

    beginner Not specified
  8. 8 Leg-Up Hamstring Stretch

    Leg-Up Hamstring Stretch

    A beginner isolation mobility exercise that works the hamstrings.

    beginner Not specified
  9. 9 Standing Hamstring and Calf Stretch

    Standing Hamstring and Calf Stretch

    A beginner mobility exercise that works the hamstrings.

    beginner Not specified
  10. 10 Front Leg Raises

    Front Leg Raises

    A beginner mobility exercise that works the hamstrings, needing no equipment.

    beginner No Equipment

Frequently Asked Questions

What muscles do world's greatest stretch work?

World's Greatest Stretch primarily works the hamstrings. The calves, glutes and quads assist as secondary muscles.

What equipment do I need for world's greatest stretch?

The source dataset does not record equipment for world's greatest stretch. Check the instructions above before you set up.

World's Greatest Stretch: is it suitable for beginners?

World's Greatest Stretch is rated intermediate. Movements that assume you already own the basic pattern and are ready to load it.

What can I do instead of world's greatest stretch?

Seated Hamstring and Calf Stretch, Intermediate Groin Stretch, Runner's Stretch train the same primary muscles and are listed with 7 more alternatives above.

How do I log world's greatest stretch in Fitnit?

As time held rather than reps. Fitnit records the seconds and credits them to the hamstrings on your body map, so you can see which muscles you train hard and never stretch.

Photographs and step-by-step instructions from free-exercise-db, a public-domain exercise dataset. Muscle mapping and alternatives by Fitnit.

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