Stretches
This one is great for hip or lowback tightness.
While lying flat on your back, pull with both hands on your bent knee. Pull it towards your opposite shoulder. You will feel the pull in the back , outside edge of your hip. If you feel a pinch in the front of your hip, direct the pull even further across your body. This stretch needs to be held for 40 seconds. Repeat 3 times.
Hip flexors
This stretch can help relieve that stiff feeling that can occur after sitting.
Standing and holding onto a rail, pull one foot to your butt. Try to swing that knee backwards without changing your hip position. You should feel this in the upper front of your leg. You can use less knee bend and more swing to get a better pull in the upper leg.
Shoulder Stretch
Shoulder restriction is complex but you can improve it incorporating this stretch.
Place the back of your hand in the small of your lowback. Your wrist should be near the spine. From here, try to bring your elbow forward. Done properly, this will stretch in the front of your shoulder. It is helpful to the rotator cuff.
Knee Stretch
This is the classic. Pull your heel up toward your butt , getting your foot as close as possible. Hold three times for thirty seconds- on each leg. If you have pain in the knee joint(by the knecap) instead of in the muscle (in the long ,front meaty part), we switch you to what I call the Nutcracker
Nutcracker
For this you need to lay on your back. Lift one leg up & bend it at the knee. Place a rolled up towel behind (in back of the bend of ) your knee .Then use your hands to pull on the shin. This makes your knee bend over the towel and is relieving while stretching to a swollen, stiff knee. You pull on it in short bouncy bursts. Not long slow holds.
Diagonal Shoulder Routine (Sword and the Beer)
This is an intermediate shoulder exercise often used for impingement, rotator cuff problems, or frozen shoulder. The first one is an imitation of pulling a sword out of the sheath and holding it up. Start by reaching with a straight arm across your body toward your opposite front pocket. Point your thumb backwards. You are grabbing the sword handle here. Draw it out by lifting your arm in a sweeping motion forward, up and outward as if you are holding the sword up in the air. Now there may be sore spots along the way as you pull out the sword. Avoid these areas. Usually pain is in the elevation of the arm above the shoulder. So, pull the sword out and leave it lower but out to the side of you. Once a painless path is determined, draw the sword and put it back in the sheath a dozen times.
The opposite motion is the "Beer" motion. You start with your straight arm up high but across your body and face, as if you are reaching to a high shelf. Swing it down and across yourself to a low and behind position -again with the thumb pointing backwards: It appears that you are pouring out a can of beer. A dozen of these will complete your diagonal routine.