One Leg Standing Hip Flexor and Knee Extensor Stretch

Knee and Thigh Stretches:

Method:
Stand upright with weight balanced on the left leg. Keep the left foot pointing straight forward and the knee almost straight. To help maintain balance, brace the left hand on a wall. Bend the right knee; grasp the right foot or ankle tightly and pull the right heel backward and slightly upward to within 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) of the buttocks. At the same time, push the hips forward.

Affected Body Part:
Most-stretched muscles: Right vastus medialis, right vastus intermedius, right vastus lateralis, middle and upper right sartorius, right rectus femoris, right psoas major, right iliacus, right tensor fascia lata.
Lesser-stretched muscles: Right pectineus, anterior part of right gluteus medius.

When doing this stretch, be extra careful not to strain the knee structure by overflexing the knee. Pull the ankle slowly in a more backward than upward direction, making sure that the hips also move forward. In other words, concentrate more on doing hip extension than on doing knee flexion. To place most of the stretch emphasis on the medial muscles (vastus medialis and pectineus), rotate the upper body away from the medial muscles (rotate the right side clockwise) when bending backward. To place most of the stretch emphasis on the lateral muscles (vastus lateralis and tensor fascia latae), rotate the upper body away from the lateral muscles (rotate the right side counterclockwise) when bending backward.