THROW IN THE TOWEL

Get your towel on before you towel off at the gym.

By Chan Tran and Eugene Jang; PHotography by Alleh Lindquist

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Your gym towel is not just for wiping sweat off the face and machines. For those who are just a bit tighter and less flexible, a towel can assist your stretch, keeping you from compromising good form and risking injury from overstretching.
So go ahead! Give the terry cloth an even more creative use than as a cruise-ship towel animal.

The Expert
Columbia University graduate Eugene Jang, CSCS, COMT, is senior sports therapist and site director of ICE Sports Therapy at The Sports Club/LA. With nine years of physical therapy experience, Jang specializes in sports and orthopedics, and has trained celebrities, professional athletes and Olympians. 

1. Quad/Hip Flexor Stretch
• Kneel down on the knee of the leg you’re stretching (put a cushion under the knee).
• Wrap towel around the front of the foot of side to be stretched.
• Draw abdominals in to keep back and pelvis stable, and lunge forward slightly onto the front foot.
• Using your arm, pull towel to bring heel toward butt until you feel slight tension in your quads and hips.
• Hold for 30 seconds, five times each leg.

2. Calf Stretch
Though towels are the most accessible items at the gym, you can also stretch out with a jump rope or stretch bands. Roll up a bath-size towel.
• For calves, sit up with stretching leg straight and the non-stretching leg bent.
• Wrap towel around the arch of the foot for the leg you’re stretching.
• Keep knee straight and back flat.
• Pull towel toward you until you feel slight tension in your calf. Hold for 30 seconds, three times each leg.
Target Muscles: Gastrocnemius, soleus

3. Tricep Stretch
• Stand. Hold towel in the arm you are stretching over your head with the elbow bent.
• Grab the towel from behind your back with the other arm.
• Tug down on towel until you feel slight tension in your triceps and hold for
30 seconds. Release the arm and repeat four more times.
Target Muscle: Triceps

The towel is a surprisingly diverse exercise tool. Find even more stretches in the January/February 2010 issue of SOBeFiT Magazine.