Catalyst Athletics Forums - A gem from Olaf Evjents book Autostretching

The rectus femoris special:

The rectus femoris is one of the muscles which is not so easy to stretch yourself as it runs over two joints and is not exactly weak. This is especially true once it is significantly shortened.

I attached a crude one minute sketch of a rectus femoris special which I took form Olaf Evjenths and Jern Hambergers excellent book Autostretching; arguably the most comprehensive book on stretching ever produced. Indeed there are stretches for almost every muscle of the body outlined and described in detail. Just to give an example of the broadness, the book includes six pnf-stretches targeting the temporomandibular joint or jaw joint...

Due to copyright issues I cannot simply copy the pages so here it goes:

The starting position:

Place yourself on a bench of suitable height (see attachement)
Put the strap or jumpstretch band around your right ankle/foot
Place your left foot far enough to the front so that you don't arch your back, this is important.
Pull the strap with both hands over your right shoulder
Lean your torso slightly to the left side.
Press the right leg on the table

The stretch:

Pull the strap till you feel a good but not too strong stretch in the front of you right thigh
Now slowly pull the strap but resist with your right leg, hold for 5--10 sec
Relax and pull the strap so that your right ankle comes closer to your right buttock, hold the stretch for a couple of sec up to 20--30 sec
Repeat until you cannot improve the stretch and hold the end position for up to a minute