The lie back quad stretch is a deep quad and hip flexor stretch where you sit on your ankles with shins flat on the ground and lie all the way back until your shoulders touch the floor — and progressing into it with supports like a medicine ball is what finally made my knee pain go away. This stretch comes from my friend Joe Hippensteel's Ultimate Human Performance routine, and it was one of the most difficult ones for me to work into. In this Physical Friday I demonstrate the exact progression on camera.
Watch now: press play in the player above and follow along.
You sit on your knees and ankles so your entire shin is on the ground, then lie back until your shoulders touch the floor while your knees stay down. It stretches the quads and hip flexors, which get short and tight from all the sitting we do — in the boat, in the car, at the desk. It is part of Joe Hippensteel's Ultimate Human Performance stretching routine, and it has been a game changer for me.
Use supports and shrink them over time. I started with a medicine ball behind my back, which let me relax into a partial lie back — that was as far as I could go, and holding it two minutes was intense. Over time I moved to smaller and smaller supports behind me until I could finally lie all the way down, shoulders and knees both touching the ground. Use a medicine ball and 18 pillows if that is what it takes; start where you are.
Joe Hippensteel teaches that you should never stretch past a seven out of ten in pain. Past a seven, your brain says contract and protect — everything tightens up and you stop getting an effective stretch. Stay at or below a seven, relax into the position, and the muscles actually lengthen. It is the difference between fighting the stretch and progressing in it.
Two minutes in the stretch, then come out into what Joe calls a dead zone position — letting all the blood flow back into the muscles for about a minute — then back in for another two minutes. That stretch-and-recover cycle is how I regained my flexibility and eventually got my shoulders flat on the ground.
It fixed mine. I had all kinds of patellar tendonitis issues, and when I could do this stretch consistently — all the way down — my knee pain went away. I am running better, I am more comfortable on the boat, everything is better. Tight, shortened quads and hip flexors from constant sitting were a root cause, and lengthening them changed everything.
Then that is your starting point. Some people cannot sit on their ankles at all because their ankle flexibility is so poor, so you begin in a kneeling position working the quads gently while the ankles adapt. Progress is progress — the medicine ball, the pillows, the partial range. The full lie back felt completely and totally impossible to me at the start, and now I can do it.
This is the exact progression I demonstrate on camera in the episode.
Stay consistent and the impossible position arrives — and for me, the knee pain left with it. Next step in the series is the reverse Nordic, which I cover in episode 622. Watch the demonstration above.
We sit in the boat, sit in the truck driving to the ramp, and sit all day at the desk — and all that sitting leaves the hip flexors and quads short and tight. That tightness shows up downstream as knee pain. This stretch attacks the root cause instead of the symptom, which is why Joe prescribes it. I explain the chain in the episode above.
The first time I ever talked to Joe Hippensteel on the phone, he told me he was talking to me from the lie back quad stretch. When I tried it, I could not breathe in that position, let alone hold a conversation. With the medicine ball progression and the two-minute holds, I worked from barely leaning back to shoulders flat on the floor — a position I thought was completely impossible. The before-and-after is in the video above.
I was dealing with patellar tendonitis and assorted knee pains, and when I could consistently get all the way down in this stretch, they went away. Not improved — went away. I am running better and I am more comfortable standing on the boat all day. I cannot promise your knees respond the same way, but I can show you exactly what I did. Press play above.
This stretch is step one of a progression. Once you own the lie back quad stretch, the next move is the reverse Nordic — rising up out of that lie-back position under control, building strength in ranges most people never train. I cover the reverse Nordic with full band progressions in episode 622, and I preview it at the end of this video above.
If a stretch looks impossible to you today, that means almost nothing about where you can be in a few months. Medicine ball, pillows, two-minute holds, never past a seven — the progression does the work if you show up for it.
Thanks to Joe Hippensteel and Ultimate Human Performance for this one and for getting me out of pain. Watch the full demonstration above, and come back for the reverse Nordic next.
lie back quad stretch · Joe Hippensteel · Ultimate Human Performance · quad flexibility · hip flexors · ankle mobility · medicine ball progression · never past seven rule · dead zone recovery · patellar tendonitis · knee pain · reverse Nordic · Physical Friday
Physical Friday is my weekly fitness series for fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen — the training, nutrition, and mindset to stay in the game for life. Watch and listen to every Physical Friday episode from Tom Rowland.
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's Physical Friday series I share the training, nutrition, and mindset that keep fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen strong for life — short, practical episodes you can put to work in your next workout.
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