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Top 8 Stretches To Do on the Road

Jun 26, 2020

Sitting in the driver’s seat of a semi truck for hours on end can make your body ache and can make professional truck drivers uncomfortable. Thankfully, there are some easy stretches you can do to help loosen up and bring relief to the different ailments you may be experiencing.

For more driver health tips and tricks, be sure to check out our Driver Health playlist on the Drive for Dot YouTube channel.

Before we get started, here are some tips to help you get the most out of your stretch:

  1. Hold each stretch for 30 seconds to get the most out of your stretching efforts. This is the ideal amount of time to allow your muscles to loosen up and increase your mobility. 
  2. Stretch to the point of tension, not pain. If you feel pain when you are stretching, it’s your body telling you that you are going too far. Just ease up a bit and you should be good to go!
  3. Stretch after you do any sort of weight lifting, too! It is a myth that stretching causes you to lose muscle mass. You will actually grow more muscle if you stretch because stretching improves blood flow to that area!

Back & Hip Relief

All of these stretches are demonstrated in the video above by Dot Foods Maryland Occupational Health Trainer Toryn.
1. Child's Pose
Start seated and sit all the way back on your feet. Then lean forward—bringing your forehead as close to the ground as you can. You will feel this stretch mainly in your lower back and lat area.
2. Hip Flexor Lunge
Get in a kneeling position with one leg up at a 90-degree angle in front of you. Put most of your weight on your front leg and gently lean forward. You will feel the majority of this stretch in the front of your hip. Be careful not to push your knee too far past your toes.

If you want to add a little bit of difficulty for a deeper stretch, you can arch your back slightly and lean backwards.

3. Figure Four
Lay on your back with your feet flat on the floor. Take the ankle of one foot and place it on the knee of your opposite leg. For a stretch in your hip, you can gently push your knee forward. For a stretch in your leg and hips, wrap your hands behind the thigh of the leg that is on the ground and pull it closer to you.
4. Cobra
Lay on your stomach. Start by propping yourself up on your elbows with your forearms flush to the floor. This may be enough to feel a stretch in your core. If you feel you need a deeper stretch, you can push yourself up onto your hands. 

If you start to feel any pain in your lower back, be sure to go back down to your elbows.

All of these stretches are demonstrated in the video above by Dot Foods Arizona and California Occupational Health Trainer Dominic.
5. Trap Stretch
Make a chicken wing behind your back and drop your head to the side. Hold for 30 seconds.
6. Tricep Stretch
Take your arm and bring it above your head. Grab your arm right below your elbow and pull until you feel a stretch.
7. Bicep Stretch
This can be a tricky body part to stretch. 

Find a door frame. Put your hand up against the frame with a straight arm and then start to rotate your body away from the frame until you feel a stretch in your bicep. It is important to keep your arm straight during this stretch to ensure this is a bicep stretch instead of a shoulder stretch.

8. Forearm Stretches
First, put one arm straight out in front of you. Flatten your hand as if you’re going to give someone a high-five. With your opposite hand, grab your fingers of the outstretched hand and gently pull towards your body. 

Then, with the same arm straight out in front of you, grab the top of your hand and gently push your hand towards the floor so your palm is facing your body.

If you have any questions about your health while on the road, be sure to reach out to the Occupational Health team at your location.

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