How To Do A Touch Toe Perfectly: Benefits & Precautions

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February 3, 2022

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The first thing that comes to people’s minds after they hear the word ‘stretch exercises’ is a toe touch. Children often show their flexibility by touching their toes without any effort. If you want to increase your body flexibility, you should definitely try toe touch exercises.

If you are a beginner, you might fail to properly do a toe touch. However, after repeating it a few times, you will surely master the art of touching your toes. Not only will it stretch your hamstrings and glutes, but toe touch can also hit your lower back too.

If you are interested in doing toe touch or its different variations, this guide is for you. We will discuss the benefits of toe touches, how to do toe touch, and much more. Read the guide till the end if you want to learn the safest methods to prepare a toe touches workout.

What Are the Benefits of Toe Touch Exercise?

Here is a list of benefits of toe touches that you get by practising this exercise regularly:

With increasing age, people lose the flexibility of their hip joints. However, by doing standing toe touch exercise or seated toe touch exercise, you can stretch your hamstrings and increase the flexibility of your hip joints.
By doing cross toe touches, you can massage your pelvic and abdominal organs. This includes adrenal glands, kidneys, spleen, pancreas, and liver.
If you increase the reps of rotating toe touches or cross toe touches, you can also potentially burn extra fat and stimulate blood circulation in your spine.
More blood reaches your head when you lower it down in the standing toe touch.
If you want to do a seated toe touch, you have to make your hamstrings, calves, and low back flexible. And flexible hamstring and calves prevent you from various injuries.

How to Do Standing Toe Touch Exercise?

Practising toe touches workout is as easy as it seems. Here is a step-by-step guide that will help you learn how to do toe touch:

Stand straight with your feet at a shoulder-wide distance to each other.
Keep your toes facing forward throughout the toe touch exercises.
In the starting position, you have to keep your arms by your side, legs straight, and knees a little bent.
Bend forward from the torso and try to touch your toes with your fingers.
Keep your body loose as it will help you in touching the toes.
Reach as low as you can and hold this pose for 20 counts.
Return to the position where you started the touching toes exercise and then repeat.

What are Variations or Alternate Toe Touch Exercises?

Bored of doing standing toe touch? Well, you can try an alternate toe touch exercise that offers similar benefits. Here is a list of a few variations or alternate of standing toe touch that you can add to your workout at home:

1) Side Toe Touch Exercise

Side toe touches are alternative to the standing toe touches. The main difference between the two exercises is that side toe touch exercise hits the core quite efficiently. Here is how you can do Side Toe Touch exercise:

Lie down on your back, bend your knees, feet touching the floor and at a distance of shoulder-width to each other.
Breathe in, move your torso forward, and touch your left heel with your left hand.
Take a pause of one second, get back to the initial position, change the sides, and repeat.

2) Single Leg Toe Touch

Just like side toe touches, this exercise also aids in toning your lower body. Along with that, it also tests your balance. Here is a step-by-step guide that will help you do single leg toe touch:

Stand on the right leg, keep left slightly back, raised from the floor.
Keep your arms straight, to the level of your shoulders.
Now, bend your right knee, squat down, and try to touch your right foot with your left hand.
Gradually, come back to the starting position and repeat the exercise with the opposite hand and leg.

3) Rotating Toe Touches

This exercise hits your hamstrings, left obliques, right obliques, calves, and even the lower back. Here is a step-by-step guide that will help you do rotating toe touches:

Stand straight, keep your feet at a distance of shoulder-width to each other.
Raise your arms to your sides, at shoulder height.
Try to touch your left foot with your left arm and your thigh with the chest.
Gradually, come back to the starting position and repeat the exercise with the opposite hand and leg.

4) Alternating Toe Touches

It is a pilates exercise that engages your obliques, hip flexors, quads, and abs. Here is a step-by-step guide that will help you do alternating toe touches:

Lie down on your back on a yoga mat.
Lift left leg and right arm simultaneously, and try to touch your toes with the arm.
Gradually, come back to the starting position and repeat the exercise with the opposite hand and leg.

What are Precautions And Safety Points for Toe Touch Exercise?

Here is a list of things you need to keep in mind while you practice toe touch:

Just like any abs workout or strength exercises, you should preferably keep your stomach empty while doing touching toes exercise.
Standing toe touch is considered better than seated toe touch as the latter can round your lower back.
Do not try too hard to touch your toes while doing toe touch as this might lead to a sprain on some muscle groups. Over time, your body will get flexible and you will be easily able to touch your toes.
Pregnant ladies should avoid toe touch as it puts pressure on their upper body.
If you have an injury in the back, you should avoid doing touching toes exercise until you are completely recovered.

Conclusion

A huge number of touching toes exercise benefits have made it so famous. Children like to do it for fun, while adults get to stretch their muscles without putting in too much effort. If you also want to stretch your hamstrings, lower back, and glutes, you should definitely add toe touch to your workout.

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