Gentle seated stretches to ease PAD claudication (leg muscle cramping): hamstring, calf, hip, and ankle stretches to boost blood flow between bouts of exercise.

Hi. Today we'll be doing some stretches to help with PAD claudication, otherwise known as muscle cramping. When you do an activity or exercise, your legs may be in pain from reduced blood flow. Stretching can help increase blood flow and calm down muscle aches. So try these stretches in between bouts of exercise, or the next time you experience claudication with activity.

Today we'll be focusing on the lower body. Go ahead and sit down and rest if you're not already. Make sure to ease in and out of stretches slowly. The stretching itself should not be painful, but you may feel some tension as you stretch. Go ahead and start a stretch session on your watch if you have that available, and if you have an exercise session running already, you can just leave it running.

The first exercise we're going to do is the hamstring stretch. Sitting up nice and tall on the edge of your seat, straighten one leg in front of the other. Rest your foot on the floor, and keep the other leg bent and relaxed. With a flat back, lean forward slowly. We're going to hold this position for 15 seconds, so breathe through the tension, in through your nose and out through your mouth. Try not to move around too much, and you can repeat this on the other leg in a moment. Notice where you feel the stretch — you may feel it in your hamstring, behind your thigh, in your knee, all the way down the leg, or even in your ankle. Breathing in deeply, try to go a little bit deeper into the stretch if you can. Slowly sit up, making sure you're feeling okay, then relax that leg and move on to the other side. Lean forward with a flat back, and notice where you feel the stretch. It's okay if you're not flexible — we're working on it, and this should help with any cramping you're feeling. Breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth, holding for a couple more seconds.

Moving on to our second stretch, the calf stretch. We'll start with the same position — one leg in front of the other — but this time we're going to point our toes up towards the ceiling. Flex that foot, make sure your leg is straight, and lean forward slightly. You might already feel the stretch, but go ahead and hold the position for 15 seconds. Try to ease into the stretch, and notice if you can go a little bit deeper as your muscles relax. Breathe through the tension, in through the nose and out through the mouth. You might feel this a little more behind the knee and in the lower leg. Slowly sit up out of it, and switch to the other side. If you'd like to make it a deeper stretch, you can use a resistance band. I'll show you how: hold the resistance band in both hands and place the middle around the sole of your foot. Add a little resistance by either wrapping it around your hands or gently pulling it, and you can still lean forward and pull on the band. Hold for 15 seconds, breathing deeply through the tension. And if this is too much for you, you can relax it a little or not use the band at all. Notice where you feel the stretch and try to breathe through that tension.

Great job. Slowly relax out of it and move on to the glute and hip stretch. For this stretch, we're going to target our hips and glutes. Cross one leg over the other, bringing your heel up over your knee and resting it on your thigh. If you can't get your foot all the way up, that's okay — you can hold onto your pant leg about your shin. Hold this position for 15 seconds, breathing deeply. You might already feel this without leaning forward, but you can add a little more intensity by leaning slightly forward or applying some pressure onto your knee, gently pushing down. Hold this position and breathe deeply, trying not to move around too much. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Notice where you feel the stretch — you might feel it on the outside of your hip or in the glutes. Relax that leg down and switch to the other side, bringing your ankle up as high as you can. Lean forward just a little, and hold for 15 seconds, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. Add a little more pressure as your muscles relax, breathing deeply through the tension. Notice where you feel that stretch. Slowly sit up out of the stretch and relax your leg down.

Our last exercise today is the ankle stretch. Sitting up tall, place your heel out in front and rest it on the ground. Keep your leg bent and relaxed. Pull your toes up towards the ceiling, just like we did with the calf stretch, and hold this position, stretching the ankle. If you need to keep your foot up using some support, you can use a resistance band or a towel to pull your ankle back — I'll show you again with the band, just like we did with the calf stretch, wrapping it around the sole of your foot and pulling it back. Hold a couple more seconds here, breathing in deeply through the tension, feeling this all throughout your ankle. If your ankle gets tired, try to pull it back with a band or a towel to keep it in place. Slowly relax out of this, and switch sides. With your leg relaxed and your knee bent, pull those toes up towards the ceiling. Add a little tension using a band or a towel, and hold this position for 15 seconds. It's okay if your ankle doesn't have a lot of flexibility — we're working on it. Just try to pull that ankle up a little, and see if you can stretch it out even further. Breathe in deeply through your nose and out through your mouth, and go ahead and relax.

And that's how you stretch to help with PAD muscle cramping. You can go ahead and stop your watch to finish recording your exercise if you have that running. Thank you so much for watching "Stretches for PAD." You can find more information on PAD and exercise in the resource section of the app.

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