Stretching helps – but do you know just what exactly you’re stretching?
21.1.2026
Translation: Patrik Stainbrook
Pictures: Anna Sandner
What actually happens to your muscles, ligaments and joints when you stretch? The guidebook «Stretching – Die Anatomie verstehen» («Stretching – Understanding Anatomy») answers this question with detailed, anatomical illustrations that grant you a look under our skin.
Yes, stretching feels great, but it also improves mobility while reducing muscle stiffness in the right doses. Whether it’s to wake you up in the morning, before or after workouts or as a short break during the working day, a stretching session is almost always a good idea and simply improves your health. Only, what if you pull the wrong muscle? If only I had glasses that could spy under my skin and show exactly which muscles, ligaments and joints I was currently using – and whether they were the right ones.
Well, I’ve found these glasses – in a way. More specifically, I found an anatomy book that isn’t intended for studying, but for cases just like mine. In «Stretching – Die Anatomie verstehen» («Stretching – Understanding Anatomy»), I spot all my usual stretches, simply explained via anatomy. Its anatomical diagrams reveal which muscle groups are addressed by which exercise. Where exactly do you stretch, pull, tense and lengthen? All at a glance.
Stretching, the anatomical approach
The book’s bread and butter are 100 stretching exercises, all including precise illustrations. They reveal which muscle groups are active. A colour code indicates which muscles shorten, stretch or remain static – and whether this happens with or without tension. Short descriptions explain how to execute each exercise and its effects. Warnings help you avoid typical mistakes too.
Every stretch you need
The book is clearly structured. In addition to an overview for each exercise, it also provides an introduction to basic physiological principles. How do muscles work? What stretching methods are there? How does our skeletal system work? When should you avoid stretching?
This 60-page physiology crash course is followed by 30 stretching programs. They cover different focus areas: programs for specific parts of the body (from your neck and shoulders to hips and knees), sports (from strength training to cycling) or for special target groups such as sedentary readers or older people. You’ll find a brief explanation of the special challenges for each application area and its respective exercises.
None of the exercises require additional equipment either. No excuses left, just open the book and get started.
My useful habit: ten minutes of stretching during the lunch break
You can adapt the exercise programs to suit your time and mood. Perfect for a quick health boost during spots of free time. I tested a stretching program for sedentary people during my lunch break, just under ten minutes required. You can perform all exercises either statically or dynamically, meaning you’ll either hold a stretch statically for about 15 to 60 seconds or repeat it in a controlled manner about ten to 15 times, each time holding it for one to two seconds.
Exercises for frequent sitters are aimed specifically at alleviating discomfort in your neck, lower and upper body. Given my eight hours of work a day, mostly sitting down, I can make good use of this. I find seven exercise suggestions:
- Chest stretch against the wall
- Stretching the square lumbar muscle
- Thread the needle
- Chest stretching in a doorway
- Stretching my hip flexors using a chair
- Stretching the backs of my thighs while sitting
All the exercises are familiar to me, but I’ve never actually looked under the hood before. For the first time, I was able to see what was happening in my body across anatomical diagrams during a stretch. This helped me reach the correct pelvic position, for example.
A whole anatomy series: Pilates, yoga, HIIT and more
If you’re intrigued by anatomical illustrations but stretching isn’t your main focus, here’s a tip: Dorling-Kindersley-Verlag offers an entire anatomy series. From Pilates, yoga, HIIT and strength training to swimming and running practice, you’ll get an anatomical overview every time. The newest book in the series will be published in March 2026, aimed at cyclists.
Guidebooks
Yoga verstehen - Die Anatomie der Yoga-Haltungen
German, Ann Swanson, DK Publishing House, Silke Sagittarius, Wiebke crab, 2024
EUR22,95
Pilates - Die Anatomie verstehen
German, Tracy Ward, 2022
Yoga verstehen - Die Anatomie der Yoga-Haltungen
German, Ann Swanson, DK Publishing House, Silke Sagittarius, Wiebke crab, 2024
EUR22,95
HIIT - Die Anatomie verstehen
German, Ingrid S. Clay, 2022
EUR22,95
Schwimmen - Die Anatomie verstehen
German, Anke Wellner-Kempf, Brett Hawke, 2025
Lauftraining – Die Anatomie verstehen
German, Chris Napier, 2020
EUR22,95
Krafttraining – Die Anatomie verstehen
German, Austin Current, 2021
Verdict
If you do a few stretching exercises at home from time to time and have ever thought: «I’m doing this exercise – but what’s actually happening in my body right now?», then this book could be the game changer for you. The focus is on detailed anatomical illustrations revealing at a glance which muscles are stretched, activated or held in which exercise and which ligaments and joints are involved. You’ll also receive a structured overview of 100 stretching exercises, including brief explanations, stretching programs for different needs and a compact physiology section.
Anna Sandner
Senior Editor
Anna.Sandner@galaxus.deScience editor and biologist. I love animals and am fascinated by plants, their abilities and everything you can do with them. That's why my favourite place is always the outdoors - somewhere in nature, preferably in my wild garden.
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