[INFO] 6 Stretches for a Lean, Limber Body: target your tightest muscles.

Improve your flexibility with 6 all-new stretches that target your tightest muscles.

Still not getting the results you want from your exercise routine? Blame tight muscles, says Ashley Borden, a celebrity trainer based in Los Angeles. "When one muscle group, like your quads, is stiff, that prevents others, like your glutes, from firing correctly," she explains. End result: compromised performance (and calorie-burning ability), not to mention an increased risk of injury.

Based on a principle called Active-Isolated Technique, it involves contracting one muscle group while stretching the other. This triggers a muscular reflex that will increase your range of motion and deepen the stretch. Best of all, her workout - which targets most women's tightest muscles - takes just minutes a day.

Try these six stretches after your regular cardio or strength workout (aim to do them five times a week). You'll see improvement to your flexibility in as little as two weeks and gains in both your strength and endurance in less than one month.

1. Active Pigeon  

Target: The Piriformis (a deep gluteal muscle)

• Begin in a full push-up position, palms aligned under shoulders. 
• Place left knee on the floor near shoulder with left heel by right hip. 
• Lower down to forearms and bring right leg down with the top of the foot on the floor (not shown). 
• Keep chest lifted to the wall in front of you, gazing down. 
• If you're more flexible, bring chest down to floor and extend arms in front of you. 
• Pull navel in toward spine and tighten your pelvic-floor muscles; contract right side of glutes. 
• Curl right toes under while pressing ball of foot into the floor, pushing through your heel. 
• Bend knee to floor and release; do 5 reps total, then switch sides and repeat.  

2. C-Curve

Target: Lower Back

• Sit on floor with knees bent, feet on floor about 12 inches in front of butt. 
• Interlace fingers behind hamstrings, pointing elbows out to sides. 
• Round back, tightening pelvic floor and pulling navel in toward spine; focus on your belly button with jaw pulled in. Inhale through your nose. 
• As you exhale, draw navel in even tighter and lift left leg, pushing left heel toward wall in front of you while pulling back with pinkie toe; at the same time, push down on right foot (not shown). 
• Return to start and repeat. 
• Do 5 reps; switch sides and repeat.

3. Modified Cobra 

Target: Abdominals

• Lie facedown on the floor with thumbs directly under shoulders, legs extended with the tops of your feet on the floor. 
• Tighten your pelvic floor, and tuck hips downward as you squeeze your glutes. 
• Press shoulders down and away from ears. 
• Push through your thumbs and index fingers as you raise your chest toward the wall in front of you. 
• Relax and repeat. 
• Do 5 reps total.

4. Hamstring Stretch Series 

Target: Hamstrings

• Place a small folded towel behind your head and lie faceup on the floor with legs extended and feet flexed. 
• Bend right knee to chest and interlace fingers behind hamstrings as close to your groin as possible; gaze at your chest and keep your chin down, neck long (not shown). 
• Tighten the muscles of your pelvic floor and extend leg, pushing through the heel and contracting quads. 
• Return to start and repeat; do 5 reps. 
• Repeat, turning thigh outward (heel points in), for 5 reps. 
• Relax and repeat, turning thigh inward (heel points out, toes point in), for 5 reps. 
• Switch legs; repeat series for a total of 15 reps on each leg.

5. Split Squat 

Target: Quads, Calves

• Stand with feet hip-width apart. 
• Step right foot about 12 inches in front. 
• Curl toes of your left leg under; keep weight equal between both feet. Interlace fingers, placing hands under ribs; press shoulders down away from ears. 
• Tighten the muscles of your pelvic floor; tuck your pelvis under and squeeze glutes. 
• Slowly bend both knees, coming down in 3 counts; feel the stretch along the left quad. 
• Press into floor to rise back to start in 3 counts. 
• Do 5 reps; switch legs and repeat.

6. Quadrupeds 

Target: Shoulders

• Kneel on all fours with wrists aligned under shoulders and knees under hips, toes curled into floor (not shown). 
• Bring your forehead toward the floor and slide the pinkie edge of your left hand along the floor in front of you (keep your right palm flat on the floor). 
• Press shoulders down away from your ears and squeeze your glutes. 
• Return to starting position by pushing down on your right palm and sliding your left hand back toward your shoulders. 
• Do 5 reps; switch sides and repeat.

Source: Articles by Alyssa Shaffer; Photos by Chris Fanning @fitnessmagazine