Stretching to improve of maintain flexibility is important for all athletes.  But do you know if the stretches you are doing are actually targeting the right muscles? Unless you have a thorough understanding of anatomy or physiology, it can be hard to visualize where a specific muscle is located. And it can be even harder to know if that stretch you are doing for your quads is really targeting the quads or if you are stretching the psoas instead.

That is what I love about Brad Walker's The Anatomy of Stretching. Even if you don't know a ton about anatomy, this illustrated stretching guide gives you plenty of visual cues to help you understand what muscle is being targeted during specific stretching exercises.

Going through each stretch while referring to the book will help you visualize the muscle you want to stretch and get a better understanding of where the muscle begins and ends. After reviewing the book, stretching will not only feel good, but it will do some good as well.

Stretching Exercises By Sport

Here are some basic stretching routines for athletes who play specific sports.

• Best Stretches for Cycling
• Best Stretches for Golfers
• Best Stretches for Runners
• Best Stretches for Snowboarding
• Best Stretches for Soccer

Injury-Specific Stretching Routines

Here are some sample stretching routines for athletes who have specific injuries.

• IT (Iliotibial) Band Pain Stretching Routine
• Back Pain Stretching Routine
• Calf Pull Stretching Routine

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It seems everyone wants toned and defined "Six Pack Abs."

While it's not a simple thing to develop, it is possible. The key is living a lifestyle that combines good nutrition, and quality exercise that, when combined over time, melts away the layer of fat covering the core. Once this fat is reduced, you'll begin to see the muscle definition.

If you want to start seeing some ab definition, start here:

10 Tips to help uncover your six pack abs

Some of the best exercises for your hips and knees a simple moves that work your hip through the entire range of motion,

To reduce knee pain, and help the patella track properly, it helps to do exercises that engage the abductors and adductors. Theses muscles are critical for providing integrity of the hip joint and create a strong, balanced link between the lower body and the core. If you routinely exercise the hip only in one direction (with walking, running, clycing, etc.) you are missing out on some lateral movement that helps improve that structural integrity of the hip, as well as the entire lower body.

If abductor and adductor muscles are not strong, flexible, and balanced, the patella (kneecap) may not track properly as the knee bends and you may wind up with knee pain, patellofemoral syndrome, or another injury.

Learn how to add the best knee and hip exercises to your workouts to help build hip joint integrity:

Example Beginner Exercises

• Clam Exercise
• Bridge Exercise

Example Intermediate Exercises

• Side Plank
• Lateral Mini Band Walking
• Single Leg Bridge

Example Advanced Exercises

• Lateral Plyometric Jumps
• Yoga Pose for Abductors and Adductors

Running injuries that start slowly with subtle nagging aches and pains can turn into a more serious injury over time. At first, most of these aches go unnoticed or if they are noticed, they are often ignored until a serious pain occurs.

Such "silent injuries" in runners can be caused by a wide variety of factors and most fall into chronic pain category. Such problems can linger from months and years of neglect.

While subtle, these injuries do have warning signs you should recognize.  Read more:

• Checklist: Common Causes of Running Injury
• Most Common Running Injuries