During a stretching exercise, where should your hands be positioned?

The recommended positioning of your hands during stretching exercises is typically to help open up the shoulders, chest, and upper back. When your hands are placed behind your head, it encourages a stretch across the shoulders and chest area, allowing for greater mobility and relaxation of these muscles. This position can be beneficial, especially for individuals who spend long periods at a keyboard, as it can counteract the tension that builds in these areas from sustained typing and computer use.

Positions like placing your hands on the keyboard, behind your back, or in front of you may not provide the same level of effective stretching for the upper body, as they do not facilitate the same range of motion or targeted muscle stretch that is gained from placing your hands behind your head. Instead, these positions could either maintain tension in the muscles or fail to engage them effectively for stretching purposes.