How to do the butterfly stretch
Sit tall, bring the soles of your feet together and let the knees fall outward. Hold your feet and hinge gently forward from the hips, letting gravity do most of the work.
How long to hold it
The most common recommendation for a static butterfly stretch is a single continuous 45 second hold — both knees fall open at once, so there's no side to switch to and nothing to repeat. That is exactly how this timer is pre-configured: press start, hold through the countdown, and it gives you 30 seconds of rest once you're done. Your eyes never leave the floor.
Common mistakes
Pushing down on the knees with your hands, rounding the spine to get lower, and pulling the feet in so close that the knees rise up.
Why it's worth doing
Opens the adductors and groin, which stiffen with both sitting and heavy leg training. A staple in warm-downs for football and martial arts.
Variations
Seated (main version): soles of the feet together, knees relaxed outward. Reclined: lie on your back in the same foot position, arms out to the sides — takes your body weight out of the equation entirely, good if seated forward folds bother your lower back. Frog stretch: on all fours, knees spread wide, hips rocked back — a deeper variation that adds more hip-flexor stretch to the same inner-thigh line.
Who should be careful
Never bounce your knees toward the floor or push down on them with your hands — let gravity and relaxation do the work. Groin strains take a long time to heal, so ease into this one rather than forcing range.
FAQ
How long should I hold a butterfly stretch? 45 seconds in one continuous hold — since it's a symmetric stretch there's no side to switch, unlike most of this app's presets.
What muscles does the butterfly stretch target? The adductors, on the inner thigh, plus the groin.
Why doesn't this stretch have a switch-sides phase? Because both legs stretch at the same time in one symmetric position — the timer's Rest mode, not Switch mode, applies here.
Related stretches
Pigeon Pose Timer · Hip Flexor Stretch Timer · Hamstring Stretch Timer
Want the anatomy and the "why"? Read the Inner Thighs muscle guide.
About this timer
ExtendTimer is a free stretching timer with sound cues for every phase: a steady tick while you hold, a count-in when you switch sides, and an alert on your final rep. It works offline, installs to your home screen like an app, and needs no account. Create a free account and it also tracks every session — total minutes stretched, your most-worked muscles on a visual front/back body map, and saved routines — so you can see your consistency build up over time, not just complete one session and forget it. Routines of up to two stretches are free forever; Pro ($4.99/month or $29.99/year) unlocks unlimited routines, custom recorded sounds for any phase, and curated multi-stretch routine presets.