20
Leg Exercises
Muscles worked:
This exercise is great for
emphasizing the muscles of your lower leg or
calf (gastrocnemius and soleus), which are
responsible for raising and lowering your heels
at the ankle joint. Strength and power in these
muscles are essential for all sports and daily
activities.
Starting position:
•
Standing and facing the weight stack.
•
Place the ankle strap around your forearm.
•
Standup and place the balls of your feet on
the foot plate with your heels elevated.
•
Legs should be straight but knees not locked
Motion:
•
Drop your heels down towards the ground,
and then press the balls of your feet on the
frame and raise your heels as high as you
can, trying to get up on your toes.
•
Slowly return to the starting position always
maintaining proper posture.
Key points:
•
Do not lose contact with balls of your feet
and the frame as you push up and down.
•
Do not change your hip or knee position,
ONLY ankle motion should be allowed.
FINISH
START
STANDING CALF RAISE
— Ankle Plantarflexion (knee stabilized in slight flexion)
FINISH
START
Muscles worked:
This exercise will not burn
off fat from your hips or outer thigh! There is
no exercise that will burn fat from a specific
area. This exercise will, however, strengthen
the muscles on the sides of your hips (gluteus
medius), especially on the standing/support
side. Use light resistance and controlled range
of motion on this exercise. You may also think
of this exercise as a tool for challenging your
ability to stabilize your hip on the supportive
leg.
Starting position:
•
Stand in front the pulley with your side to
the pulley, and attach a handle /strap to the
ankle furthest from the machine (outside
leg).
•
Stand up straight, lift your chest, tighten
your abs and maintain a very slight arch in
your lower back.
•
Adjust your position so that there is some
resistance in the cables.
•
In the beginning, you may hold on to the
machine for stability.
Motion:
•
Slowly move the attached leg outward to the
side away from the pulley (30-45 degrees),
keeping your hips and spine perfectly still.
•
Keep you abs tight throughout the exercise.
Key points:
•
Do not use this exercise for losing fat from
your hips. It will not make your hips
smaller. Use it to develop hip strength and
stability.
•
Use a very small range of motion. More is
not better.
•
Keep your spine straight and your hips level.
Try not to raise your hips when raising your
leg to the side
STANDING HIP ABDUCTION
