Lower Body Exercises You May Not Have Tried Before
The saying goes, friends don’t let friends skip leg day…or something like that. While I do not program split workouts like leg day, back and bicep day, etc I do incorporate leg exercises into just about every workout I do. I personally don’t program splits for a few reasons. The first is that I find they will often make the person very sore and possibly unable to complete their next workout, or unable to complete an activity/hobby they enjoy, or simply leads to less movement in general because when you are very sore the last thing you want to do is get up and move, although some movement can sometimes be helpful if you’re experiencing DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). The second is that if your week doesn’t go as planned and you miss a workout, you probably just missed an entire body part or muscle group. I won’t go into all the reasons, maybe that will be a post for a different day, but for the reasons listed above I prefer to program total body workouts for myself and my clients. In these workouts we work on all movement patterns: squat, hinge, push, pull, carry, while also working on a combination of bilateral (both limbs) and unilateral (single limb) sagittal (think front and back movement), frontal (think side to side movement), and transverse (think rotation movements) plane movements.
Below are a few lower body exercises that you may not have tried before. These exercises can help to strengthen your foot/ankle stability, hamstrings, quads, glutes, and core muscles. Please note that some of these exercise are slightly more advanced and you may want to first be proficient in squat and hinging movement patterns before trying these.
P.S. if you happen to be a member of my online group Level Up 2.0 some of these might just be headed your way ;-)
Rear Foot Elevated Hip Hinge
Tips from Brenna:
Make sure you don’t lock out the standing leg, keep a soft bend in the knee
Think about hinging (sitting back) into your hips like a deadlift.
Keep your core muscles engaged and maintain a flat back.
Keep your shoulders and upper back muscles engaged throughout the entire movement.
Rotational Deadlift
Tips from Brenna:
You should be comfortable performing a deadlift before trying this variation.
Keep your core muscles engaged and don’t allow your back to round or overly arch.
Push your hips backwards like your reaching for the wall behind your with your bottom.
Think about pressing the floor away from you with your feet to stand.
Reverse Lunge with Lateral Resistance
Tips from Brenna:
The leg closest to the anchor point will feel slightly easier, and then leg farthest away from the anchor point will feel harder.
When you press outwards keep your rib cage down. Don’t allow your core muscles engaged and don’t allow your back to arch.
Keep your knees inline with your ankle and middle toes. Don’t allow your knee to fall inwards or outwards.
Keep your arms straight throughout the exercise and your shoulders away from your ears.
Walking Glider Lateral Lunge
Tips from Brenna:
This exercise is less about how far over you can step and more about sitting back into your hip while being able to maintain strength through your lower body and your core.
Keep the leg on the glider as straight as possible.
When you go to stand, think about zippering up from your core as your stand.
Keep your toes pointed straight ahead and your knees inline with your ankle and middle toes.
Single Leg Balance Pass
Tips from Brenna:
Make sure you don’t lock out the standing leg, keep a soft bend in the knee
Keep your core muscles engaged and don’t allow your back to arch or your body to lean side to side.
Pass SLOWLY, even slower than your think.
If you know one leg is more challenging for you, start on that side.
Let me know if you are excited to try any of these exercises, if you found these videos helpful, or how they went during your workout by commenting below!
Disclaimer: This program is not intended to diagnose or treat any illness or injury. If you choose to try any of the exercises presented in this program you do so at your own risk. Please consult your physician before beginning any new exercise program. Not every exercise is safe for every person. Correct execution of all exercises is critical to prevent injury. Please consult your healthcare professional if you have questions about an exercise execution or if an exercise is right for you. You are responsible for yourself and will not hold Brenna Buscher or any guest presenter liable for any illness or injury.