This exercise works the muscle groups that are on the inside of your thigh. Theses muscles are important for your balance while standing, and they are called upon heavily when making sharp cuts when running. Athletes need these muscles to be strong to help prevent pulled groins and non-athletes need these muscles to be strong to help keep themselves stable and upright.
There are two basic versions that I will show to help get everyone started. Generally speaking, I find that most women are more comfortable with their planted foot in front of their moving leg- Version #1/ pictures 1 & 3- and most men are more comfortable with their planted foot behind their moving leg- Version#2/ pictures 2 & 4. Give them both a try. If one works better for you than the other version then stick with that one, but if they both seem fine then alternate the two types.
How to perform:
- Lay on your side and straighten your lower leg out
- Bend the knee of your other leg and place your foot to match either Version #1 or Version #2
- Place your trunk and head in a comfortable relaxed position
Version #1
Version #2
- With your foot relaxed, lift your leg as high as you comfortably can
- Hold/squeeze the muscles at the end of the movement
- Relax the leg and let it return to the starting position
- Repeat for the prescribed number of reps
- Flip over to your other side and repeat
Version #1
Version #2
Good luck! Please feel free to contact me with any questions about this, or any other exercise, and I am always open to suggestions on which exercise to cover next week.
-Jason
No comments:
Post a Comment