Leg Exercises

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• QHow should I stretch my calf muscles?

  4 Answers

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  A Dr. Vonda Wright, MD , Orthopedic Surgery, answered

  You probably know the calf stretch already. Make sure that when you do it, you keep the leg straight to stretch your gastrocnemius (the muscle that crosses the knee and ankle), and bent to stretch your soleus muscle (the muscle that crosses only the ankle).
  
  
  1. Stand with your feet shoulder length apart with your hands against a chair or a wall.
  
  2. Keep your heels on the floor and your knees straight while leaning into the chair or wall. You will feel this stretch (in your gastrocnemius) down the back of your legs.
  
  3. Hold for 30 seconds. Then bend your knees and continue leaning in. This stretches the deep soleus muscle.
  
  
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  4. Hold with bent knees for 30 seconds, then repeat with straight and bent knees four times.

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• QHow should I do lunges?

  7 Answers

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  A Dr. Michael Roizen, MD , Internal Medicine, answered

  To strengthen the muscles of your thighs and buttock you can do stationary lunges, using free weights. Primary muscle groups worked: Quadriceps (front of thigh), hamstrings (back of thigh), and gluteal (buttocks) muscles.
  
  Starting position: Stand with the feet a natural width apart, with one foot in front of the other and both feet pointing directly forward. Your weight should be centered between both legs. As you get stronger leg muscles, grab equal sized weights in each hand.
  
  Action: Keeping focus forward and spine erect, bend both knees and lower your back knee toward the floor, allowing the back heel to lift off the floor. Stop when your back knee is an inch or two from the floor and your front thigh is parallel to the floor and bent at a 90-degree angle. Keeping your weight centered, press back up to the starting position. Repeat until you complete the set. Then, repeat on the opposite side.
  
  Tips:
  

  • Don't allow your front knee to extend forward past your toes. Drop your weight straight down toward the floor, not forward.
  • Keep both feet pointing forward (the tendency is to angle the back foot slightly out to the side).

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• QHow should I do shin raises?

  2 Answers

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  A Dr. Vonda Wright, MD , Orthopedic Surgery, answered

  Here's how to do the wall shin raises exercise:
  1. Stand with your back and shoulders against the wall, with your feet shoulder width apart and about one foot in front of the wall.
  
  2. Raise your toes as high off the ground toward your body as you can with your weight on your heels.
  
  3. Slowly lower your toes until they are almost but not quite on the floor, and then flex them up again. Repeat this ten times.
  
  You will feel the burn in your anterior tibialis muscle in the front of your shin. As you get better at this exercise, you can "pulse" quickly from flexing up and extending your ankle down.

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• QHow should I do toe and heel walk warm-up exercises?

  3 Answers

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  A Dr. Vonda Wright, MD , Orthopedic Surgery, answered

  Toe and heel walk is a warm-up exercises that can easily be performed before any kind of exercise. Here's how:
  
  1. Walk on your toes with your toes pointed straight ahead for about 20 meters, getting as high up on your toes as you possibly can. Your legs should be relatively straight as you do this, and you should -- at least initially -- take fairly small steps.
  
  2. Switch to walking on your toes with your feet rotated out for 20 meters.
  
  3. Do the same with your toes pointed in for 20 meters.
  
  4. Repeat this while walking on your heels.

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• QHow should I do straight leg raises?

  3 Answers

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  A Dr. Vonda Wright, MD , Orthopedic Surgery, answered

  Here's how to do the straight leg raises exercise:
  1. Lying flat on your back, engage your core.
  
  2. Bend one leg up at the knee and keep the other leg straight.
  
  3. Still lying flat on your back, using the straight leg, tighten the right quad (front of thigh) and raise your leg up off the floor until your thighs are parallel. Hold this position five seconds and then lower your leg until it almost touches the floor. Be careful not to let your back sway up off the floor.
  
  4. Repeat ten times. Do two sets and then switch to the other leg.
  
  5. To increase the difficulty, you can repeat the sets while supporting yourself on your elbows or hands.
  
  
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• QWhat exercises can I do to strengthen my lower body?

  5 Answers

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  A Dr. Harris H. McIlwain, MD , Rheumatology, answered

  Do the following exercises to strengthen the lower body:

  • Lying on your back with the 1-pound weight strapped just above your ankle, slide one leg out to the side and back to the middle. Now, do this with the other legs. Repeat once, then twice; gradually increase up to 10 times twice daily.

  • Sitting in a chair, with the weight strapped at your ankle, straighten out your knee and lower it back down to the floor. Be sure to go only as far as is comfortable, and use only 1-pound weights for this resistance exercise. Repeat once, then twice, and then gradually increase up to 5 or 10 times twice daily, if you can do so without pain.

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• QHow should I do squats and lunges?

  2 Answers

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  A Dr. Vonda Wright, MD , Orthopedic Surgery, answered

  The following are instructions on how to do squats and lunges:
  
  Half Squat with Kettle Bell: Butt, quads, core stability, upper back

  1. Start in the prisoner squat position with your back flat and knees over your toes. Hold the kettle bell with both hands in front of you on the ground.
  2. Engage your core.
  3. Thrust up to a standing position using your core and butt, and bring the kettle bell up to chest level while squeezing your shoulder blades together.
  4. Pause at the top and return to the starting position.
  5. Perform for 45 seconds.

  Curl to Lunge to Press: Chest, back, core, butt

  1. Hold a pair of mini toning balls at arms' length at your sides with your feet shoulder-width apart. Engage your core.
  2. Lunge forward with your left leg. Keep your knee directly over your foot. The back knee does not touch the floor. Curl the balls as you lunge with palms facing in.
  3. While in a lunge, press the balls directly overhead.
  4. Push off the front leg and return to the starting position.
  5. Repeat with the right leg.
  6. Perform for 45 seconds.

  Kettle Bell Swing: Hamstrings, butt, core, quads, shoulders

  1. Hold a kettle bell in your right hand at waist level at arms' length. Place your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
  2. Lower into a half squat with hips pushed back and bent 60 degrees to the floor.
  3. Swing the kettle bell between your legs, keeping your arm straight.
  4. Thrust your hips forward, squeezing your butt together and allowing your knees to straighten to a standing position while you swing the kettle bell up to chest level.
  5. Return to a squat position as you swing the kettle bell down between your legs.
  6. Perform for 45 seconds.

  The power of this exercise comes from your core, legs, and butt. The kettle bell swings forward from the momentum of the thrust and is not lifted with the shoulders.

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• QHow should I do short arc squats?

  2 Answers

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  A Dr. Vonda Wright, MD , Orthopedic Surgery, answered

  Here's how to do the short arc squats/wall slides exercise:
  1. Stand with your back up against a wall and your legs shoulder width apart. Place two rolled towels or a medicine ball between your knees.
  
  2. Brace your core and pull your navel toward your spine.
  
  3. While keeping your core engaged, slowly slide your back down the wall until your knees are bent to approximately 60 degrees. This is just shy of parallel to the floor. Limiting the knee bend will decrease the pressure on your knees and still work your quads.
  
  4. Hold in the bent position for ten seconds and repeat ten times. Do two sets.

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• QWhat is the most effective way to open up tight calf muscles?

  8 Answers

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  A Joel Harper - Elite Trainer , Fitness, answered

  If you are out and about find a step or the curb and drop one heel off, use the other one to balance. Keep your toes pointed straight and try to get your heel as low as possible. Hold for 10 seconds-switch sides and repeat.

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• QWhat exercise will help build strength in my legs without using a machine?

  5 Answers

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  A Dr. Mike Clark, DPT , Fitness, answered on behalf of Sharecare Fitness

  

  
  
  
  
  Several exercises will help you build length strength without using machines, including:
  1. Bodyweight Squats
  2. Step Ups
  3. Lunges
  4. Single leg squats
  Exercise Guidelines:
  1. Perform 1-3 sets of 10-12 reps
  2. Vary the plane of motion that you train in, i.e. lunge straight ahead to 12 o'clock, then to the side at 3 o'clock and then rotate and lunge to 5 o'clock (this works all of the mucles of your hips and thighs)
  3. Maintain proper alignment 
      a. Feet straight
      b. Knees aligned with second toe
      c. Chest up tall (Dont lean forward)
  4. Maintain active abs (pull your belly button to your spine)

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