Lower-body strength training is an area of fitness that people tend to really gravitate toward or ignore altogether. My experience has led me to believe that this phenomenon is largely due to common misconceptions about proper training parameters.
This week, I'll shed some light on these and will also introduce an exercise that really challenges the lower body with one simple movement.
Possibly the most widespread misconception about leg training is the idea that heavy weights have to be involved. For some reason, many exercisers feel that a leg workout needs to include barbell squats at 85 percent of the maximum weight they can handle. If you take one message away from this article, I hope it's that heavy squats are absolutely not necessary.
The other thing I notice is that people often feel that soreness is some kind of indicator of the workout quality.
Five days of soreness is not only terribly uncomfortable, it's also an indicator that you pushed yourself too hard given your current fitness level. My advice is to train consistently with the same relative intensity each workout. This will prevent any prolonged soreness and discomfort.
I realize that leg training can really seem daunting. The easiest way to eliminate this feeling is to train using a strategy I refer to as "sampling." Sampling is performing one set of a bunch of different exercises at a moderate intensity.
For the lower body, we might choose a leg press, leg extension, hamstring curl and a lunge. Doing just one set of each exercise is a great way to minimize the feeling of being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of work you wind up doing.
This week's exercise is a nice addition to a sampling plan because it requires no weights and is challenging enough to elicit results in small doses. The Curtsy Lunge is appropriate for people of all fitness levels, but hip flexibility is a prerequisite.
1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Step back with your right foot and bend both knees.
3. Lunge down and bend over at the waist until you are able to place both hands on the floor in front of you.
4. Stand back up and return your feet to shoulder-width apart.
5. Do 12 repetitions, then switch legs and perform another 12.
This one will take a few attempts to get right. The first mistake to be aware of is limiting the knee bend and using too much lower back. Assuming you avoid that, learning the exercise just takes a little practice and patience. Enjoy!
Matt Parrott has a doctorate in education (sport studies) and a master's in kinesiology and is certified by the American College of Sports Medicine.
vballtop@aol.com
ActiveStyle on 12/15/2014