My favorite summer activities officially begin when the calendar flips to May. It's open water swimming, running, cycling, mountain climbing, and anything that gets me outside and moving. Still, my first step is to get my legs in shape.
Four leg muscle groups for summer activities
Four muscles do most leg work: quadriceps, gluteus maximus (glutes), hamstrings and calves. Here's a have a look at each.
Quadriceps (quads). Also generally known as the thigh muscles, the quads are a bunch of 4 muscles (hence the prefix “quad”). They extend your leg as much as the knee and power every leg motion: stand, walk, run, kick and climb.
The glutes. The largest muscles within the body, the glutes (muscles in your buttocks) keep you upright and help the hips and thighs propel your body forward.
Hamstring The hamstrings are a bunch of three muscles that run from the back of your thighs through the hip to just under the knee. They assist you to extend your leg straight out behind your body and support hip and knee mobility.
calves Three muscles make up the calf, which starts below the knee and extends to the ankle, sitting on the back of the lower leg. They work together to maneuver your foot and lower leg and propel you forward whenever you walk or run.
Spotlight muscle strength and length
Strength and length are a very powerful focuses for creating summer-ready legs, says Daryanani. “Strengthening leg muscles increases strength and endurance, and lengthening them improves flexibility to protect against injury.”
If you're recent to exercise or returning to it after a vacation, get your legs used to every day movement first. “Start by walking non-stop around your house, or going up and down the stairs, for several minutes each day,” says Daryanani.
After that, adopt a walking routine. Every day, walk at a moderate pace for 20 to half-hour. You can deal with walking a certain distance (like a mile or two) or taking a certain variety of steps by tracking it in your smartphone or fitness tracker. You won't just construct leg strength—you'll reap many health advantages.
There are many various exercises to construct leg muscles, a few of which deal with specific activities or sports. Below is a three-movement routine that targets 4 major leg muscles. Add them to your regular workout or do them as a leg-only routine several times per week. (If you may have any mobility problems, especially knee or ankle problems, check together with your doctor before starting.)
To help lengthen your leg muscles and increase flexibility, do this every day stretching routine that involves several areas of the lower body.
Dumbbell squats
Muscles worked: glutes and quads
Reps: 8-12
set: 1-2
comfort: 30-90 seconds between sets
Starting position: Stand together with your feet apart. Hold a weight in each hand together with your arms at your sides and palms facing inward.
Motion: Slowly bend your hips and knees, don't bend forward greater than 45 degrees, and drop your hips back down and about eight inches. pause Slowly rise to an upright position.
Tips and Techniques:
- Do not round or arch your back excessively
Make it easy: Move without weight.
Make it hard: Keep yourself right down to normal speed. Hold on briefly. Get up quickly.
Reverse living
Muscles worked: Quads, glutes, hamstrings
Reps: 8-12
set: 1-3
comfort: 30-90 seconds between sets
Starting position: Stand up straight, holding dumbbells, together with your feet together and your arms at your sides.
Motion: Step back onto the ball of your left foot, bend your knees, and lower right into a lunge. Your right knee needs to be aligned over your right ankle, and your left knee needs to be pointing toward (but not touching) the ground. Push off your left foot to rise up and return to the starting position. Repeat, lunge to the alternative side, stepping back together with your right foot. This is a representative.
Tips and Techniques:
- Keep your spine neutral when landing in a lunge.
- Do not lean forward or backward.
- As you bend your knees, place the back knee directly on the ground with the thigh pointing down.
Make it easy: Do lunges without weights.
Make it hard: Move into lunges, or use heavy weights.
Raised the calf
Muscles worked: calves
Reps: 8-12
set: 1-2
comfort: 30 seconds between sets
Starting position: Stand together with your feet flat on the ground. Hold onto the back of a chair for balance.
Motion: Lift yourself as high as possible on the balls of your feet. Hold briefly, then lower yourself.
Make it easy: Lower your heels off the ground.
Make it hard: Raise a one-legged calf. Place one foot behind the opposite calf before rising onto the ball of your foot. Set for every leg. Or try raising a calf without sitting in a chair.