Tag Archives: quadriceps

One Sided Body Weight Squat

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This weeks Home Exercise of the Week is the One Sided Body Weight Squat.  This is a great exercise to isolate one leg more than the other and is a nice change from doing just regular squats.  The muscles being worked are your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves.  The key to doing this exercise properly is to keep your body weight on that one leg the whole time while using the other leg for balance support.  Make sure to push up through the heel of the working leg and keep your back upright and straight.  To make this a little more challenging try holding on to some dumbbells or a kettle bell!

Helicopter

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The Home Exercise of the Week this week is the Helicopter.  I could have called it a squat jump with a 180 degree turn but that’s pretty boring!  This is a plyometric exercise that will target your quads, hamstrings, and glutes while building explosive power and improving agility and coordination.

Also, since this is a plyometric movement that requires many muscle groups to work together, your cardiovascular system will be working hard and your body will require a lot more oxygen.

Is this a challenging exercise?  A big YES to that question!  The movement itself is fairly straight forward but the challenge comes with the jumping and turning part of the exercise.  Your heart pumps faster and harder and your breathing rate increases quite a bit to get that much needed oxygen to your muscles.  But…the rewards to doing this exercise and many others like it far outweigh the uncomfortable feeling while doing it.  You will burn more calories with this exercise than just a regular squat and if your goal is fat loss then definitely try adding this to your routine!

Reverse Lunge One Leg Deadlift

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This is a combination move designed to work on your balance and coordination as well as your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and the stabilizer muscles of the ankle.  Keep a slight bend in the knee during the one leg deadlift portion and keep your back as straight as possible.  Add weights to increase the difficulty!

One Leg Squat

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The One Leg Squat is a challenging lower body exercise that works your quads, hamstrings, glutes, balance, and all the little stabilizer muscles of the ankle.  Start off squatting down slowly to keep from toppling over or you can put your hand against the wall or on a chair to steady yourself.  Always remember to keep your back straight and keep your knee from shooting out past your toes.

 

Reverse Lunge

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The Reverse Lunge works all the major muscles of the legs.  Quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes.  When performing the Reverse Lunge, make sure to bring both legs to 90 degree angles.  When you are coming up out of the movement, you want to make sure you are pushing up through your front heel and don’t let your knee go beyond your toes.  Always keep your upper body in an upright position (no bending over or leaning forward).  If you have trouble balancing with this exercise, start by holding on to a chair or put your hand on a wall to stabilize yourself.  You can perform all your reps with one leg first or you can alternate each side.