Legs, Foundational Strength

 Legs are the foundation of our body. Strong or weak, the legs determine the rest of our body. Aesthetically, nobody wants a huge upper body and chicken legs. These are the foundation of physical longevity, functional mobility, and total-body strength, driving stability, power, and metabolic health. 

Many people in physical therapy have to work their legs to rebuild stability. This stability is essential for mobility as well as overall health. Fall prevention and even getting out of chairs makes life more enjoyable. Nobody really wants to be helped out of a chair.

Strong legs, being the largest muscle group in the body, boost metabolism. 

Exercises

I am suggesting a five exercise split that will, in my experience, hit your leg muscles with near complete efficiency. It is quad heavy, but will include all the muscles of your lower body. One or more of these you may have avoided in the past, but now it is time to grit your teeth and grow your legs. 

Bulgarian Split Squats

Lunge

Wall Sits 

Single Leg Calf Raise

Squats

You will likely notice that this design does exhaust the legs prior to what is considered the big lift, squats. Make no mistake about it, done right (proper form and depth) Bulgarian Split Squats and lunges will exhaust your legs. This will force you to use a lighter weight in squat than you may normally do. Think of this as a benefit. It takes some of the pressure off of your back in deep squats. For lifters like me, tall and with long limbs, this is a benefit as hitting deep squats forces the upper body forward. This lean can stress the lower and mid back.

The Bulgarian split squats place between 80% to 95% of your body weight on your front leg. When doing these you can add weight with dumbbells, a weighted vest, or a barbell. Whatever you choose be safe in your application of the weight. The form is quite simple. your rear foot on an elevated surface and your front foot far enough forward so your shin remains nearly vertical at the bottom of the movement. Keep your torso upright for quads, or lean forward slightly for glutes, ensuring 90% of your weight stays on the front leg. Also, the higher you place your rear foot the deeper you can go in this. A three foot tall box for me allows me to go deep enough that my glutes are a few inches from my heel.

For lunges I do rear lunges. You can choose front or side lunges to suit your tastes. By that I mean lean into what is the hardest for you. Keep your body upright, keeping your front knee aligned over your ankle, and bending both knees to approximately 90 degrees as you lower your body. Some say to not go so deep that your knee passes over your toes. I have never found that to be a problem, knee going past toes that is. It does not hurt me. We are all built different, so listen to your body.

Wall sits are fairly easy as far as the form goes. Thighs are to be at a 90 degree angle to your torso and to your lower legs. Get into position and hold for as long as you can or for a set number of seconds for each set. 

The single leg calf raise is self explanatory.

Squats are far more technical with weights. That said, you want your hip feet about shoulders width and your feet angled out at the toes slightly. When you sit back and down lower yourself to the minimum depth of having your hip joint on a line with your knees. That line should be parallel to the floor. If you can manage deeper then go deeper. I squat nearly to my ankles. Do what works for you.

Whether you apply these with weights or your body weight as in calisthenics, you will find your legs getting stronger and larger over the next few weeks.

There is currently a big push for military styled calisthenics. This is an excellent taste of what you can do without weights. I have also done these techniques with weights, but starting with squats. I find this leg routine works best when done in the order presented above. 

If any of these exercises cause pain, not soreness but pain, stop immediately and ask your doctor about it.

Train hard. See you next week.

Shoulder Work Ahead

 We just reviewed some information and exercises that together can make the appearance of a tighter waste. Cardio and muscle building are two parts of the equation. In that abdominal review I also mentioned tha broader shoulders will make the waist appear more slim. 

Today, I want to go over the shoulder anatomy and how to hit all parts of the shoulder for size and functional strength.

Anatomy

The shoulder is made up of three strips of muscle and their connecting tissue. The structure allows for rotation of the arm through a wide variety of angles. This is the most mobile joint we have in our body. 

The three parts of the shoulder muscles are anterior deltoid, lateral deltoid, and posterior deltoid. These three muscles hold the joint together majestically. 

The frontal or anterior deltoid gets lots of work and stimulation through pushing exercises such as bench press and pushups. Too easy, right?

The posterior deltoid or rear deltoid is used in pulling. Rowing of any sort engages this muscle. 

It is the central or lateral deltoid that seems to get ignored in calisthenics and some gym routines. It is important to focus on building this muscle as well for the overall stability of th shoulder joint. Aesthetically, it broadens the shoulders appearance. As stated already, broader shoulders make the waist appear smaller and support the image of overall strength and power. 

Exercising

With weights there are numerous ways to target this muscle. In calisthenics we are somewhat limited as to how to work these lateral deltoids. 

Jumping Jacks are a wonderful way to start moving the shoulders. This will include the trapezius muscles as well. Bonus, right? 

Quite simply, pike pushups and handstands are how to target this lateral head more directly. If you cannot do a pike pushup, which we will detail below, use stair steps to elevate your shoulders enough to complete the required number of repetitions. 

Pike Pushup

1. Get into a plank or pushup position
2. Walk your feet in until your body bends at the hips to more than 90 degrees 
3. Bend your arms lowering your forehead to the floor
4. Press and lift your forehead away from the floor until your arms lock straight

Simple concept. It may not be so simple to do these after having done several regular pushups. If that is the case use stair steps to elevate your shoulders to a point at which you can perform your required repetitions. 

Handstands

In the handstand position, with or without your feet against the wall, puts 100% of your body on your hands and shoulders. This will engage all of your deltoids as well as your trapezius to support your weight. 

If you cannot hold your weight in this position for long there is a progression technique to use that will train you for doing a full handstand. Pike stands. 

For the pike stand you bend at the hips to 90 degrees. You place your feet in a step or a chair so that some of your body weight is supported for you. The deeper into said support you go, the less weight is on your shoulders. For instance, you use a chair to provide the support. Instead of putting your feet in the chair you put your knees. This puts more weight on the chair and allows even the novice or beginner to start making reps in the pike position. 

When you have built up adequate strength you can place your feet against the wall in a pile to continue training up to the handstand pushup. 

Bonus, while in a handstand position do some shrugs. Target those trapezius muscles. These will thicken the back of your neck and provide impressive support for your widening shoulders. 

Train regularly. Train hard. As always, talk to your doctor before beginning a new program.