| |
The muscles in the lower body, including the hips, glutes and thighs, are the strongest muscles in the body and it can be difficult to fatigue those muscles simply because you're limited by how much weight the upper body can support. You can get around this with a leg press machine, a squat rack or a smith machine, but there are other alternatives if you're working out at home and can't safely hold the amount of weight your lower body needs to be challenged.
Adding power to your lower body workouts can add intensity to your routine as well a new dynamic, helping you increase your power and strength. Try adding a power move before each lower body exercise, for example power jacks before a set of squats or power lunges before static lunges. I find these types of power moves work well with more endurance-based exercise (e.g., 12 or more reps of each exercise), but experiment to find what works for you.
Power moves aren't for everyone, so if you have knee, hip or ankle problems, you may want to skip the jumps and keep things low impact. The key with power moves is to land with soft joints so that your muscles take the impact, not your joints. Pay attention to how you feel during your workout and back off of the power moves if you feel your energy is waning, especially if you're using heavy weights. Form can slip as you get tired and power moves can magnify that fatigue.
Power jacks
Begin with feet together and jump up, taking feet out to the side, landing in a low squat. Jump up and bring feet back together (a very slow, powerful jumping jack). Swing your arms overhead to add intensity, repeating for 30-60 seconds.
 
Power Lunge
Begin in |
|
