Functional training: Four steps to stronger legs

Chances are your fitness routine includes exercises to strengthen your legs. It would be pretty silly to just work out your upper body, wouldn’t it?
Actually, some trainers say it’s just as silly to work out without incorporating functional exercises into your strength training regimen.

When it comes to strengthening your legs, make sure to remember functional exercises that work your legs one at a time, just like how they’re used when you walk or run.
Functional leg workouts are important for not only building strength in a different way than standard exercises like squats and dead lifts, but also to improve balance, stability and core strength.

Here are four functional leg exercises to try (You don’t need weights for these at first, but can add ankle weights if desired):

Single-leg dead lifts – Stand upright and then bend your body forward as you slowly lift your right leg into the air. Bend down until your back and hips are parallel to the floor, then return to the starting position with your weight centered on your left heel. Do 10-20 reps and then change legs.

Single-leg squats – Balance on your right leg, push your glutes back and squat down until your knee is over your toes. Slowly return up to the starting position. Use your arms for balance and focus on keeping your core tight and back as straight as possible. These will be harder to do – shoot for sets of 6-10 good reps at first.

Single-leg calf raise – Go up and down slowly on the right tip toes for 10-20 reps, take a break and then do the left leg. To get an even better stretch, do these on a stair so that your foot can do down lower, thus lengthening the range of the calf raises.

Standing leg lift – Stand on your right leg and then rotate your left leg across your body in a controlled fashion, raising it at the end point. Do 10-15 reps with each leg.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.net