Day 2 - Glute Bridge/Hip Thrust Combo
For day 3 today we're going to have a look at single leg exercises and even though all those IG models put up videos of squats all.the.time., they are a sub-par glute builder more often then not.
Enter the single leg exercise group.
I have about a million single leg exercises but I'll limit it to just 3 today.
EXERCISE #1: DEFICIT REVERSE LUNGE (LEVEL 1)
You probably seen/performed reverse lunges before but maybe not from off a deficit/step which increases the range of motion of the step back/eccentric portion of the exercise and thus increases the stretch put upon the glutes and an inability to walk the next day.
Not that soreness is in anyway way a gauge for the effectiveness of an exercise or workout but it's always reassuring that you are using the correct exercises when you can feel them the next day.
Tips to optimise reverse lunges of any variation are:
- Keep a vertical shin on the front leg, especially as you step the back leg down behind you
- Keep a relative vertical torso but without any lower back hyperextension and a little bit of forward lean isn't the end of the world
- Step width again isn't a huge issue but if you can get a 90 degree angle through both hips and knees at the bottom position than you're in a good position for maximal glute usage
EXERCISE #2 - WALKING LUNGE (LEVEL 2)
Again you've all done this exercise before but the same rules from above apply here as well to tear those glutes to shreds:
- Vertical shin on the front leg, parallel shin on the trail leg
- A step width that results in a 90 degree angle on the front and trail leg in the bottom position
- A vertical, or close to, torso
EXERCISE #3 - CURTSEY LUNGE (LEVEL 3)
About 90% of the single leg exercises that you've ever done are performed in the sagittal plane meaning front/back and thus only really hits the muscles hard that are required to hold stability and positioning in that plane.
The Curtsey lunge introduces a side to side (frontal plane) and rotational (transverse plane) aspect so now all glute muscles and pretty much all their fibres (that run in all directions) get trained pretty hard.
This can all result in the most soreness of any of these exercises!
Same rules apply for the most part (vertical front shin, vertical torso, step width/distance that allows for a vertical shin) but this does require so extra ankle/hip mobility and knee stability/control to perform correctly, hence why l've given you 3 levels of exercises today but by all means do them all if you can.
Give these a crack and be sure to check in for the 4th and final exercise tomorrow.
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