Exercises By Muscle Group

Lower Body

 The lower body includes the largest muscle in the body: The Gluteus Maximus. Working the glutes, along with the quads, hamstrings, calves and hips can help shape your body and keep you strong for daily activities. Get details for a variety of lower body exercises along with instructions and pictures.

Why Should You Work Your Butt, Hips and Thighs?
The lower body includes some of the largest muscles in the body, muscles that are involved in almost every movement we make, from standing and walking to running and squatting. Working these muscles means you'll not only build strength and lean-muscle tissue, but you'll also burn more calories. Strong legs will also make daily activities easier and help protect you from injury.

How Often Should You Train Your Lower Body?
Like all muscles in your body, you can perform lower-body exercises up to three nonconsecutive days a week. If you're lifting heavy weights (enough that you can only complete six to eight repetitions), you'll need two or more days of rest before you perform the exercise again. For this reason, you might only work your lower body once or twice a week. If your goal is endurance and strength, stick with 1 to 3 sets of 12 to 16 repetitions and at least one day of rest before you perform the exercises again.

 

What Exercises Should You Do?

In the study, scientists found that squats are an overall great exercise for activating the gluteus maximus and the gluteus medius. While they weren't the number one exercise for muscle activation, they still remain my personal favorite for overall lower body work.Squats are a great exercise for the glutes, hips and thighs and adding a ball to the move can add great support for the back while allowing you to get into perfect squat position to protect the knees. How to do it:

1. Stand with about hip or shoulder-width apart and place an exercise ball behind your lower back and against a sturdy wall for support.
2. If you choose to hold weights, you can keep them at your sides, hold them just over the shoulders or prop them on the upper thighs.
3. Bend the knees and lower into a squat, keeping the knees in line with the toes.
4. Lower down as far as you can (but no lower than 90 degrees) and push into the heels to go back to starting position.
5. Do 1 to 3 sets of 10 to 16 reps.

Tips:

• Keep your knees in line with your toes.
• Press through the heel of your foot as you push up from the squat.
• Avoid letting the knee bend over the toe.

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