While standing leg raises tend to be hidden by flashy exercises like hip thrusts and burpees, if you want to build a strong lower half, it’s time to become familiar with this simple but effective movement.
It’s easy to actually develop legs that can stand anywhere. So, even if you can’t go to the gym, you can still knock out some sets in the living room.
Standing leg lifting exercise: step-by-step instructions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb2n_ppw_ay
- Stand tall, pulling your hips and feet apart shoulder width.
- Transfer your weight to your right foot and slowly lift your left foot forward to make it as high as possible to make it comfortable. Tighten the core and bend your left foot. Do not bend your knees or rotate your ankles outwards.
- Lower your foot and lower it to the starting position. It’s one person in charge. Complete all the reps on one side before switching to the other side.
What muscles do the standing legs function?
Standing legs raise exercise targets and strengthen the hip muscles. Specifically, there are adductor muscles along the inside of the thighs and a gluteus inside the upper part of the pelvis and the outer edge.
This exercise is especially useful for stabilizing during cardio and strength movements such as sprints, squats and lunges, as it uses hip muscles to walk, run and balance.
The raised legs of the standing legs also function the muscles of the abdominal muscles (also known as “6 packs”). Side variations of crossbody action illuminate diagonally (the muscles on the sides of the waist).
Standing legs increase fluctuations
One variation of a standing leg incorporates extra-hip guidance or moves the leg away from the body. This is the way.
- Hold your hands to your hips and turn your back. Cross one ankle above the other and touch the upper leg either floating on the floor or lightly.
- With your legs bent, lift your legs as high as possible to the side without bent your knees. You should feel a slight squeeze in your working waist. Be careful not to rotate your feet outward when lifting. Your feet need to stay parallel to the floor.
- Lower your foot and lower it to the starting position. It’s one person in charge. Complete all the reps on one side before switching to the other side.
Ready to add a standing leg raise to your next leg workout? Hannah Viva, a NASM certified personal trainer with fit body boot camp, recommends sticking to normal tempo.
And if you want to make your standing legs more challenging, add resistance loops or ankle weight around the ankle.
