To feel like you’re kicking ass—not getting your ass kicked—during your next heavy leg workout, start things off with these warmup drills from trainer Jay T. Maryniak.
“Your performance will increase and you will exponentially reduce the risk of injury,” he writes in an Instagram post highlighting the series. “It doesn’t take a ton of time.”
Here are the four drills Maryniak uses to prep for heavy lower body days.
Perform each drill back to back for 1 set with minimal rest between them to target your quads, hamstrings, glutes, and smaller hip muscles through each functional movement pattern.
For the lateral band walks and monster walks, your focus should be on keeping your torso vertical at all times and using your glutes, not momentum, to take each step. Make sure that your feet are always far enough apart that the band stays stretched. And finish every step with your knees directly over your ankles.
Need a band to do these drills? Check out this set from Fit Simplify.
For the hip circle to back lunges, the priority is on moving through a full range of motion with control. Each time you’re on one leg, resist the urge to dump your weight into that hip and let it jut out to the side. Keep your hips square by tensing your core and leg muscles.
Source: Read Full Article