The Best Way to Do Single-Leg Exercises for Booty Gains
Regardless of whether exercises on one leg or two lead to better performance on the field or court, one thing is for sure: single-leg exercises work the booty a whole lot more -- especially when performed with the twist I’m about to describe.
During single-leg exercises, not only do the glutes work to extend the hip in the sagittal plane, but they’re also active isometrically in the other two planes of motion. That is, they prevent unwanted rotation and side-to-side motion in the transverse and frontal planes, respectively.
Note: For the reverse lunge, there may be a tendency to come up onto the toes of the working leg during the step-through. This is a perfectly acceptable variation, provided the heel remains on the ground while coming up from the bottom of the lunge. See this video for a demonstration.
- As I mentioned, it takes the working hip into hyperextension, which is actually where the glute activates most strongly.*
- It allows the working hip to extend hard and fast throughout the entire range of motion, rather than having to put the breaks on early as you near the standing position.
- It more directly mimics human locomotion (i.e. walking and running).
- It looks cool.
- It'll make you taller.
Okay, maybe the last one or two are a stretch. But seriously, give the step-through a try on your next few sets of single-leg exercises. You (and your booty) won’t regret it.
This is actually a picture of padded underwear, but it doubles as the perfect sham before and after! |
*http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11767248
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