This is a great exercise to get some control and activation happening in your glute and hamstrings. The aim of this exercise is control your descent down to the floor. If you kinda free fall and then “plonk” to hit the floor it means you didn’t control the movement with your glutes. Old ladies with lots of cats plonk – we don’t đŸ™‚
The key to get the most out of this exercise is to ensure that the working legs knee never goes in front of the ankle. Directly above or slightly behind is the way to go. Also make sure when you get to the top of the movement you are leaning back and that there is tension in your arms at all times!
This exercise is an evolution of your standard Swiss Ball Hamstring Curls. It’s a great exercise to really get a serious contraction happening in the hamstrings as well as engaging your glutes as well.
To make this exercise more challenging, you can have only your elbows pressed into the ground which reduces your stability. To make it more difficult again, have your arms straight up in the air.
This is a great exercise to do if you are having any sort of problems with your knees or ankles. The TRX squat allows you to lean back into the exercise and get tension more through your hamstrings and glutes as opposed to your knees while also keeping your ankles and knees in a more neutral position.
Dead lifts are considered to be one of – if not THE BEST exercises. The basic premise is that you are lifting a dead weight from the floor. It has many variations and can be mixed up to co-inside with your workout requirements. Using a kettle bell allows to mix up the positioning of the weight to be more central to your mass.
The silent stealthy killer! Pulse n Stands seem pretty good at first – not so much by the end! Just like sitting down in a chair, the Pulse n Stand is about engaging those glutes and hamstrings to control your descent and using your quad engagement at the correct part of the movement.
It is important to ensure that your knees don’t collapse inwards while doing this exercise and don’t forget to squeeze and engage your glutes otherwise your back will try and engage!
The Stiff Leg Dead Lift is a fantastic exercise to really target those hamstrings and glutes. By focusing on keeping your back straight and envisioning that your hips are the only joint that moves, you will get the most out of this exercise.
Big thing on this one – try not to hyper-extend or lock out your knees.
Kettlebell swings are a fantastic exercise to get those glutes firing. Surprisingly you don’t need to do a great deal with this exercise though lots of people make it harder than what it needs to be. The secret to this exercise is to only use your hips. Your arms are like rope and your hands are like hooks. There is no effort from your shoulders. The momentum you build comes from you thrusting your hips forward as quick as you can!
This is a great balance and isolater of the hamstrings. Some people feel this exercise in their calves. If that happens, try and get your hips off the ground more.
I love how many people LOVE to hate this exercise.. even though they know how effective it is for hip stabilisation! It’s important that you keep your back nice and straight and that you don’t fish for the ground by compromising your neutral spine in order to reach for the ground. If you do this side on to a mirror, ensure that your working leg is closest to the mirror. That way, if you see your non working glute in the mirror, it means you have lost form. Hide that glute and keep your hips square!
This exercise is a variation of a TRX Pistol Squat or a TRX Sprinter Squat. No TRX? No problem! Simply find something you can loop a towel around and BAM – you have a great set up to work your glutes and hamstrings!
Ahh TRX pistol squats… so much hate for an exercise so so good. Well hate is a strong word but not many of my clients get excited when I advise it’s next on the program but they definitely don’t deny that they do the trick for glute and hamstrings!
Tips for this exercise are pretty simple.
1. Try and make it so that your weight is not simply being lowered to the ground, direct your weight on a diagonal behind you and down. This will put emphasis on your hamstring and glutes
2. Don’t forget to tuck your hips and squeeze your glutes.
3. Don’t use your arms. You hands are like hooks and arms are like ropes. They are simply allowing you to lean back for the movement.
The Leg Press has often had a bad reputation in the gym. Elitists mocking it because EVERYONE SHOULD SQUAT. Yeah, whatever ya big meat heads.
The Leg press has a multitude of uses that make it a fantastic piece of equipment. You can go much heavier than with squats, you can use it for rehabilitation.. the list can go on.
Ensuring that your back isn’t copping the load is important and remember – it shouldn’t matter how heavy you lift.. we want a weight that does the job. You’d be surprised as to how many people lift too heavy and don’t get the full benefits of the Leg Press!
If you are in your 30’s and above.. you might remember a TV commercial for product called the Stable Table? The tray that had a pillow underneath so that you could balance things better on the tray? It was AWESOME. But anyway.
This exercise is named after that universe altering product as when you sit down into what is basically a one legged squat, your lap should be level enough so that you could rest your stable table on it!
Some tips on this one!
Make sure your knee does not collapse in and does not track forward.
Dead Lifts have a few different variations but Sumo Dead Lifts are certainly fantastic for glutes.
Some tips on this exercise!
1. Ensure that when you get to the top of the lift – squeeze your glutes!
2. Also while at the top of the lift, don’t arch your lower back – tuck your hips under yourself instead. This will help with upper hamstring lower glute activation.
3. When you are lifting, keep your knees wide and don’t let them collapse inwards.
Another variation on the classic deadlift. The Hex Bar Deadlift offers a slight change in the force curve in how weight is distributed during the lift. Those who might find the classic deadlift to be a strain on their lower back often find the body mechanics of the hex bar deadlift to be better on their lower back.
The Squat.. one of the BIG lifts in the gym and with good reason as well since they are so effective! There are a number of different of variations as well but I feel that nothing truly beats the classic barbell squat!
The Goblet squat is a great variation of the standard squat. By holding a weight in front of you, it changes the weight distribution of the lift and puts a more frontal weight distribution which can definitely get the quads burning!