LOWER BODY MOVEMENTS

In our Strength Training System, most exercises that are being considered for a specific program will be placed into one of three general movement categories. Lower Body Movements involve the following movements: knee extension, hip extension, and plantar flexion. Lower Body Movements are those that will help increase strength in the lower back, quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus muscle group, hip extensors, flexors, adductors, abductors, and the muscles of the lower leg (calf and ankle). Bilateral Movements are prominent within the program, but we also utilize a lot of unilateral variations which are more sports specific and help reduce stress placed on the body during training.

LANDMINE LOWER BODY EXERCISES

Landmine Variations for Lower Body Movement patterns are an excellent alternative. Especially when trying to incorporate a lateral component. They are easy to teach and offer a little more stability to an already challenging movement pattern.

Landmine: Front Squat

An Athlete can either utilize and landmine attachment or place the end of the bar in a stable corner

• The movement begins with an athletic stance facing the bar. The width of stance can vary based on the ability of the athlete to maintain an upright posture to full squat depth.
• Feet should be pointed out slightly. It is important that your knees track over your ankles and that your thigh, knee, shin and foot are all inline during the entire movement.
• Next grab the end of the bar with both hands, holding close to your body at chest height
• Slowly and under control, drive your hips back as you maintain a relatively upright posture. Take a deep breath and hold it during the decent.
• Once you achieve full squat depth, push your feet through the floor as hard as possible when squatting back to the starting position
• Your chest should always come up first, before your hips. Not the other way around.
• This will always be the biggest challenge
• Don’t bounce at the bottom of the movement
• Maintain your head in a neutral, double chin position