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.

SINGLE LEG SQUAT EXERCISES

Single Leg Squat Squats are a very effective way to train unilaterally with minimal stress on your joints. This Single Leg Squat version is another movement that we use throughout the year because it meets the needs of so many performance training issues. Especially In-Season, when strength maintenance is important during a physically demanding schedule. An important note: An athlete who can perform a Single Leg Squat is handling the same workload on a single leg as an athlete who is performing traditional Back Squats with a load equal to their body weight. So, if a 200-pound athlete can properly perform a bodyweight Single Leg Squat they are training with the same relative load per leg as a 200-pound athlete Back Squatting 200 pounds. Our goal in the back squat is to have our athletes squat twice their body weight. If we have an athlete perform a Single Leg Squat utilizing an external load of half body weight, or in this case 100 lbs. this accomplishes the same goal. So instead of getting under a 400 lbs Back Squat In-Season when fatigue is high, we opt for a Single Leg Squat with a 100 load which just makes more sense.

Single Leg Squats: Body Weight

• Begin from a single leg stance. 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.
• Don’t let your knee come inward. It is important that your knee tracks over your ankle and that your thigh, knee, shin and foot are all inline during the movement.
• Lower your hips until you touch your opposite knee to the pad or floor behind you.
• You should be in a perfect skating stance at the bottom of this movement with weight evenly distributed on the middle of your forward foot, and knee slightly forward of your ankle.
• Don’t bounce at the bottom of the movement
• Pause for a moment and then return to your starting position.
• Perform the number of reps prescribed on one leg and the switch legs
• To vary difficulty, an athlete can begin by touching their back knee to a Airex pad. Then progress to touch the knee to the floor. And finally execute with the front foot elevated on a 2” block