Dumbbell Lunges
Take possession of suitable weight dumbbells. You are standing upright with arms hanging at your sides and palms face inward. Ensure you have adequate room to lunge forward. Core is tight, feet are flat on the floor. This is your starting position.
Keeping your core tight and your torso as straight and upright as possible, inhale and lunge forward on one leg and drop down until the upper thigh of the leading leg is parallel to the ground. The knee should not go forward past toe line. The knee of the back leg will stop just before touching the ground.
At this point, commence the ascent by exhaling and driving up from the heel of the leading foot and back to the starting position.
You may choose to do your lunges either stationary or walking. You may elect to focus on one side to a set before changing or alternate repetitions one side then the other.
Leg Extensions
Pin a suitable weight and take position in the leg extension machine, seated with your back flat against the pad and feet underneath the ankle rolls. Grip the support handles at the side. This is your starting position.
Keeping your core tight and your back against the pad, extend the legs by straightening from the knees and exhaling through the movement.
Squeeze your thighs at the top of the extension movement when your legs are fully extended before inhaling and commencing the return back to starting position.
Lying Hamstring Curls
Pin an appropriate weight and position yourself lying face down on the hamstring curl machine. Your feet go under the ankle rolls and you should grip the support handles to maintain your position on the bench. This is the starting position.
Commence the movement by exhaling and contracting the hamstring to pull the lower leg up and toward the buttocks. Squeeze at the top of the movement.
Reverse the movement by inhaling and slowly lowering the legs back to the starting position.
Barbell Stiff Leg Deadlifts
Position yourself in front of a barbell loaded with a suitable lifting weight. Adopt a shoulder-width or narrower stance with feet turned slightly outward. Knees are slightly bent and head remains up. Bend forward from the hips and take position with an overhand grip on the barbell, no wider than shoulder-width. This is the starting position.
Commence the movement by exhaling and bringing the torso up through the 90 degree angle at the starting position to the erect torso finish position, without bending the back into an arch. The hips push forward and your shoulder blades retract slightly which forces the torso straight up. Try to focus on using your buttocks and hamstrings to power the movement. In the finishing position, the legs are fully extended, the head is up and the arms hang directly down from the shoulders.
Reverse the movement by inhaling and slowly bending forward from the hip until you are back in the starting position.
Smith Machine Stiff Leg Deadlifts
Position yourself in the Smith Machine with a suitable lifting weight and the bar set at its lowest level. Adopt a shoulder-width or narrower stance with feet turned slightly outward. Knees are slightly bent and head remains up. Bend forward from the hips and take position with an overhand grip on the bar no wider than shoulder-width. This is the starting position.
Commence the movement by exhaling and bringing the torso up through the 90 degree angle at the starting position to the erect torso finish position, without bending the back into an arch. The hips push forward and your shoulder blades retract slightly which forces the torso straight up. Try to focus on using your buttocks and hamstrings to power the movement. In the finishing position, the legs are fully extended, the head is up and the arms hang directly down from the shoulders.
Reverse the movement by inhaling and slowly bending forward from the hip until you are back in the starting position.
Sumo Deadlift
Position yourself in front of a barbell loaded with a suitable lifting weight. Adopt a very wide stance with feet turned slightly outward and head remains up. Bend forward from the hips and take position with an overhand grip on the barbell, no wider than shoulder-width. This is the starting position.
Commence the movement by exhaling and driving out of the base position with the legs extending, the hips pushing forward and your shoulder blades retracting which forces the torso straight up. In the finishing position, the legs are fully extended, the head is up and the arms hang directly down from the shoulders.
Reverse the movement by bending from the knee and hip until you are back in the starting position, inhaling as you do.
Mountain Climbers
Take position on the ground in a push up position with hands just outside shoulder-width apart, fingers facing forward and arms outstretched until the elbow joint is totally opened lifting the torso up. You should be up on your toes and with your body flat, not arched either way. This is the starting position.
The movement is performed by explosively bringing your right knee forward until it is under your body whilst keeping the left leg straight. Then alternate and bring the left knee up under the body while you simultaneously reverse the right leg back to push up position.
This is a fast paced exercise where you alternate each leg until the target duration is reached.
Glute-Ham Raise
The exact setup of this exercise depends on whether you have a specialised glute-ham raise (GHR) machine or you are improvising with an immovable object (such as a barbell or the lat pulldown machine) that allows you to hook your heels underneath to hold you in place. The following represents how to use the GHR machine however you should intuitively be able to relate the directions to the improvised version.
Position yourself face down on the GHR machine with your knees on the soft pad and feet wedged under the ankle rolls. Your buttocks point out, your back is flat and parallel to the ground and the hamstrings are not yet forced to contract. Depending on the machine type AND your overall hamstring strength, the hands may be either behind the head or holding the hamstrings in support. This is the starting position.
Commence the movement by contracting the hamstrings and slowly lowering the body down by opening up the angle at your knee. With your heels locked down, you should feel the tension through the hamstring as you lower to the floor.
As you approach the floor, most people will need to brace themselves into a push-up position before then propelling themselves off the ground to give enough momentum to get back to the starting position. Those with very strong hamstrings may be able to reverse the movement without needing to use the hands to push off the floor.
Glute Bridge
Take position with your back flat on the ground and your arms extended outward at the sides of the body. Your feet are placed flat on the ground in front of you at shoulder-width and not too far away from your buttocks. This is the starting position.
Commence the movement by contracting your buttocks and lifting your hips off the floor as high as you can take them. Use your arms to support your balance and push from the heels as you exhale.
At the top of the movement, squeeze your buttocks hard before slowly lowering the hips back to the starting position, inhaling as you do.
