Following up the original article I wrote in May of 2020 (5 Single Leg Exercises for Lower Body Development (nathanwilliamsstrength.com), I want to point out a few more single leg exercises to help you with lower body development. Squat, deadlift, leg curl machine, leg extension machine, etc can box you in and leave you with a stale program. Single leg work can provide you with a wide variety of movement to hit more muscle groups as well as keep you from getting bored with your training. Here are 4 more exercises that fall in the category of single leg work that you can add to your program.
Single Leg Goblet Squat
Performing a single leg squat is a great way to work on decelerative qualities and body control. You need to make sure the weight isn’t so heavy that youre slamming to the seat/bench and just using momentum to finish reps.
Lateral Lunge
The lateral lunge is one of the few strength exercises that works in the frontal plane. Nearly everything (squats, split squats, deadlifts, etc) train the body in the sagittal plane. Including the lateral lunge allows to target the often-neglected adductors, as well as the glutes and quads.
Crossover Step Up
Crossover step ups are another exercise that allow you to get moving in the frontal plane. The short box height seen in the video make the focus predominantly knee extension. Stepping to a bench or taller boxes would allow to have more of a hip extension focus.
Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat
Having a squat stand is ideal for this movement but a bench is still perfectly suitable. Dig your toes in on the box or lay your foot flat, whatever you are comfortable with. The length of your stride- how far out the front foot is- will determine the muscles that are targeted. A longer step will target the backside more, and a shorter stride will hit the front.
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