Your legs, thighs and abdominal muscles are essential for correct posture. Use free weights to strengthen your large muscles, as well as the smaller stabilizing muscles. The American College of Sports Medicine encourages you to gradually increase the amount of weight you use to continuously improve your muscular fitness. Enhance muscular endurance completing 12 to 15 repetitions per set; build muscle by doing six to 12 reps per set; increase muscular strength using heavy weights for one to five reps.
Split Squats
Split squats focus your glutes, inner thighs and quadricep muscles of one leg. The stabilizer muscles of your hip joints lie under your glute muscles and secure the head of your thigh bone within the joint cavity. These muscles are strongly engaged during a split squat because you are balancing on one leg. Perform a split squat by placing your right foot in front of you, 3 feet from a flat bench. Place the toes of your left foot on the flat bench behind you. Complete a split squat by lowering your pelvis until your right thigh is nearly parallel to the floor; look down to make sure your knees are behind your toes. Complete one set then switch legs.
High-Bench Step-Ups
High-bench step-ups focus on the glute and thigh muscles of one leg. This exercise really works your buttocks because your glute muscle must contract through its full range of motion. Place a flat bench next to an immovable bar in case you need to catch your balance. Stand with both feet in the middle of the bench, parallel to the long edge. Secure your right foot on the bench as you lower your body and step back to the floor with your left leg. Balance most of your weight on your right leg, just tapping your left toes on the floor. Stand back up to the start position and repeat. If your right knee bends more than 90 degrees, place a 6-inch step-aerobic bench beside the flat bench to give you a few inches of a lift.
Tip-Toes and Toe Raises
The muscle at the front of your legs, or your shins, is your tibialis muscle. The muscles at the back of your legs, or your calves, are your gastrocnemius at the top and your soleus at the bottom. The tibialis is a commonly neglected muscle in the gym. Fortunately, you do not need any weights to strengthen this muscle. Work your calves and your tibialis by first standing on your toes for 3 seconds; then, lean back to balance on your heels, bending your ankles to raise your toes toward your head for three seconds. Repeat for 10 reps per set.
Crunches and Twists
Use a decline bench to engage your "six-pack" muscle and your obliques. Secure your ankles under the feet supports of a decline bench. First, lean half way back with your arms stretched out in front of you and your fingers clasped. Next, rotate your trunk to draw your arms toward your left side then your right side and back to the center. Then, bring your trunk back up to the start position and repeat. Hold a six-pound medicine ball to increase the intensity of this abdominal exercise.
References
- American College of Sports Medicine: Progression Models in Resistance Training for Adults
- "Equal But Not The Same, Considerations for Training Females"; C.H.E.K. Institute; 1997
- "Anatomy & Physiology"; Gary Thibodeau, Ph.D. and Kevin Patton, Ph.D.; 2007
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