Lateral shuttle exercises are factors in sports training, step aerobics, walking programs and home exercise video routines. Adding them to your daily exercise routine will help to strengthen and tone your hips, thighs and buttocks. Additionally, they can improve your lateral ankle stabilizer muscles that are essential for maintaining balance. Understanding the proper technique and degree of difficulty will help you achieve your goals and challenge yourself.
Basic Exercise
The basis for all lateral shuttle exercises is the side step exercise. Warm up by walking in place for a few minutes. Take a gentle shoulder width step to one side and then put your feet back together. Gradually increase the width of your side step to increase the intensity. Bend your knees slightly to ramp up your workout. Keep your back straight and your abdomen tight to prevent trunk strain.
Alternatives
A variety of optional versions of the lateral shuttle can hone in on specific muscle groups. Perform double side steps to tone your outer thighs. Step to the side and bend the other leg back to work the back of your thighs. Take a forward step while you step sideways, walking forward for four steps and backward for four steps. This will target all aspects of your hip and thigh. Target your abdominal muscles by stepping laterally and marching the opposite leg upward.
Plyometrics and Stepping
Add a plyometric component to your lateral shuttles to significantly increase the intensity. Jump from side to side or during your double step to strengthen you large muscle groups and stabilizing muscles. Add lateral shuttle steps to your step aerobic routine. Step sideways onto the platform, or double step to dismount the platform on the opposite side. Side stepping onto and off of the platform focuses on working your upper, outer hip muscles.
Dynamic Shuttles
Commonly used in sports training sessions, dynamic lateral shuffles help to improve your reaction time and dynamic motion during your sporting event. Perform grapevine lateral shuttles by side stepping and placing your outer foot behind your leading foot and then reverse your front foot on the next step. Repeat this for 20 feet one direction and then shuttle with the grapevine step back to your starting position. Improve the endurance of your thigh and hip muscles by doing side step shuttles for 20 feet in one direction and then shuttling back to your starting point.
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