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LEG LIFT

The leg lift is another great exercise you can do just about anywhere.   You can incorporate this exercise in your daily exercise routine at home and even do it during your office breaks.

To do the leg lift, stand with your abdomens pulled in and have your back straight. Lift your leg to your sides a few inches off the floor and then hold the position for a few seconds before bringing your leg down. Repeat the step with your other leg. You can do this in 20- 30 repetitions or for 20 minutes as part of your whole exercise routine.  So that you can easily balance, you can place a chair in front of you and hold on to the chair’s back rest while exercising.

There are other variations of the leg lift which you can also do. The first leg lift discussed above is the standing leg lift which you can do anywhere. You can do leg lifts while lying on the floor. To do this, prepare a mat or lie on your left side on a clean carpet.  While on your left side, stretch your left arm in front of you.  Make sure your left hand is not in a fist but completely relaxed because you will be using your arm and hand to balance.  Make sure your hips and shoulders are completely aligned. Slowly lift your right leg about 12 inches off the floor. Hold the position for a few seconds before lowering your leg.  Do this five times before turning over to your right side to exercise your left leg.  If you can still do more leg lifts, just do consistent repetitions after changing sides. When doing this exercise, make sure that both your toes are pointing forward. Also you can lift and lower your legs smoothly instead of making abrupt and forceful lifts so that you don’t cause strains to your muscles and joints.

You can use rubber resistance bands to create muscle resistance and add to the degree of difficulty of the exercise.   This exercise targets your abductors or outer thighs. There are other more challenging leg lifts that will help you target other muscles including the abdomen. Another variation to this exercise is doing it while holding on to a balance ball.  This is more challenging and increases the muscles resistance of the body.

To do this variation, you will need a gym ball.  Tip forward to the ball while on standing position.  The ball will make the exercise tricky because aside from exercising the legs, you will also be using your arms and your abdomen to remain stable. While tipped forward, lift your left a few inches off the ground. Do this repeatedly before switching to the other leg.  Do the same number of repetitions for the other leg. You can also this variation at home although you will need a balance ball.  When doing this exercise, you have to make sure that your hip, knee, ankle and foot are completely aligned.