There are many exercises for the buttocks at home to give them elasticity and fit. The most famous of these are squats. They allow you to keep your ass in good shape, are suitable for doing at home, but get bored very quickly. Making them alone is boring enough.

It is much more interesting to do doubles and other types of squats. They are much more effective than the usual ones, which after a while you simply no longer want to perform because of their monotony. To achieve desired results, you need to go beyond the usual framework and not be limited only to squats. An excellent tool for this will be the presented training aimed at giving elasticity to the buttocks, which will never get bored.

The presented training is perfect for performing at home, does not require the involvement of a partner or the use of special sports equipment. The author of the complex is an American personal trainer Chelsea Dornan of the National Academy of Sports Medicine located in New York.

1. perform the training in the sequence presented;
2. repeat each exercise for 45-60 seconds;
3. approaches need to be done at least three;
4. Use a gym mat for some exercise comfort.

If you follow these simple rules, then very soon the buttocks will become elastic and fit.

Exercise one "Bridge on one leg"

It is performed lying on your back. The knees are bent, the feet are shoulder-width apart. One of the legs is extended and then lifted.

Exhaling, squeeze the gluteal muscles, raise the outstretched leg as high as possible and linger in this position, and then lower. The main thing is not to touch the floor with your buttocks.

Several approaches are performed for each leg, without lowering it to the floor.

Exercise two "Swings with a leg extension"

Performed on all fours. Legs are shoulder-width apart. The wrists and shoulders form one line.

Raise the left knee, swing the leg to the left and stay in the accepted position, return to the starting position.

Exercise three "Rainbow"

Take a similar second exercise starting position.

The left leg is pulled back and slightly pulled to the left. Stretch toe. Make sure that both legs and back are on the same level.

Lower the straightened leg, touching the floor with the toe. They return to their original position, while clamping the gluteal muscles.

In a similar movement, but with abduction to the right side, the leg is lowered. Take their original position.

Do several reps, change legs.

Exercise four "Lunges"

Performed from a standing position. Legs are shoulder-width apart, hands are on the hips.

They take a step to the right with their right foot, bend it at the knee, and stretch to the floor. For the correct execution of the "lunge" make sure that the knee and ankle are in line.

Stay in position, swing right foot forward as much as possible.

Do several repetitions, first for one leg, and then for the other.

Exercise five "High squats"

Get straight. Legs are shoulder-width apart. The left heel is slightly raised. To increase the load, the foot can be completely lifted off the floor and the leg extended forward.

Squats are done in such a way that the buttocks are parallel to the floor, the knees form one line with the toes.

Squat, stay in the accepted position, lean on the right heel, return to the starting position.

First, squat with a slightly raised left heel, and then with the right.

Exercise six "Swing the knee up"

Get on all fours. Wrists with legs are located shoulder-width apart. The knees are slightly bent, but do not touch the floor, and the legs are extended.

The left knee is bent at right angles. Without unbending the legs, they squeeze the gluteal muscles, and raise the right heel as high as possible. In the adopted position, they linger for a few seconds, straighten the left knee to its original position.

Several repetitions are performed, the leg is changed.

Exercise seven "Swing"

Stand up straight, spread their legs flush with the shoulders. The right foot is put slightly forward.

The left knee is bent, the abdominal muscles are strained, bend forward, holding left leg in line with the spine. Hands touch the floor, linger in the accepted position.

Take the starting position. Perform several approaches, repeat the same procedure for the other leg.

Exercise eight "Squats on toes"

It is done while standing. The distance between the feet should be almost twice as wide as the shoulders, and the toes should be slightly elongated.

The knees are held above the ankles, the abdominal muscles are strained, squatted. The buttocks should be parallel to the floor. Raise the heels slightly.

They are held in the extreme position, and then they take the starting position.

Exercise nine "Sumo squats"

Performed from a standing position. Feet shoulder width apart and toes turned slightly forward.

Squats are done so that the knees form one line with the ankles. The emphasis, squatting, is made on the heels, the legs are turned to the sides by forty-five degrees.

Take the original position and do several repetitions.

Based on materials: cosmopolitan.com

Its features and working muscles.

Muscle Atlas Exercises

To understand how to do side lunges correctly and master the technique of performing the exercise, you need to figure out which muscles are responsible for its implementation. Side lunges deserve close attention as basic exercise allowing to work out problem areas in the area of ​​the inner thigh, use the gluteus medius muscles.

So, what muscles work during side lunges as opposed to straight ones?

1. During the abduction of the leg to the side, the gluteal muscles (medium, small) receive the load.
2. The hamstrings provide a squat on the leg that is laid out to the side.
3. Extension of the knee during lifting from the squat occurs due to the quadriceps, and extension of the hip due to the gluteus muscle.
4. The return of the leg to the body is due to the adductor muscle.

Also at correct execution exercises are included in the work calf muscles, abs and lower back.

Side lunges are used to correct the breeches zone and outer surface hips. However, training muscles, even with weights, does not lead to immediate elimination of body fat. This can be achieved only by the lack of energy. Therefore, it is quite a natural question, in what way can it be created? There are only two ways that really help solve the problem of body fat:

• intense training;
• reduction in calorie intake.

If we consider precisely the breeches zone, then the targeting effect on it is further complicated by the fact that in the area of ​​the outer surface of the thigh, fat is located on top of the tendon.

You can achieve weight loss in the thigh area if you train in a fat-burning regimen. The pace of such training should be above average, and the number of repetitions of lunges in one circle should be more than 20.

Side lunges aren't just for girls. They are included in workouts to create an athletic shape for the legs and buttocks, as well as to create relief in men. To do this, they are performed at a slow pace, the number of repetitions is 8-12 times in 3-4 approaches. To increase the load, additional weights are used: bodybar, dumbbells, barbell.

Execution technique

Compliance correct technique performing side lunges makes the exercise especially effective. Let's consider the sequence of actions.

1. Lunges to the side are performed from a standing position, feet shoulder-width apart. The socks are slightly pulled apart.
2. We check ourselves before starting squats. The back is straightened, the arms are slightly bent at the elbows in front of the chest. Hands can be extended along the body or placed on the belt. The press is tense. The stance is springy, the knees are slightly bent.
3. A wide step with the left foot to the side is performed on exhalation. At this time, bend the left knee slightly, then gently lower the leg to the floor, transferring the center of gravity to the left leg. It is necessary to sit down before education right angle in the knee. We check ourselves, how even we keep our back.
4. The body can be slightly tilted forward, but curvature of the spine and twisting of the shoulders must not be allowed. At this time, the right leg should remain straight and extended in the opposite (right) direction.
5. On exhalation, due to knee extension, we return to the starting position. While squatting to the side, the feeling of the buttocks and quadriceps should be maintained.
6. The exercise is performed in the same way on the other side.
7. The number of repetitions and approaches depends on the purpose of the training. A prerequisite completion of the exercise is to perform easy stretching on the muscles of the legs.

Varieties of lunges

It doesn't take long to master the technique of side lunges. After just a month, doing the exercise without weight will not allow you to feel the desired muscle work. In this case, it is necessary:

• complicate the exercise;
• increase the number of repetitions and approaches;
• move on to its variations with weights.

Side lunges with dumbbells are performed in the same way as the basic exercise. The arm with dumbbells can be lowered along the torso, raised to the shoulders or pressed to the chest. You can complicate the lunges by combining them with bending the arms. To perform this exercise, dumbbells are taken reverse grip... Starting position - hands are lowered in front of you. During the lunge, we perform bending of the arms, pressing the dumbbells to the chest. Side lunges with a barbell allow you to work out the legs, as well as give a load on the press and back. Another advantage of the barbell element is the development of balance.

Barbell side lunges help effectively build muscle and shape. However, the main principle of exercises with additional weight is that you first need to master the technique, to strengthen the muscles. After that, you can proceed to work on relief with weights.

Work on bugs

Having studied the technique of performing the exercise, consider five typical mistakes, which beginner athletes allow during lunges.

Error	Why is it happening?	What to do?
Rounding the back	Occurs due to the fact that the muscles of the legs and back are not yet ready for such a load	Strengthen core and leg muscles Increase knee flexion (instead of 90 to 135 degrees)
Incorrect stance	Body weight is transferred to the toe or heel to make the exercise easier	Distribute body weight evenly over the entire foot
Failure to complete the approach	Weights selected incorrectly	Reduce the weight of the weights or do the exercise without it in order to finish the approach to the end
The exercise is performed in jerks.	Sharp movements are made to finish the approach sooner.	Lunges smoothly
Loss of balance during lunge	Step too short or too long	Calculate stride length to maintain balance

The easiest way to hone your lunging technique is to do the exercise in front of a mirror. This will allow you to effortlessly control any movement.

What is the risk of improper exercise technique?

1. Injury, especially if side squats are performed with extra weight.
2. Lack of exercise effectiveness.
3. Self-deception. You think that you are training certain muscles, but in fact they are not receiving the load.

To strengthen the muscles of the lower body, side lunges are combined with classic squats, forward lunges, a set of exercises for the hips and buttocks. Regular implementation of such a set of exercises will allow you to correct the shape of the legs and achieve an attractive relief.

In hack squats knee joints also experience severe overload. Typically due to placing your feet too low on the platform. Then the knees with a guarantee "go" forward. So put your feet up.

In extensions the most important thing is to correctly adjust the position of the stop. Use the adjuster to move the footrest forward so that in the starting position our knees are bent exactly at right angles. If the support forces us to roll our feet under the seat, knee injury is guaranteed. And further. Much depends on the design of the simulator. Ideally, your knees should also be in the same plane as the main knot, which provides movement of the lever with the support for the feet. If the machine is designed differently, the load on the knees increases many times over.

Advice: When straightening the legs, the stress on the knees can be significantly reduced by limiting the amplitude. The effectiveness of the exercise will suffer little. Safe straightening technique eliminates jerks from the starting position, as well as pauses at the end point when, in order to increase the intensity, you keep your legs straight under load.

Lunges can also become a very dangerous exercise for the knees: The reason is the same - "leaving" the knee behind the toe line. Accidental loss of balance can also result in knee injury.

Leg curls no less dangerous for the knees if they are not performed correctly. An important role will be given by the choice of the simulator and the correct starting position. All movements should be smooth, without jerking. Do not pull the roller up to the buttocks - the knees do not like excessive bending with weight.

By doing gynerextension, you can easily injure your knees. Injury threatens those who extend their knees, as they say, all the way.

Leave your knees slightly bent. Well, adjust the height of the support rollers so that they fall not on your ankles, but higher - under your calves.

Deadlifts are dangerous to the knees only if the technique is incorrect. There is a mistake like this. When the barbell is lowered, the center of gravity of the body uncontrollably shifts forward, and you take the load on the toes, up to the separation of the heels from the floor. Remember, your foot must be flat on the floor. If this does not work, then the weight is too heavy.

Knees: health secrets

1 Distribute the load evenly on the right and left knees. (With leg presses, we tend to push harder on the platform with one foot.)

2 Exercise exceptionally smoothly. Any sudden movement hits the knee joint hard.

3 When squatting or doing leg press, do not let your knees "go" beyond the line of the toes.

4 Do not use "exotic" techniques. Attempts to "reach" a stubborn quadriceps by squatting too deep, narrow foot stances, or heavy weight partial reps are usually costly to the knees.

5 Train your calf muscles hard. The leg muscles need to be developed proportionally and harmoniously. This is a condition for your knees to feel good.

6 Few people know, but the strength of the knees predetermines strong hamstrings. Best Exercises for these muscles - deadlift(including on straight legs).

7 Stretch your quads and hamstrings regularly. Locking these muscles is the most common cause of knee injury in bodybuilders.

8 Be sure to stretch your knees before exercising. Warm-up encourages entry into knee joints"Lubricating" fluid. Saving time by warming up is unacceptable; it is better to overheat than unheat.

9 If your knee joints constantly hurt, even if not severely, see an orthopedic surgeon. A minor, but not cured trauma will definitely remind of itself in the future.

10 Remember the main rule of training: if you feel pain, it means that you are doing something wrong. Fix the mistakes of your own technique, and this will be the best guarantee against injury. M&F

Let's talk about the harmful but extremely popular exercises that an incredible crowd of people do every day. We want to remind you for the thousandth time that you should make a decision: to perform certain exercises on the basis of how do they affect your health! Not on the size of the priests, not on the growth of the back delta, but precisely by assessing what the chance of earning an injury is.

There is no need to argue about which is "better" or "worse", it does not matter. We will consider exercises exclusively in terms of two factors: benefit and injury risk, in order to understand whether you will get a profit from them or stay with your own, or maybe lose. The benefits of the exercise cannot be taken into account; the likelihood of injury is equally important in this context.

Lateral slopes

I constantly observe how the girls in the gym do these exercises with dumbbells and a barbell on their shoulders (it looks more than impressive), and on a hyperextension simulator, and on a fitball against the wall (it looks more than comical). Exercises are performed, apparently with the aim of tightening lateral muscles abdomen, strengthen the spine, pump up the oblique abdominal muscles, make the waist (x) narrower. It is not surprising that many do them, simply trusting the coach or the media, or proceeding from the simple logic: "what I swing, then I lose weight." Let's take a look at these exercises, and to what result they lead in reality.

Side bends are quite popular in gyms and this is not surprising, it is easier than this exercise and difficult to come up with! According to legend, lateral tilts work out the oblique abdominal muscles perfectly. Now for a bit of classic boring stuff. Anatomical movement in this exercise is called lateral flexion of the spine in the frontal plane or tilt spinal column to the side.

The main muscles that are responsible for the movement of the spine:

1) Square muscle of the lower back
2) Intercostal muscles
3) Muscles between the transverse processes

As we can see oblique muscles of the abdomen do not work when bending... You cannot use of this exercise"Pump up the side press", because oblique muscles are not involved.

The waist also won't get thinner. By tilting to the side, you will achieve one thing: make yourself visually boxier. When you chat with this exercise with weights, the square muscles of the lower back are tightened and enlarged. They are located so that when they are overdeveloped (with hypertrophy), they expand the waist, resting on the sides from the inside, expanding the oblique abdominal muscles, which are responsible for the narrow waist. The oblique muscles of the abdomen and some exercises for them will be analyzed below.

And in general, we will not deceive you and say that from the "rectangle" you can make hourglass and never believe those who convince you of this, seriously! The waist, like the shape of the buttocks, is either there or not. You need to work in the conditions that exist and achieve maximum results!

Moreover, this exercise is also dangerous for people with a problem or weak back, as square muscle the lower back together with the transverse ones are the stabilizers of the spine, which strengthen physiotherapy exercises without burdens, in order to restore their work after some kind of injury, illness, or prevention. When working with weights, these muscles hold the spine relative to the pelvis and strongly "clamp" the vertebrae together, creating a dangerous load and prerequisites for instability of the vertebrae. These resistance exercises can even exacerbate osteochondrosis of the spine, which is present in many people, including adolescents.

OUTPUT:
With an incorrect approach and use of these exercises, the result is:
once: dangerous load on the spine,
two: we strengthen the existing osteochondrosis,
three: we expand the waist contrary to the generally accepted stereotypes of some fitness "gurus", which are widespread among the masses.

Remove this exercise from training plan or do only at the beginning on joint gymnastics, how .

How to build oblique abdominal muscles: exercise

External oblique muscles abdomen begin at the anterior lateral edges of the lower eight ribs and attach to the crest ilium, pubic tubercle and aponeurosis of the rectus abdominis muscle.

Internal oblique muscles abdomen begin at the iliac crest and lumbar-thoracic fascia, and attach to the cartilage of the last three ribs and the aponeurosis of the rectus abdominis muscle.

Tediousness again, the highest level 😂:

Functions:

- flexion with bilateral contraction, as helpers of the rectus abdominis muscle,
- lateral flexion with rotation of the spine in unilateral work.
- stabilization of the spine together with the rectus abdominis and transverse muscles.

IMPORTANT: during flexion and rotation of the trunk from a prone position to the left, the external obliques work with right side and internal oblique on the left side - this is due to their structure and the location of the fibers.

- well-developed oblique abdominal muscles, together with transverse muscle form a frame that tightens the waist area and makes it thin, if the square muscle of the lower back is not hypertrophied.

remember, that good result can be achieved only with a set of exercises, i.e. include both statics and dynamics!

1) Dynamic mode of operation.

But what happens when you extend your legs in the machine? V bent position our legs have no load at all, and in the unbent position, the maximum arises, which means that the thinnest part takes on all the work. It is absolutely not physiological and dangerous. In fact, your injury is only a matter of weight and timing.

Also, when performing leg extension while sitting, the anterior cruciate ligament receives constant tension. There is also an increased risk of lateral patella deflection and increased stress in relation to lateral forces.

By the way, this exercise is even more dangerous for women than for men! The ligaments and tendons surrounding the knee are much weaker in women than in men. And therefore, any deviation of the load from the norm can lead to knee injuries.

Crunches on a roman chair

Classic: this simulator is everywhere, despite the fact that it is not very anatomically convenient, because forces the person to do the lift with a straight back. The fact is that the main task of our press is twist the pelvis to the body or the body to the pelvis... When you fix your feet in the bolsters below the pelvis, you make this twisting difficult. The load on the lower back, thighs and iliopsoas muscles increases as well. If you add weight here (and many manage to do this exercise with pancakes from the barbell), then you can easily injure your lower back.

Bench press sitting / standing. Pull over the head of the vertical block

For some reason, it is believed that bench press and deadlift vertical block from behind the head are almost key in training deltoid muscles... Thinking here goes, as they say, in a straight line: the back deltas must be trained with presses from behind the head or with a pull behind the head in the simulator (after all, they are performed from behind), and the front ones - / presses from the chest (performed in front of you). But is it right?

Let's do a little experiment. Let's take a pumped-up person and ask him to take his hand to the side, applying a certain force to it - from the front, from behind and from above. At the same time, our pitching has to overcome these efforts by tensioning the corresponding muscle bundles. Further, holding his hand on the front bundle of deltas, we ask him to turn his hand, thereby duplicating the starting position when performing presses from behind the head. It is clearly seen that the front delta is on top, just along the path of movement humerus up. Next, ask the athlete to move his arm forward (duplicating the original position of the traditional chest press). In this case, the arrangement of the beams remains unchanged - all the same, the front beam is at the top. At the same time, the role of each of the bundles of the deltoid muscles becomes clear:

Anterior fascicle - agonist(leading beam);
Medium beam - synergist(assistant);
The posterior bundle is an antagonist(its role is not to interfere with the movement of the anterior beam, the position is relaxed).

By the way, given fact it is very easy to check by applying an effort that will be directed upward (simulating overcoming the weight of the bar from behind the head). In this case, you can feel the work of all delta beams with your hand. It turns out that only two beams are involved in the work - the front and middle. The back one, as it was relaxed, remains so relaxed.

Plus, don't forget that our shoulder joints are highly mobile.

Thus, the task of training the back deltas, the presses from behind the head are unable to solve... In fact, both the chest press and the behind-the-head press mainly involve the "front" deltas. The only difference is that the chest press is safer because it is more natural. Seated / Standing Overhead Press and Vertical Block Head Rows create a load that is unnatural for shoulder joints and leads to their injury. In short, there are no advantages, but a bunch of disadvantages.

Adduction and extension of legs in the simulator

Don't believe that you can get injured in this simulator? But in vain. In the article, we talk in detail about the risk of injury and the nuances of performing this exercise.

"And here I am .."

Obviously, the most popular term on the Internet right now is Valgus. Legions of keyboard warriors and Facebook coaches have learned the meaning of the term and smugly ridicule anyone who has a Hallux Valgus movement (knees inward) while squatting, regardless of the circumstances (for example, an experienced lifter is trying to lift as much weight as possible) and how understandably, regardless of their qualifications in this matter.

I would not be surprised, because this is all expected and not new, but it annoys quite strongly when a person with low qualifications tries to point out to me my technical mistakes.

Here I must explain that it all started with the fact that my beloved wife, Emmy, posted a video on the network with several of our girls weightlifters doing squats. There were several hesitant (valgus) knee movements, ranging from fairly obvious to subtle.

In a few minutes, a bunch of comments appeared under the video about how bad these are. And no one was interested in the fact that all of them are engaged in weightlifting at the level of the national championship and are part of a team that has become the winner in many championships many times.

What do we want?

In my books, articles and other materials, I have unequivocally and decisively stated that it is necessary to ensure that the knees and feet are on the same line. The knee should not protrude beyond the toe of the leg. Of course, small deviations are possible due to not perfect posture but too much stance change can lead to a loss of control over the force of the push and failure to perform the movement.

It is correct for the socks to be slightly parted to the sides, slightly opening the hips and allowing the athlete to sit down to the full depth after the full-length stand. The angle at which you can spread your legs depends entirely on the structure of the athlete's body. An indicator of the extreme point that should not be crossed is the position at which even the slightest instability in the legs begins.

For some, a small turn of the legs, 5-10 degrees, will be enough, and for some, 20-30 degrees may be required. Simply put, short-legged athletes will feel more stable when exercising by only slightly extending their legs. This is about the "video evidence" that the legs cannot be spread apart, which the "coaches from social networks", Because usually they feature Chinese athletes who are not very tall.

When you observe an athlete who is at the lowest point of the squat and whose hips are as parallel to the legs as possible, you understand that the knees are still directed "apart", because they do not look straight ahead. However, knees directed apart and pushed in different directions during the exercise are two big differences.

Knees spread apart and subsequent failures

If you watch everyday training videos that we publish on the Catalyst Athletics website, then you may have seen me shout "", referring to some athletes. Unfortunately, this phrase is often misunderstood and taken out of context. Moreover, many influential people advise to widen the knees when squatting, neglecting the position of the knees in the starting position or neglecting the entire stance of the athlete in general.

Based on the last paragraph, it should become clear to you that the stance in which the athletes I train should stand is the hips in line with the feet, as much as possible. If the athlete adheres to this position during the squat, then I never advise him to spread his knees to the sides, because this will bring them out of the common line of the feet, which, of course, we do not want. Such an athlete can be left alone without worrying about his squatting technique.

In other cases (this is mainly for female athletes), when the knees begin to buckle in the key phases of the squat, I advise the athletes to point their legs a little apart, because this allows them to maintain the line of the hip and foot, so that later they can work out the ideal position.

I do not use lateral knee extensions to do possible fulfillment exercises like some other trainers do (whether it's right or wrong). In any case, there are a number of benefits that side-to-side extension of the knee provides to avoid Hallux Valgus. During squats, while the knees are moving forward, the hips are forced to move backward, thereby forcing the athlete's back to lean forward.

This position does not allow you to perform a squat successfully enough. When we spread the knees slightly to the sides, we allow the hips to come back under the shoulders, restoring the athlete to a straighter posture. This is why you can often hear me say "pull in hips" right after "knees forward" - this combination allows you to correct the power loss in an upright posture and return the athlete to a position where he can straighten.

Who is at risk

In general, long-legged athletes and women are more likely to develop "Hallux valgus" while squatting. I have seen many explanations for the prevalence of similar problems in women, but none of them seemed logical to me. Many assume that this is due to the angle from the hip to the knee, which is initially larger in women (the pelvis is wider and the knees "converge" a little, the distance between them is less than between the hip joints).

But since in my room the most obvious Hallux valgus movements of the knees occur in women with narrow hips, it was hard for me to believe in this theory. The most popular explanation, which applies to both sexes, suggested a lack of strength in the athlete and, as a result, weak action of the lateral femoral rotator and abductor muscles. I can believe this, since my approach to solving this problem is to strengthen and engage these muscles. What I am sure of is that the problem is not with the stretching. If an athlete's knees are on the same line during flexion-extension while squatting, then the problem is clearly not in mobility.

The looser the stance of the athlete, the wider the legs are spread, the more I am concerned about the consequences of a possible Hallux Valgus movement when performing a squat. Because the discrepancy with the normal position of the legs is enormous. However, weightlifters do not squat with a very wide stance, so my fears are not well founded. This does not mean that I do not want to solve the problem, I just do not really worry about this and I do not delay the development of the athlete, preventing him from becoming stronger, and I do not waste a year in search of a dubious solution to the problem.

Getting rid of the problem ... as much as possible

It has been my experience that the solution to the problem of Hallux Valgus is not possible without giving up the heavy squat. I did manage to achieve some success, but I am convinced that the athlete has a predisposition to the Valgus movement of the knees and it will remain forever, it can just manifest itself on a smaller scale thanks to training and practice, however, it will be expressed more and more with the increase in the weight used and with the growth. fatigue during exercise.

If we recognize that weak, unused muscles that abduct and rotate the hips outward during exercise are the cause of the problem, the solution is to strengthen those muscles and train the athlete to use them properly. There are a lot of exercises for this. Some of them are downright stupid, from the category of fictional exercises that require more equipment than brains. Below are the ones that I use and recommend, provided, of course, that the athlete is ready to perform them regularly and over a long period in order to achieve results:

1. Squats with a small band-expander

This is my favorite exercise because it is simple, effective and can be done without adding a single extra second to your workout. Put on a ring from rubber band just below your knees and squat, resisting the force that brings your knees together, trying to keep them in line with your entire leg. Also, do not let your knees come out. You can linger at the bottom of the squat and do dilutions against the compression force of the ring. That is, let the rubber band bring your knees together and then move them back to their normal position. Multiple repetitions can be performed.

Another use case is to wear a rubber ring when doing warm-up sets. They should be done anyway, so the ring only adds an extra element, saving both time and effort.

2. Squats with a delay and squats with a quarter

Hold squats are good in many cases, but they especially help with all problems related to posture, stance and tension at the bottom of the squat. The athlete should stay at the lowest point for three seconds while maintaining tension in the legs and trunk. Standing up, the athlete should concentrate on avoiding unnecessary knee movements.

Even without a detailed analysis of the exercise, many athletes automatically do it the way they need it and, thus, train the right muscles(This is despite the fact that in most cases, many people cannot use the right muscles, even if they are pointed at them). Keep in mind that when lifting to the starting position, you should avoid swinging and springing, which helps to move up. The movement must be uniform, otherwise the whole essence of the exercise is lost.

The quarter squat should be done as slowly as possible, with all the tension in the legs maintained throughout the exercise. Like the hold squat, the quarter squat allows you to feel all the tension and slow down the execution as much as necessary in order to achieve better control in your legs, allowing you to train exactly the areas that require most attention... In the quarter squat, the athlete should only rise to dead center when he has to struggle with weight.

3. Exercises with X-band and side steps with expander

There are many variations of these exercises, but they are all aimed at strengthening and activating gluteal muscles... With an ankle ring and an X-shaped rubber band, take slow steps to the side, trying to fully feel the tension, which will be more evident not in the walking leg, but in the supporting leg. You can take steps with your feet alternately, or take several steps with one foot, and then with the other. You can also take diagonal steps forward (at an angle of 45 degrees). They can be performed both by keeping the legs straight and bending them.

4. Lunges and squats on one leg

Exercises that use one leg can only strengthen the stabilizing muscles if done correctly. This is often misunderstood. If, when doing exercises on one leg, you allow the Valgus movement of the knee, then you should not expect that it will help to get rid of instability in the knees when squatting - you will rather aggravate the problem!

If you have patience and a goal, then you can use elastic bands that should be fastened around the knee of the leading leg (if the lunge is done with the right leg, then around it, when changing legs, we attach the elastic to the left leg) and with the opposite hand we counter the leg when squatting or lunge trying to pull the knee inward. Of course, the knee, in this case, should be resisted as much as possible, trying to maintain a straight line and not allow the knee to fall out.

Conclusion

This problem depresses me enough that I try to avoid discussing it as much as possible. Fortunately, in this article I have outlined my vision of the problem and its solution quite clearly, so in the future all I will do is give a link to this article.

I leave a few videos here so that conclusions can be drawn. On one of them Dmitry Klokov is the most famous Russian weightlifter today. On the second - Chinese girls - weightlifters. And in third - Ivan Chakarov, one of the strongest squat weightlifters in history.

In the video, he does the exercise with a weight three times his own ... three times ... without a belt or knee wraps. They all exhibit Hallux valgus (imbalance) in the knees when squatting. I posted these videos not to say that the Hallux Valgus is correct, but to celebrate the fact that many world famous athletes cannot avoid it and this is not such a tragedy as “coaches from social networks are trying to present. ".

It will be interesting for you