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Leg weights – the most popular type of equipment for women’s training, is included in the mandatory training program for all fitness models, helps to pump up the buttocks by locally loading the muscle. With a description of the exercises and all the advantages of training with weights, a lot of articles, training videos, training schemes have been released.
A weighting agent is a bag full of sand or a bunch of pockets with metal sleeves. The weight of each weighting agent is individual. It can be changed manually in the case of pockets and sleeves and can be fixed.
When buying weighting materials, be sure to understand How long weight you need. It may happen that by choosing a small weight of the weighting agent, it will be problematic to place several pieces on the leg. The strap may not be long enough to secure it to your leg.
Basic Weighted Exercises: Abduction and Swings
There are basic exercises with weights: abduction and swing. Regardless of what you are doing, it is important to get the right feel for the muscle you are working on.
The weighting agent has a free weight character. In pursuit of large weights, there is a great temptation to connect not only the main, working muscle, but also a bunch of others, which often do not require additional training. This is a violation of the technique. It leads to a decrease in the beneficial effect on the muscle. And after a while the question arises: the weight of the projectile is growing, and the growth of the muscle stands still. What’s the matter?
In order to avoid such questions, a detailed description of the execution technique is presented below.
Weighted Exercise Technique
Let us consider the technique of performing exercises with weights using the example of the exercise “Leading the leg back”.
- The most effective way to do the exercise is to do it on a bench. When the working leg weighs, it does not have close support, the weight of the leg feels better, the muscle stretches more.
- When performing the exercise on the floor, you can put your hands on your elbows, or on the palm of your hand. The main thing is to determine in which position the trained muscle is most clearly felt.
- Get on your knees and elbows / palms. Knees at hip level, elbows at shoulder level and just below them. Weights on the legs.
- Tighten your abs.
- Small of the back. During the exercise, one way or another, it will be tempting to bend over. Thus, she takes the load on herself, facilitating the work of the buttock. So, the lower back should always be flat.
- The abs and lower back are interconnected. The more you monitor your abs and tighten your belly, the more likely you are to eliminate lower back arch.
- The eyes look straight at the floor, you don’t need to lift your head.
- The heel looks straight up. Stretched toes are acceptable, but it is the upward-facing heel that puts additional stress on the buttock.
- Lift one knee and pull it slightly towards your chest. Tighten your gluteus maximus. A small, literally a couple of centimeters, pulling up to the chest will give the muscle a stretch and the tension will be easier to feel. Next, you tighten the muscle and only push the leg back and up with the gluteus muscle.
- The range of motion should not be large. You should lift your leg up while you feel tension in the buttock. As soon as the tension disappears – immediately return the leg back.
- It is important to keep an eye on the body when moving the leg. A common mistake of athletes is a strong collapse of the body. Standing on one knee, swinging the legs is accompanied by distortions. So, if you closely monitor the press, back and tension in the buttock, you will eliminate these failures.
Weighted Exercise Options
Based on which muscles you need to load, there are several exercise options:
1.With bent knee. Allows you to locally pump only the gluteus muscle.
2. With the straightening of the legs. The muscles of the biceps of the thigh and the inner thigh are connected.
3. Straight leg, short range. From the position of an initially straight leg and a short range of motion. The main tension is in the glute and hamstrings.
4. Swing your legs to the outside. Connects the top of the buttocks.
Each athlete chooses the most “working” type of exercise for herself.
It is important to feel the muscle you are working on. If for some reason you do not feel it, either you still have nothing to feel and you need to wait for the realization of the exercise, or you are performing the exercise incorrectly.
The ideal option is to consult a coach. An independent option to film yourself and watch the correctness of the technique from the side.
How to find the right weight?
It is worth remembering that exercises with weights are optional. They help to focus on a specific muscle bundle. Therefore, these exercises are multi-repetitive. According to the pump fitness direction, the ideal number of times should be 50 reps per leg.
The muscle on the final repetitions should burn, you throw in a sweat. And when you put your foot down, it should feel like stone. But at the same time, one should not forget that there are still approaches ahead. Therefore, the ideal number of repetitions at the initial stage is 15.
Accordingly, this exercise is not for heavy weights. Let the weights be small, but it is the correct technique combined with a low weight that will give you more benefit in getting the necessary shape than large weights on small repetitions.
Be of good cheer!