Single Leg Floor Touch
The week one exercise is the squat. The basic squat is the king of all fundamental human moves as it is what we do to sit, stand and pick things up. If you feel ready to progress the basic squat, simply perform it on one leg. (Strength Move #1 below.) Next is the single leg floor touch (pictured right.) Both of these exercises are excellent for improving total body balance, strength and agility. Finally, stretch your “squatting muscles” with the 90-90 stretch below.
Strength Move #1 – Single Leg Squat
- an excellent way to progress the squat, without adding any load (holding weights)
- this is a move we do with almost every person we work with (we modify the intensity of the move by changing the height of the chair or bench they stand up from)
- sit on a chair or bench, pull your grounded foot underneath you, keeping your heel on the floor, press down through your entire foot, especially your heel, and stand up, attempting to squeeze your glutes on the side of the working leg, find your balance at the top, then lower yourself back down again on one leg. Switch legs and repeat
- your goal is to have your hips at or below the level of your knee upon beginning the sit-to-stand
- work up to doing 3-10 squats per leg for 2-3 sets every other day (3x/week)
Strength Move #2 – Single Leg Floor Touch
- (the bottom position is pictured right – check out the video for instruction and modifications)
- this is one of the best exercises anyone can do to improve strength, mobility, coordination, balance, agility and athleticism
- stand on one foot, then bend at your hip and knee to touch the floor just in front of your grounded foot, then stand back up tall and straight, find your balance and repeat
- work up to 5-8 repetitions per leg x 2-3 sets, every other day
Week 2 Stretch – 90-90
- this is an excellent stretch for you hips, thighs and lower back – check out the video for instruction and modifications
- Youth Sports Coaches – this is the “hurdlers stretch” of the 21st Century – do not do the old school hurdlers stretch we did in the 70’s and 80’s – warm up or finish your practice with this one
- this is a great cool down or “every day” stretch – do this for 2-3 minutes per leg in front for a total of 4-6 minutes
- check out the video for more instruction – I often video these in my home office, if you ever have a question, comment below or on Facebook and I can answer you with a video like this
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The Workout
- if you were to do two leg exercises only, these two would be on my top 5 list to recommend
- after warming up with walking in place or around the block, perform 3 sets of 5-12 repetitions of each exercise above per leg (sit-to-stand from a folding chair)
- it really can be that simple – progress or modify the move by changing the height of the chair you are squatting from
- find a higher chair if you need to at first until you develop the hamstring and glute strength to stand up from a lower chair
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