{"id":3567,"date":"2017-11-05T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-05T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/blog\/ultimate-leg-workout-3\/"},"modified":"2025-05-23T08:42:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T08:42:35","slug":"ultimate-leg-workout-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/blog\/ultimate-leg-workout-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Hold Steady: The Ultimate Leg Workout"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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It\u2019s hard to believe, but starting as early as your twenties, your sense of balance begins to decrease. That\u2019s not to say you can\u2019t slow down the process. \u201cHow rapidly the sense of balance diminishes depends on our genes, on the natural process of aging and, to a large extent, on how physically active we are and the types of activities we do,\u201d explains health and science writer Scott McCredie in his book Balance: In Search of the Lost Sense<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The best exercises challenge your sense of balance by incorporating BOSU balls, wobble boards and Xerdiscs into your leg workout. Incorporating this equipment not only makes for a more challenging routine but also builds up your agility.<\/p>\n

\u201cBalance exercises speed up your reaction time and improve the brain-to-muscle connection,\u201d explains celebrity trainer and Gold\u2019s Gym Fitness Institute trainer Ramona Braganza. \u201cThey prepare you for walking on slippery ice in the winter or stepping out of a shower onto a wet floor.\u201d<\/p>\n

As we age, Braganza says, being able to stay balanced and on your feet becomes ever more important. The majority of injuries to seniors stem from losing your balance (a.k.a. falling). More than a third of adults age 65 and older in the U.S. fall each year, according to research cited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In fact, falls are the predominant cause of traumatic brain injury among members of this age group.<\/p>\n

Here are four moves that Braganza recommends to help you stay grounded.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

HAMSTRING CURL WITH A STABILITY BALL<\/h2>\n

10 reps<\/em><\/strong>
\nBegin lying on your back with ankles and heels placed on top of a stability ball, toes pointing up. Raise your hips, contract your glutes, and keep your hands by your side to stabilize yourself. Roll the ball in toward your hips by rolling from your heels onto the balls of your feet. Pause momentarily and then roll the ball back out, keeping your hips elevated.<\/p>\n

To increase the level of difficulty, try rolling one leg at a time, or raising your arms in the air while rolling.<\/p>\n

Strengthens<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n

Glutes and hamstrings<\/p>\n

ROMANIAN DEAD LIFT ON AN XERDISC<\/h2>\n

20 reps<\/em><\/strong>
\nPlace your left foot on one Xerdisc and your right foot on another. Hold a five-pound weight in each hand. Slowly lower from the waist down until your hands are almost to the floor. Then slowly rise back up.<\/p>\n

Strengthens<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n

Glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps and inner thigh<\/p>\n

SQUATS ON A BOSU DOME<\/h2>\n

10 to 15 reps<\/em><\/strong>
\nBegin standing on the BOSU ball, dome side up, with your feet spread as wide as possible and your arms extended forward for balance. Descend slowly into a squat until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Pause, then raise back up to stand. To increase the level of difficulty, attempt the same squat with the dome side down.<\/p>\n

Strengthens<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n

Glutes, hamstrings and quadriceps<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

SINGLE LEG LUNGE ON A WOBBLE BOARD<\/h2>\n

10 reps on each side<\/em><\/strong>
\nStand facing the smaller side of a wobble board. Place one foot on the board, shifting your weight to the heel. You will now be in somewhat of a lunge position. Lower and raise your body on the ball of the back foot and the heel of the front foot. Keep the wobble board parallel to the floor. Do 10 reps on one leg, then switch to the other. With your foot on the board, make sure your knee isn\u2019t tracking over the ankle.<\/p>\n

Strengthens<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n

Glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps and calves<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<p>Find balance\u2014and a better leg workout\u2014with these four exercises from Gold\u2019s Gym Fitness Institute trainer Ramona Braganza.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":6666,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_post_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[90,122,213,223,124],"class_list":["post-3567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-workouts","tag-increase-stability","tag-increase-strength","tag-leg-workouts","tag-lunge-workouts","tag-squats"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3567"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9760,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3567\/revisions\/9760"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}