HOW: Grab onto a dumbbell or weight with each hand. In a standing position, stay tall as you raise your heels off of the ground and you are supporting your body on the balls of your feet. From here, walk forwards on your toes staying in control of the weight and your body.

 

FEEL: You should primarily feel your calves and shoulder muscles working.

 

COMPENSATION: Stay balanced as you walk forwards, don’t bob to either side. Don’t arch your back.

 

HOW: Stand behind an elevated surface or box. Grab onto a dumbbell in one hand. Place the opposite foot and leg onto the box with your foot flat and knee bent. Stay tall and straight as you push into the ground with the foot on the ground raising your heel and body up. Perform this motion for the prescribed amount of reps. 

FEEL: You should feel your calf muscles working. 

COMPENSATION: Don’t lean forwards as you perform the calf raise, stay upright.

HOW:  Start with your hands against a wall at shoulder height and be leaning into the wall. Push into the wall with your hip, knee, and ankle to assume a triple extension position. This is your starting position. Slowly bend your hip, knee, and ankle to “load” your leg. Then, explosively push away into the wall and perform a small hop followed by assuming a triple extension position.

 

FEEL:  You should feel your hips, knee, and ankle working hard.

 

COMPENSATION:  Adjust how far away from the wall you stand to make sure it feels natural. Be sure to attain triple extension

HOW: Begin with a small step set on the ground. Using one side edge of the step, step up forward with the leg closest to the step bringing the outside leg’s knee up into a runner’s position. From here, bend your inside knee and step out to the side with your outside leg tapping your toe. Return to the runner’s position.Then, step towards the front with the same outside leg tapping your heel, then back to the runner’s position. Finally, bend your knee of the planted leg as you reach your outside leg behind you to tap your toe. 

 

FEEL: You should mostly feel your quadriceps and glute muscles working on the leg that is on the step.

 

COMPENSATION: Keep the inside foot on the step at all times. Keep your chest up as you bend your knee and sit back into the hip pocket of the stance leg

HOW: Place a step in front of a wall or an object to use for balance. Step onto the box with the balls of your feet on the edge of the box, and your heels off the box. Slightly bend your knees into a quarter squat position. Then lift your heels up in a slow and controlled manner, then slowly lower your heels back down to the ground. Repeat

 

FEEL:  You should feel your calves getting a workout, but also your glutes and quads to maintain the bent knee position.

 

COMPENSATION:  Make sure to keep your knees bent. Do not lift your hips and let them rise up or fall down. Only our knees should be moving up and down as your raise/lower your heels. Do not shift your weight side to side. Make sure you go through your full range of motion at your ankle. This is not a balance exercise, so hold onto something to help with balance as the goal of this exercise is to strengthen your calves!

HOW: Get set up by lining up your body properly first! Lie on your side, place your elbow and forearm on the ground directly underneath your shoulder. Place your top leg’s foot in front of your bottom leg’s foot.  Align your bottom leg’s foot/ankle with your hip and shoulder as you engage your core, push into the ground lifting your hips up making a straight line. 

 

FEEL: You should feel your core and shoulder muscles working. 

 

COMPENSATION: Don’t let your neck or hips sag down.

HOW: Begin by lying on your back with a band around your feet. Bring both knees up to where they are straight up from your hips. Keep one leg there as you kick one leg out against the resistance of the band. Alternate kicking out each leg and returning for the prescribed amount of reps. 

 

FEEL: You should feel your hip and core muscles working. 

 

COMPENSATION: Keep your knee straight up from your hip as you kick the other down, don’t let it drop.

HOW: Start by standing on one leg on a box or small elevated surface with your hips even and parallel to the ground. Let the foot that is in the air fall towards the ground by performing a hip drop followed by a hip hike. Repeat 

 

FEEL: You will feel the muscles on the outside of the hip working that is still grounded. 

 

COMPENSATION: Try to limit motion to hip hiking and dropping, nothing else.