HOW:  Get set-up in front of a wall or an object to use for balance. Begin by keeping your knees bent then lift your heels off the ground. When you are at the top, shift all your weight over to one leg, lift the opposite foot, and slowly lower your heel back down to the ground. Repeat.

 

FEEL:  You should feel your calves getting a workout.

 

COMPENSATION:  Avoid rolling onto you forefeet, this is designed to be a heel raise. Go slow! Control the lowering. Make sure you go through your full range of motion at your ankle.

HOW: Get set-up seated with the handle of a kettlebell around the top of your foot. Get it as high as you can on your foot, not just on your toes. Have your heel supported on an elevated position to go through your full ankle range of motion. While keeping the kettlebell on your foot, raise and lower your foot to perform concentric and eccentric ankle dorsiflexion.

 

FEEL: You should feel the muscles in the front of your shin and on the outside of your shin working.

 

COMPENSATION: Do not lift your heel, maintain knee and heel position. 

HOW: Sit on a tall chair or elevated step where your feet are off of the ground. Place your foot in the kettlebell handle. Point your toes up as you kick your leg straight up ending with your knee straight.  Bring the weight back down and repeat all while your toes are pointing up. 

 

FEEL: You should feel the muscles in your lower leg working as well as your thigh muscles. 

 

COMPENSATION: Keep your toes pointed up while holding the kettlebell and straightening your leg.

HOW: Lean against a wall with your back flat against it and your feet out in front of you. Slightly bend your knees and sit into a small squat on the wall. From here, lift your toes up as high as you can. Do this up and down motion for the prescribed amount of reps. 

 

FEEL: You should feel your lower leg and thigh muscles working. 

 

COMPENSATION: Don’t bring your ankles directly under your knees, have them out a bit further to get more ankle motion.

HOW: Once your band is anchored, step away from anchor to increase resistance. Hold the band with both hands and press in front of you. Shift your weight onto the leg furthest away from where you anchored the band. While balancing on the one leg, slowly control the band pulling you in with your foot muscles. Then, use those same foot muscles to pull you away from where the band is anchored.

 

FEEL: You should feel all the muscles in your foot arch and in your lower leg working to control the rotation.

 

COMPENSATION: Don’t let the band control you! Really focus on controlling all the motion with your foot muscles, instead of your core or shoulder muscles.

HOW:  Stand behind the box/step. Place the leg you want to perform the exercise with on the box/step, step up and balance on that leg. Squeeze the butt muscles in that leg as you balance, and then step back down. The leg never leaves the box/step.

 

FEEL:  You should feel the thigh muscles and the butt muscles working in the leg that is on the box/step.

 

COMPENSATION:  Avoid letting your knee cave in as you step up and step down. Make sure you have equal weight distribution throughout your whole foot the entire time. Avoid pushing off the ground with your back leg as you are stepping up. Don’t step down to fast – try to control it.

HOW: Start by grabbing two dumbbells of the same weight. Take a step forward with your left leg and descend into a lung position. Push yourself back up and forward using your front left leg. Then repeat on the right side.

 

FEEL: You should feel all the muscles in your legs working, but especially your quadriceps muscles. Your front leg should be doing most of the lifting.

 

COMPENSATION: Do not push too much through your back leg. It is OKAY for your knees to go past your toes – that is normal! 

HOW: Loop a band just above your knees in a standing position. In this example, the tempo relates to the time it takes to lower into a squat, hold the squat, come back up, and the time in between reps. 5-3-1-0 is used for this squat. Five seconds to bend your knees, hinge slightly forward at the waist, and push out on the band as you lower into a squat. Three seconds to hold that squat at the bottom for an isometric contraction. One second to return to the starting position, and zero seconds in between reps. Perform this type of squat for the tempo that is prescribed to you. 

 

FEEL: You should feel your lower body muscles working during the squat. You should also feel your hip muscles working extra to push the band outward. 

 

COMPENSATION: Don’t cheat yourself on the times prescribed.

HOW:  Stand on the edge of a box/step and balance with all of your weight on the leg you want to exercise. The other leg will be hovering off the edge of the step. Slowly lower your hips, lightly tap the ground with your leg that is in the air, and then come back up.

 

FEEL:  You should feel all of the thigh muscles and butt muscles working in the leg that you are standing on.

 

COMPENSATION:  Don’t let the knees cave in or bow out. Be sure to maintain equal weight distribution throughout the entire foot of the standing leg.

HOW: Begin in a standing position with you a band around your knees just above your knee cap. Have your feet wide enough to create some tension. Keep your toes pointed forward as you slightly bend your knees and hinge forward at the hips. From here, push the band out and back in with both knees at the same time while keeping your feet flat on the ground. Do this for the prescribed amount of reps. 

 

FEEL: You should feel your hip muscles working. 

 

COMPENSATION: Keep tension in the band at all times. Stay in a small squat position as well.