I was seeing a personal trainer and he made us do this exercise every day that sounds soooo simple, but it will totally help anyone build the muscles necessary for squats and lunges. All you need to do is sit in a normal chair- like a wooden chair or folding chair and stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down... Sound easy enough, right? Until you get to your tenth and then it becomes more difficult. We did 3 reps of 25, but you can adjust your reps and sets to meet your own specific fitness/muscle level.
ooooooooh that's a good one! i like the chair idea! i just did 1 rep of 25, and i am feeling it! nice little exercise to do during the day! everytime you get up from your computer for eg.
I was seeing a personal trainer and he made us do this exercise every day that sounds soooo simple, but it will totally help anyone build the muscles necessary for squats and lunges. All you need to do is sit in a normal chair- like a wooden chair or folding chair and stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down... Sound easy enough, right? Until you get to your tenth and then it becomes more difficult. We did 3 reps of 25, but you can adjust your reps and sets to meet your own specific fitness/muscle level.
I really think this is a great idea I am going to try this!!!!!
when I squatt my thighs hurt more than anything else, is that how its suppose to feel?
Eumie, my knees wouldn't allow me to do full squats until I was well below 200 pounds. Before then I found that pressing a stability ball against the wall and holding in the squat position did wonders to help me build leg strength.
Good luck, and you'll be doing full squats before you know it!
I was seeing a personal trainer and he made us do this exercise every day that sounds soooo simple, but it will totally help anyone build the muscles necessary for squats and lunges. All you need to do is sit in a normal chair- like a wooden chair or folding chair and stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down... Sound easy enough, right? Until you get to your tenth and then it becomes more difficult. We did 3 reps of 25, but you can adjust your reps and sets to meet your own specific fitness/muscle level.
I have one similar to this that we do, I call it the "elevator butt" exercise.
While you are working on your sit to stand, pretend your butt is on an elevator and stop on several "floors" on your way up and down.
We do this for elderly patients, developing the muscles and balance they need to get out of and into their wheelchair safely.
No advice, just commiseration. I HATE SQUATS AND LUNGES!
I've been trying to do a bodypump class twice a week, and omg! I can't even physically do all the lunges and squats in the class yet, and I hurt so bad later! Not a joint or torn muscle hurt, just a very achy-sore hurt of weak muscles trying to get stronger.
I cannot go as deep as most of the people in the class. I don't care. I'll get there eventually.
But I think it is the eventually that is the kicker. I can already see improvement in my upper body strength. I just think it is going to take longer than I expect to see improvement in my lower body strength.
Hang in there!
And thanks to the PP re: the chair idea. I'm going to do this several times a day, at home and work. How simple, and how brilliant!!!
The gym I use has an exercise room - full mirror and ballet bar. I found, when first trying to do squats and lunges, that holding onto the bar and watching my form was the easiest way. Walking lunges holding onto the ballet bar was good for my balance, and gave me just the needed pull back up if I needed it. Squats, facing the mirror, let me hang on and lean back into the squat, to get the feel of sitting down instead of leaning forward.
Because squats work not just quads, but hams, glutes, core, etc., as well, you might consider focusing on all of your leg and core muscles and not just quad development. We tend to overfocus on our quads and underfocus on glutes and hamstrings, which can pull us forward and make us off balance, so focusing just on quads can actually be detrimental.
Since you're having balance and flexibility issues, you might consider working on the backside of your body. Balance, flexibility and strength in these muscles can be helped a lot by stretching consistently every time you workout and also through yoga. Even if you don't want to commit to yoga class, if you have the chance, it's great to take a few sessions, which will teach you a lot about stretching. I took one session of yoga at the YMCA, and while I don't take yoga classes anymore, I incorporate a lot of the moves into my stretching routine, which has helped tremendously for me with flexibility and balance.
So I use the aerobics room when it's not in use, and practice.
