Movement Video Series: Lower Body Exercise Techniques

Join EXOS Performance Specialist Julius Charles in these practical training sessions to work on your exercise technique. We will break down common lower body movements into digestible parts to help you upgrade your form, improve your skill, increase your strength, and gain confidence in the gym.

Ball Slams

Let's get creative with our home exercises and upgrade your squats. If you think you can't do ball slams at home because of you don't want to ruin your floors or disturb your neighbors, then use a pillow. No more excuses! You can work on metabolic conditioning and full body power with this exercise.

1. Stand tall, feet shoulder/hip width apart, pillow over your head.
2. Slam pillow down from over head into the ground between the legs. (Think about going through the ground)
3. Keep a neutral spine as you go down (Try not to round your back)
4. At the bottom, imagine being in a squat position: push the knees out and keep both entire feet on ground
5. Your arms should swing behind you at the end of the movement
6. After you slam the pillow, pick it up keeping the same neutral spine. And repeat.

Shoulder-Elevated Hip Thrust

Follow along with Coach Julius to improve your hip thrust technique to strengthen and activate your posterior chain.  This lower body pulling exercise is great to try while you are at home.

Watch this video to see how to do proper, safe, and effective hip thrust. All you need is a surface that will allow you to elevate your shoulders (couch, chair, bed).

Cues:

1. Place only your upper back on the surface.
2. Feet should be hip width or shoulder width apart
3. Start with the hips to initiate the movement
4. Keep a neutral spine - When hips go down, the chest and head should follow.
5. Drive your heels in the ground and push your hips up to a table top position.

Proper Glute Bridge

Follow along with Coach Julius to improve your glute bridge technique to engage your glutes, and develop a strong posterior chain.  This lower body pulling exercise is great to try while you are at home.

Watch this video to see how to do proper, safe, and effective glute bridge. We will also show you the single leg variation to increase the difficulty of this skill. If you are new to this exercise, start with double leg variation first.

Cues:

1. Lay flat on the ground and tuck your hips underneath you. (This engages the core)
2. Bring your feet close to your glutes, and toes up heels into the ground.
3. Smash your hands into the ground.
4. Drive your hips up (think about cracking a walnut with your glutes).
5. Keep your shoulders and upper back on the ground.

Tips:

• You want to be able to draw a straight line from your knees through your hips, torso, and shoulders. 

Proper Jump Squat

Follow along with Coach Julius to improve your squat jump technique while maintaining healthy movement in the legs and lowering your risk of injury. This lower body power exercise is great to try while you are at home.

Watch this video to see how to do proper, safe, and effective squat jumps.

Cues:

1. Feet shoulder/hip width apart.
2. Push hips back while keeping a neutral spine
3. Make sure your knees track over your toes.
4. Push through the ground and jump
5. Land back in squat position (soft knees)

Tips:

• You can challenge yourself by jumping higher, and changing directions.
• You can lower the impact on your joints by landing soft and quiet. You can also do this on soft surfaces, such as grass and dirt.

Proper RDL

Follow along with Coach Julius to improve your Romanian Deadlift (RDL) technique and maintain healthy movement in the low back and hips.  Learn some easy cues and find out where your spine, core , knees, and hips should be to get the most out of this exercise.

Recommended Equipment: a long and sturdy stick. A PVC pipe or broomstick works well for this learning experience.

Proper Lunge

Follow along with Coach Julius to improve your lunge technique and maintain healthy movement.  Learn some easy cues and find out where your feet, knees, and hips should be to get the most out of this exercise.

Proper Squats

Follow along with Coach Julius to improve your squat technique and maintain healthy hips, ankles, and knees. Learn some easy cues and find out where your feet, knees, hips, and spine should be to get the most out of this exercise!