The Leg Bone's Connected To The...

Moving our way up the body from our feet and ankles, we’re getting into our legs and our hips. Now I do want to note—none of these “sections” of the body work independently from one another! In fact, I want to try something with you before getting into today’s post:

A few of you have taken a Stretch class with me, and we finish class by moving up our body, wiggling one thing and then the next to shake everything out. I noticed something while doing that, and I want to see if you notice it, too. Take at least a few seconds on each of these: First, wiggle your toes. Now the rest of your foot. Your ankle. Knees. Hips. Upper body. Shoulders. Arms. Hands.

Ok. So, what I notice is that when I wiggle my toes, my foot moves. Once I’m moving my foot, my ankle moves. Ankle moves the leg, leg moves the knee, knees move the hip, etc.  Did you notice it too?

It’s like that song “the foot bones connected to the…” Everything is connected!

---

But I still want to draw your attention to the legs and the hips today, (even though we know they are never working alone.)

Our legs have some of the largest muscles in our body, and our hips connect those legs to the rest of the body. So, it probably goes without saying, that we are working our legs A LOT during class—almost non-stop in a Standing class and through at least 75% of a Seated class (I do try to give you some breaks here and there, but usually I see your toes tapping anyways!)

But what specifically are we working, and when?

Our legs can move forward, backward, sideways, and across the body, and we do a little of all of this in class. In addition, we can move the leg forward or back with a straight leg or with a bent leg (think of a touch forward or a kick vs a knee lift).

The forward movements are working our quadriceps, the big muscles on the front of the thigh. This also flexes our hip and works the muscles running through the front of the hip. Backward movements are going to work the hamstrings as well as the glutes, which are the muscles in the back of our thigh and, well, the booty! Sideways and cross movements are going to work our abductor and adductor muscles, the ones on the outside and inside of the thigh as well as the side of our hips.

Below the knee, we also have the calf muscles and the muscles surrounding the shin bone. We use these during all the movements talked about last time—tapping the toes or heels, holding the heels off the ground, etc.

Then there’s the “filler” moves like marching in place or doing a step-touch, and those are working our legs and hips too (as well as keeping our cardio up!)

We don’t just work to strengthen the legs, but also to lengthen, or stretch, the legs. Strengthening and Lengthening happen in opposition, so whichever way we move our leg to strengthen the front, for example, will stretch the back.

Bringing your leg in front of you and then hinging your upper body forward towards the leg will stretch the hamstring. By flexing that foot, you will focus the stretch more towards the calf.

Bringing that leg behind us, such as lunging forward with a straight back leg and upright upper body, will stretch the quads and the hip flexors. You may feel the stretch in your calf again in this position, as it is being lengthened here as well.

---

Some things to think about regarding your legs and hips during class:

If you’ve had a hip or a knee replacement, be careful with any movement that move sideways or across the midline of the body with the leg. Your doctor will be able to let you know if these movements should be avoided based on the specific way your surgery has been done. If you’re not sure, the best rule of thumb is to not do anything that causes pain or discomfort! Moving the leg front to back instead or keeping it in place is always a safe option.

To get a little bit more out of your leg workout in class, think about making everything just a little bigger. Take a bigger step, lift you knee a little higher, stretch your leg a little longer. If you’re standing, you can utilize your knees more—think about adding an up/down movement to some of our otherwise simple steps, like a step touch. If you’re sitting, don’t rely too much on the seat of the chair supporting your hamstrings. Can you lift your leg off the chair on a kick? Or experiment with moving your whole leg vs. moving from the knee when we move our leg to the side. There are lots of SMALL variations you can add in or play around with that over time can add up to big improvements in your strength and flexibility.