Bodyweight glute and hamstring training

[Neal Winkler]

I just found some good BW glute and ham exercises. Besides the natural leg curl, and the weighted RLL found in the gymnastics bodies text, these are great compliments to developing strong glutes and hams.

First is the single leg hip thrust. This exercise is harder than single leg glute bridge because you get more range of motion. I just did it at my house by putting my back on the couch and my foot on the coffee table.

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Next is the gliding leg curl. I just tried these by hanging from my rings and placing my foot on a chair.

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The guys whole youtube channel is interesting. Check out his video series where he discusses training the posterior chain for running vs. jumping (hint: its at the bottom of his upload list).

[Blairbob]

http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/dispelling_the_glute_myth

[terpol]

another good in depth article by the same guy http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_arti ... e_training

i've been doing the single leg hip thrust for a few weeks but as a static hold at the top with 40lbs. as the article explains its a great addition to squat/deadlift especially for something like sprinting.

another exercise that i tried last week that i like very much is the single leg deadlift. not bodyweight but if like me your only access to weights is whatever is at hand (concrete blocks for me) then it works well. managed 90lbs.

and another good exercise is like Coachs GHR or an archup/back extension but instead of resting on your thighs/hips you rest on your knees or as close to them as you can manage and you basically pull up to the bottom portion of a natural hamstring curl (horizontal) and down again. makes it much harder (not that it isn't already).

[Blairbob]

Same author in the article.

[Neal Winkler]

The advanced glute training article is super interesting.

[Neal Winkler]

From this guys blog today:

"My research clearly shows that anteroposterior bent leg exercises reign supreme in terms of glute activation, but if you don’t believe me here’s a study conducted by ACE (The American Council on Exercise) called Glutes to the Max that shows that a simple bodyweight quadruped hip extension activated more glute maximus muscle than a 1RM squat. This means that pushing one leg rearward while facing downward activated more glute than the heaviest squat someone could perform!"

Based on this, I'd be interested in seeing the glute activation of a half lay back lever and planche.

[Nick Van Bockxmeer]

kind of explains why ballet dancers can get amazing hip and thigh hypertrophy despite the lack of resistance in the traditional sense (weights). a lot of those bodyweight leg exercises whilst good are like childs play compared to the hip work involved in ballet.

[Neal Winkler]

Interesting comments!

How do you know that the guys in the picture below don't use weights, or that weights are not used in general for ballet?

How do you know that the pictures below are representative examples of ballet leg hypertrophy? I can't see the bottom guys glutes but the guy in the green pants appears to have significant glute development.

Could you give some examples of the hip/thigh exercises that ballet guys use that are childs play compared to weights?

[Nick Van Bockxmeer]

I know that many professional dancers use physiotherapy and conditioning routines to supplement training and men often do some upper body lifts and work outs to help with partner lifting, however the majority of the physique is built up through hours of training over many years. I have also heard of some dancers using resistance bands to work leg lifts and holds. I would say it is similar to a ring specialist doing weighted flys - a supplementary movement but not the major training stimulus. Also keep in mind these guys often have very low body fat, and tights tend to make your legs look 10x more ripped than they are.

When I used the term childs play, I wasn't referring to weight lifting (obviously a lifter will be far stronger than a dancer at lifting). I was referring to the glute activation exercises posted in one of those articles. Ballet involves some fairly extreme active hip movements in abduction, external rotation and hyperextension (and flexion as well but that has little glute involvement) which are significantly beyond most of those listed. Of course if you add weights to those exercises or use heavy resistance bands then that will obviously make it harder and more beneficial. I use some of those exercises myself (like fire hydrants) and have definitely learnt a few more good ones.

I've only been dancing a few months, but I have noticed a reasonable increase in lower body hypertrophy, without really making any other adjustements to leg work (although this is not a huge focus of my training admittedly). I believe this is because muscles that would normally have secondary roles are being targeted directly. After reading that article about glute activation it kind of makes sense to me how the development of such muscles is possible. The day after my first class was the sorest my legs have ever been (mainly calves, glute and hips, not so much quads/hams) and they were still a little sore at the class week after, just because it is like nothing they have ever been exposed to before.

As far as exercises go, it is incredibley technical and frustrating to pick up. If you wanted to learn even the basics you need to take classes as there is just so much to the posture and form! However standing leg raises are relatively simple and are a staple of developing leg strength. Basically raise and hold one leg as high as you can to the front, side and rear. For people not practising ballet, keep your support leg facing forwards and rotate the lifting leg externally when lifting to the side and back. In ballet both legs are rotated externally at pretty much all times. It is very hard to do these with good posture, as the leg lifts higher the support needs to be stronger - knees locked, back straight.