6 Best Lower Body Exercises for Athletes × Follow Us Create Notifications New User posted their first comment this is comment text Link Approve Reject & ban Delete Log in Manage your profile Editing Story Queue Video Queue Editing Stats Writer Home SEO Redirection Admin Gaming Wiki Edits Taxonomy Home Edit Site Menu Mapping Dashboard Tag Pages Community Social Feed Queue Feed Center Notification Center Affiliate Home Manage Pages Bottom Tagline Dash Timeless Stories Logout Health and Fitness Listicle 6 Best Lower Body Exercises for Athletes By Divya Modified 17 Aug 2022 Follow Us Comment Share Lower body exercises help maintain balance and improve strength. (Image via Unsplash/ Sam Sabourin) Elite athletes and fitness enthusiasts typically concentrate on cardio to burn calories or get rid of fat from the problem areas. It's crucial to concentrate on enhancing strength through appropriate exercises for the muscles in the lower and upper body. Lower body muscles like calves and hamstrings are injury-prone, especially during training and in competition. Lower body exercises targeting the legs, thighs, and hips help build muscle in this region. View this post on Instagram Instagram Post Lower Body Exercises to Improve Athletic Performance You're likely to sustain skeletomuscular and joint injuries while participating in physical activities if you don't have strong leg muscles. To build up strength in your legs, specific workouts should be included in your routine. View this post on Instagram Instagram Post On that note, here're six best lower body exercises for athletes: 1 Step-Up with Dumbbell Step-ups are an excellent lower body exercise that can be altered to different heights as per your comfort. This workout helps in enhancing stability and balance. How should you do it? Hold a dumbbell in each hand by your sides as you stand in front of a box or step.With your left foot, rise up, and straighten that leg by pushing into the heel.Bring your right foot up to the box, and meet it with your left foot.Gently step back down with your right foot while keeping your left foot firmly planted on the box.When you have completed 2-5 reps on one side, switch to the other side. 2 Goblet Sumo Squat Squats are an integral part of lower body exercises. Adding weight while doing this exercise makes it more challenging. How should you do it? Stand with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart and toes pointed slightly outward while holding a weight, such as a dumbbell or kettlebell, in front of your chest.When you flex your knees to lower into a squat, keep your chest up; engage your core, and drive your hips back.To get back to the starting position, pause, and push through both feet. 3 Dumbbell Lunge The basic lunge targets the hips, glutes, hamstrings, calves, and core, making it an all-round lower body exercise. Adding dumbbells increases the stability challenge of this workout. How should you do it? Holding a dumbbell in each hand, stand with your feet hip-width apart. With your hands facing your thighs, allow your arms to drop by your side.With the right leg, take a large stride forward, and bend at the knee till the front thigh is roughly parallel to the floor. To make room for the right leg, the left leg should also bend, and the left heel should rise off the ground.Bring the right leg back to the starting position by pushing off with the right heel, contracting the core, hamstrings, and glutes on the right side.Before switching to the left side, perform the routine on the same leg multiple times. Alternatively, you can swap sides after each rep. 4 Deadlift Typically, a barbell is used to complete this excellent lower body exercise. Dumbbells can be used if you don't have access to a barbell. How should you do it? Keep your knees bent as you lean forward from the hips.Take an overhand hold on the bar. The distance between the hands should be roughly shoulder width.As you stand fully upright, tighten your hips, glutes, and core, and lift the bar with a tall posture.Next, perform the opposite motion to lower the bar by bending the knees and pulling the hips back. Maintain a sturdy torso and a straight back.Repeat the process, and lift up once the bar contacts the ground. 5 Hip Thruster Hip thrusters are a preferred lower body exercise to train the glutes. How should you do it? Place the weight bar across the hips, with your upper back on the bench's central edge.Till the hips are parallel to the shoulders and knees, squeeze your glutes, and lift the bar straight up. Focus on your body fully while maintaining a small chin tuck and a firm core.Reduce the bar gradually till the hips are only a few inches off the ground.Lift again while clenching your glutes. 6 Good Morning The good morning workout works out the lower back while also working the hamstrings and core, making it one of the most effective lower body exercises. How to do it? Rest a barbell on the trapezius muscle of your shoulder. Make sure the weight plates are collared, if you add weight to the bar.Moving the torso forward and the hips back, slightly flex your knees.Keep your back straight and core tight.Return to the starting position after your torso is parallel with the ground. Takeaway Lower body exercises are important for most athletes to maintain a balance in their overall body strength. As there are numerous large muscle groups with high loading capacity in the lower body, training this part of the body is challenging. However, working out your lower body is required to support upper body movements. Poll : Have you tried some of these lower body workout? Yess!! No 3 votes Edited by Bhargav × Feedback Thank You! Be the first one to comment Follow Us Share Show More Comments GIF Comment in moderation 0 0 Reply x Edit Delete Delete the comment? No thanks Delete GIF Cancel Update GIF Cancel Reply ❮ ❯ GIF Comment in moderation 0 0 Reply x Edit Delete Delete the comment? 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