Maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle is one of the biggest concerns of our society today. With the arrival of the pandemic in 2020, millions of people have been deprived of being able to go to the gym to stay in shape and be able to do a training routine according to their needs. However, this time has also left us with a great lesson: exercising at home is possible. With very few elements, we are able to do sports from anywhere.
One of the simplest but at the same time most effective accessories to be able to exercise our legs from home is, precisely, the elastic band. In addition to being very cheap, they are easy to find and the results are very noticeable. That is why, in this new article, we are going to give you a series of 9 exercises with elastic bands for legs to get them firm and toned. If you are wondering how to strengthen legs with elastic bands or what exercises can be done with elastic bands, keep reading!
Table Of Content
1. Hamstring Curls
2. leg curls
3. Seated Leg Extensions
4. hip extensions
5. hip abductors
6. lateral hip abduction
7. squats
8. lunges
9. Dead weight
Hamstring Curls
This is one of the exercises with elastic bands for legs and buttocks. Its movement is very simple and we only need the elastic band and a heavy object or area where we can hook:
- With a mat facing upside down with the arms in the shape of a cup, we must place the band between the object or the hook and our ankles
- We just have to do repetitions in which we stretch our legs and force ourselves to bring our feet to the buttocks
leg curls
This curl follows the same logic as the previous one but, in this case, we will also generate force in the calf muscles. For this leg exercise with rubber bands at home we only have to:
- Find a place where we can sit
- Place the elastic band between the object or hook and the ankles
- With feet slightly off the ground, move from straight legs to a 90-degree angle
Seated Leg Extensions
This is one of the quadriceps exercises with elastic bands moving with the help of bands and a chair. Reversing the movement order we saw in curls, for seated leg extensions:
- We will place our band between one of the back legs of the chair and one of our ankles
- We will pull to stretch the leg, generating the force
- When finished, we will repeat the operation with the other foot
hip extensions
Another of the preferred extension exercises for the legs are the hip extensions that will work, above all, the upper part of the quadriceps and the glutes. This is one of the exercises with an elastic band to strengthen legs:
- We will have to lie down on our back with our arms outstretched and grasping the elastic band
- The other side, we must hold it with the soles of our feet, first one and then the other, making movements of raising and lowering the leg to exert force
hip abductors
When it comes to training with elastic bands for legs, we must not forget about the abductors, both the internal and external parts. In this particular exercise we will work the external part of the abductors with the help of our elastic band:
- We will place the elastic band attached to a hook or heavy object and we will put it around the ankle that is furthest away. For example, if you attach the band to a hook on the wall, you should place it on the ankle farthest from the wall
- The movement is very simple, from the central linear of our body, we take the leg out, noticing the pressure on the external abductors and performing several repetitions
lateral hip abduction
In this case, we will reverse the order of the legs to work the inner part of the abductors. This is one of the exercises with elastic bands to tone legs:
- With the band placed the same as in the previous exercise, this time we put it around the ankle that is closest, for example, to the wall
- We perform the same movement, noticing the pressure when trying to return to the central axis
Squats
The classic and dreaded squats. However, the realization supposes a very complete exercise of legs and buttocks. This is one of the exercises with closed elastic bands. Next, we explain how we should perform one of the gluteal exercises with rubber bands at home:
- We must stand with our feet open at the height of our hips
- Place your hands together and, with the elastic band around your thighs, lower yourself as if you were going to sit down. We must be careful that our knees do not protrude from the line of our feet
lunges
This exercise is very intense but has the ability to work practically all of our legs:
- We will have to place the elastic band around our thighs and start walking making long strides
- The strides should leave the knee of the leg that is left behind practically touching the ground and the one in front at an angle of 90 degrees
Dead weight
This last exercise doesn’t require as much intensity as squats but can be just as effective. It is about improving the so-called conventional “dead weight”, helping us with our elastic band:
- While standing, we will place the elastic band under the sole of our feet
- Grasping it with both hands, we will raise the trunk making force with the legs, the buttocks and the lower part of the lumbar