LEGS
Your legs contain some of the largest muscles in your body. For the
purpose of weightlifting, most experts divide the legs into four separate
muscle groups: quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, and anterior tibialis. The
quadriceps and hamstrings act at the knee joint, and the calves and anterior
tibialis act at the ankle joint.
Quadriceps:
The large group of muscles on the front of the upper leg, often referred
to as the thighs. Your quadriceps are so named because they are a group
of four (quad = four) different muscles: the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis,
vastus medialis, and vastus intermedialis. The quadriceps run along the
front of the thigh, starting at the hip joint and ending at the knee joint.
The quadriceps' primary function is to flex the hip and extend the knee,
very important in walking, running, jumping, climbing, and pedaling.
| Muscles stretched: |
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Quadriceps |
| Instructions: |
- Lie face down on a mat.
- Lift your right leg up towards your buttocks.
- Reach around with your right hand and grasp your foot. -Slowly pull
downwards, stretching your quadriceps to the furthest comfortable position.
- Hold this position for at least 15-30 seconds.
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