LOWER BODY STRENGTH EXPLAINED
The muscles of the lower body are the largest in the body. When we focus on strength training in the lower body, it can take a tremendous amount of effort and energy. This is ideal for fat loss (due to the amount of calories used during exercise), fitness, and changing the shape of your legs (due to the muscular adaptations from training). It is important to develop healthy movement patterns by practicing squats, stationary lunges, jumping, and calf raises. Ensure that your weight is equally distributed through both feet. Using a mirror for visual feedback can be very helpful to identify movement compensations or shifting weight towards one side.
Make a point to think about the muscles that you are using during each exercise. The connection from the mind to our muscle helps us stay engaged and lowers our risk of injury from distraction. This is especially helpful during jumping movements. If lower body exercise (especially jumping exercise) is new to you, you may notice feeling a bit of muscle soreness. In case you are wondering, lactic acid isn’t causing the soreness you are experiencing. The burning sensation that you feel during exercise is due to the pH that changes in the muscle as you use energy. The soreness you feel 48-72 hours after exercise is called delayed onset muscle soreness (known as DOMS).
DOMS is caused because of the small tears in your muscles that occur during exercise. These small tears are positive. We break down the existing muscle (like taking down a poorly built wall) and rebuild the muscle stronger (like rebuilding the wall including better and stronger material). This process is how we get stronger.
Feel proud of your effort! You are working hard and making such a big difference in your body.
