If you're a runner and you want to increase your speed, build your endurance, and have the ability to tackle hills with a breeze, you need to have strong quads. Strengthening your thighs can also prevent injuries such as runner's knee. This common injury, which often happens to new runners, is tied to a combination of weak quads and tight hamstrings and calves. Wall squats (also called wall sits) are the perfect exercise to strengthen your upper legs.
To find out how to do this essential move for runners, read more.
- Stand with your back against a wall, placing your feet about two feet out in front of you. Feet should be hip-distance apart.
- Bending your knees, slide your back down the wall until your knees are at 90 degree angles. Your knee joints should be over your ankle joints, so you may need to inch your feet further from the wall to create proper alignment. Your thighs should remain parallel.
- Hold for 30 to 60 seconds, and then stand up. Repeat for a total of three reps.
- To make this move more challenging, alternate between lifting your left heel for a few seconds and then your right. This helps to target your calves.
Emporio Armani
Does being against a wall target your quads in some other way than just usual squats? I would think that by leaning, your taking some of the work off from your quads and not getting the full benefit?
1Maybe it's just to maintain proper posture? I know (when I could afford one) my trainer used to always tsk me for leaning forward too much.
2syako, try them and you will see. They can be intense, because you are really isolating the quads by using them to press your back to the wall and hold yourself up.
3I love wall sits...I have one of those toothbrushes that runs on a 2-minute timer, so I like to do a wall sit while I am brushing. I hold the position until the toothbrush buzzes that it's been 2 minutes. By the end my legs are really burning!
4That makes sense. Thanks guys. I will definitely try these.
5These are killers! Great workout for the quads ... you definitely 'feel the burn.'
6carbizkate - that's a great idea!
7Wall sits are one of my favorite ways to end a good leg workout. I also use a plate weight that I put on top of my legs for added difficulty (I worked up to that though, it is diffucult without weight too). It is a great exercise to do until failure since it is isometric. My legs really shake at the end!
8I will have to try this. I've been working my legs lately doing squats and lunges at home. The weird thing is that my lower back hurts after. I'm assuming that my posture might be off. Does anyone have any suggestions to what I might be doing wrong. Maybe doing the wall sits will give my back more support.
9Thanks! I am gonna try this at home tonight. I can already feel the pain. LOL
10Ugh... I remember doing these for what seemed like hours during basketball practice back in high school. I like doing them, because yes, you can feel the burn, but these were like a huge punishment (esp. when coach would make us hold a ball up above our heads and against the wall at the same time!).
11yea these are great....they hurt so good
12I remember this "wall squat" as a punishment for boys when I was still in military training. Our drill officer would order a cadet to squat for several minutes for messing up in the drills and marches. Sometimes, we are made to hold out our arms forward holding a rifle while in the squat position, to increase the difficulty of the punishment. A cadets legs would often end up shaking while being punished. This sure hurts...
13I am a freshmen in high school and I play football. Right now i'm squating about 315 on back squats. When im at home though...i dont exactly have a lot of weights at home or anything like the the weight room at my school has. So when it comes to doing strength exersises at home i usualy turn to my perfect push up set and wall squats. I find that doing these for about 5 minutes can really kill my quads; so much so that for about the last 30 seconds im really shaking and when im done its hard to stand back up.
Basically im saying that i reccomend this activity majorly. It may not turn you into an professional body builder, but it does give you a great quad workout for free.
If you do have access to a gym and you do these while your there, i would suggest that you do for 30 seconds with as much weight (via plates) on your lap as possible. I know i can do about wall squats with 100lbs of resistance for about 30 seconds. If you dont use resistance i would suggest you go for as long as you can and until faliure. Since your not using any weight you dont have to worry as much about injury as you do with weights so go till faliure.
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