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Of course, everyone who is familiar with running knows the importance of strengthening the ligaments of the foot and ankles. Another thing is that sometimes it is hard to spend 5-10 minutes on training for ankle exercises: we dress, tie our laces - and run out into the street. That’s sad. After all, the good condition of the elastic ligaments reduces the risk of pain in the feet. And strong ankle muscles improve the power of the lower back and even the shoulders while running and just walking. Best Exercises for Strengthening Your Ankles Of course, there are plenty of good exercises that will help you work out your ankles, so without any further ado, let us have a look at those. Stretching towardsSit on the floor and straighten your legs in front of you. It is important to ensure that your thumb, little toe, and heel remain in the same direction as you pull the foot over. Only under this condition the muscles will be strengthened and stretched in a balanced way, which will prevent collapse on the outer or inner part of the foot while walking and running. When pulling the foot away from you, try to stretch your toes, as if you are making them longer and do not twist them under the foot. Repeat 15 times. RollingFrom a seated position with your feet in front of you, pull your feet as close to you as possible. Put your knees sideways, keeping your feet together. Keeping this position of the legs and resting with your hands on the floor, lean your body forward and raise your pelvis above the floor, trying to stay in position for a while. If you feel the potential in yourself, you can roll left and right, touching your feet with your palms. Ups and downs exerciseTraditionally, they are offered to be done on stairs, but slow doing on a flat surface will give an excellent result. Rise on your toes as high as possible, keep your heels in weight, and then bend your knees, pushing your heels forward. Place your heels on the floor, and only then straighten your legs. It is very important to make sure that your knees and ankles do not roll or fall. Dumbbell squatsSquats are good for developing your ankles and combined with dumbbells or a barbell (if you're already trained enough), this exercise becomes even more effective. Start with those dumbbells that you can lift 15 times without having to put them on the floor. For beginners, a weight of 2-3 kg is suitable. Bodybuilders need to lift more weight to build leg muscles. Perform squats as follows: stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart, arms with dumbbells at your sides and if you are doing an exercise with a barbell, hold it on your chest or behind your head. Sit down, bending your knees and lowering your buttocks to the floor. Keep your back straight and squat until your thighs are parallel to the floor. The knees should always remain directly over the feet; do not push your knees further than your toes. Push yourself back to the starting position. Do 2 sets of 10-15 squats. LungesKeep your torso straight and your shoulders back. Step forward and lower yourself until both your knees are at the 90-degree angle. Make sure that your knees do not protrude over your toes. Do two sets of 10 repetitions for each leg. Final Word Strengthening ankles is extremely important for both professional athletes and sports enthusiasts, so no matter if sport is your life or you work out just to keep in shape, you still need to work on your ankles.

The calf muscles are often neglected in the early training stages when people concentrate on working out the chest, arms, and back. As a result, exercises for building calves are postponed or performed extremely rarely, which leads to a lack of progress. The muscles of the lower legs, as well as the deep muscles of the back, practically do not rest during the day, as they have to bear the weight of the body, help maintain balance, and stabilize the joints when walking. This means that it is focused on a low level of development and the way of working with it should be different.Here are some exercises for calves. Calves 45Among all the exercises this one is aimed at developing the calf muscles, it is also one of the most difficult ones. It's all about changing the angle of the legs, which allows you to use not only the calves but also the soleus. To perform this exercise, you need Gakkenshmidt's Machine. Depending on the design, you will be facing it or not. Set a suitable operating weight. It is calculated as the arithmetic average between the working weights in the two previous exercises. Next, select the weights according to the loads. Then you need to lower the heels, trying to stretch the calf as much as possible. Perform a toe lift. Lock in the position of extreme tension for 1-2 seconds. Calf raises with dumbbellsThis exercise is designed for athletes of any level and is considered the main one for working out the calf muscles. Stand on a wooden block. You can perform a movement in Smith, getting a step platform under your feet, and put the barbell on your shoulders. Fix the body in a straight position. If additional weight is required, dumbbells or weights should be taken. Next, you need to lower your heels below the level of the bar, trying to stretch the ankle as much as possible. Rise on your toes with a powerful impulse movement. Stay in this position for 1-2 seconds and tighten the calves. Slowly lower and get back to the starting position. Seated calf raisesThis exercise is great for lazy training and will be a perfect option for beginners. Sit on the machine seat. Place the toes of the feet on the support step. Lower your heels to the floor as much as possible. Lower the lever with soft stops on your knees and lock. Leg pressLie on a leg press machine. This uncommonly effective device for working out the legs can be used for training the calf muscles. Look for the platform where the legs would be straight. Fix the speed. You only need to do two actions. Remove the platform from the stops and squeeze it out with your toes. Return the socks to their original position. It is important to know that the effect of posture on the development of the lower leg and calf muscles is much stronger than the effect of training. Flat feet, if not taken into account and not compensated, also interfere with bringing the shape of the lower leg. To improve your calves without exercising machines, you can simply choose the right shoes and adjust your gait. Wrapping Up Developed calves not only help you perform certain exercises better but also make your legs look simply gorgeous. Therefore, take another look at these exercises and make sure to at least give them a try while working out next time.

When working out, most people pay more attention to their legs and waist and pretty often they forget about their arms. In fact, if you do not train your arm muscles, then over time, they will become the number one problem area. Luckily, you can easily avoid that by doing some simple exercises that will help you tighten your muscles, eliminate laxity, and improve relief. In addition, some arm exercises involve the spine muscles and eventually improve your posture. At the same time, before embarking on a specific set of exercises, you need to tune in to a good result. As a matter of fact, it is pointless to wait for an instant effect but you should know that daily workouts will certainly make your arms look beautiful and fit. So let’s talk about arm strengthening exercises. Warming Up First of all, it is very important to warm up before you start doing any exercises, otherwise, you can get an injury. To prepare the muscles of the arms, you can do the following exercises: Rotate the hands for 2-3 minutes Do a simple scissors exercise Stretch your arms above your head a few times Warm up your hands by making fists for a couple of minutes Basic Arm Exercises The main set of exercises is performed with dumbbells. You want to start with taking dumbbells in your hands and raising your arms to the sides. While doing this exercise, you have to make sure that you raise your arms to the shoulder level as well as that you do it smoothly and slowly. Do at least 12 repetitions during each workout and you will see how your shoulder line transforms. Let’s move on to the second exercise. Take your dumbbells and repeatedly bend your arms at the elbows. Repeat this exercise at least 12 times per training session. The third exercise in this set is mainly for strengthening your triceps. This is the main exercise, which is aimed at strengthening the muscles of the most problematic area of your arms and it is performed as follows. Start in a standing position and slightly bend forward, take your dumbbells, bend your arms at the elbows, and pull them back a little bit. Slowly straighten your arms in this position. If the exercise is done correctly, you can feel the tension in your forearm muscles. The exercise is also repeated 12 times. sh-ups for Triceps The next exercise is push-ups. It will not only strengthen the muscles of your arms but also tighten the pectoral muscles. It is performed from a prone position. Bend your elbows 90 degrees, lower your body to a distance of about 15 inches from the floor and stay in this position for a few seconds, then lower yourself to the floor completely and again stay in this position for 3-5 seconds. Lifting is done in the same way. The exercise is repeated 16 times in two sets. If you can't do so many exercises at once, you can do more sets, increasing the number of exercises over time. Correct Stretching Once you are done with a strengthening workout, it’s time to stretch your muscles a little bit. Raise your right arm, bend it at the elbow and throw it behind the back. Lightly press on the elbow with your left hand and hold this position for 5 seconds. Repeat the same steps for the left hand. This simple exercise will help you relax your muscles after training as well as avoid or reduce muscle soreness. Final Thoughts Beautiful and strong arms is not a dream, in fact, it’s something you can achieve in a couple of months. So leave all your fears and doubts behind and start working out right now.

Every athlete gets injured sooner or later, especially runners, and most injuries are in the ankle joint, inner and outer parts of the foot, etc. What can be the reason? Too much training, weights, and the distance you actually run. It can be too difficult for feet because all our lives we walk in footwear, most people live a “lazy lifestyle”, which is why ankles and feet do not properly develop. So if one day you just start to run many kilometers the muscles of the foot will be overloaded - this leads to various injuries and inflammations. Exercises for Strengthening Feet Obviously, in order to be able to do any exercises safely and without any consequences for your health, you have to train your feet. So let us take a brief look at some of the exercises for these muscles. Warm-upsSit down, concentrating on your toes. Raise your thumb up. At the same time, press the remaining 4 fingers to the floor. Hold this position for 5 seconds. Now press your thumb and lift the other 4 fingers up. Hold for 5 seconds. Repeat 10 times for each leg. A knotTake a rope of medium thickness, about a meter long. Place the rope on the floor and sit on a chair in front of the rope. Pinch both ends of the rope with your toes. Try tying a knot. Do the exercise for 5 minutes. Attention: this is quite a difficult exercise. Feet writingPut a piece of paper on the floor. Sit in a chair and place one foot on a piece of paper. Grasp the handle with your thumb and forefinger. Try to write any word, for example, 'Mom'. Do the exercise for at least 3-5 minutes. Attention: this exercise is quite difficult! Do this exercise for 3-4 minutes. RollingSit in a chair. Keep your back straight. Place a tennis ball under your foot. Roll the ball back and forth. Don't forget your back. Do not relax and keep it even. Do this exercise for 2-3 minutes. Repeat with the opposite leg. TowelSit in a chair and place a towel under your leg. Grab the towel with your toes. The heels should be flat on the floor. Bend and unbend your fingers as you slowly pull the towel towards you. Change legs and repeat the exercise. Do 2 sets of 10 reps. You can do more If you want. Toes upYou can do this exercise anywhere, even in the office while you work at your desk. Sit with your feet flat on the floor. Raise your toes so that your foot arches. Slowly lower your toes while maintaining arch, so you can feel the tension in the arch of your foot. Hold this position for 5 seconds and then relax your feet. Do 5 reps for each leg. Wrapping Up Strong feet will enable you to safely do plenty of exercises, so do not underestimate feet workouts and do them at least a couple of times a week.

Triceps might seem a little bit important but if you train other muscles and skip triceps exercises, eventually your body will look odd. The thing is you have to gradually develop all the muscles in your body, which is why skipping triceps workouts in favor of biceps exercises is something you want to avoid. So let’s talk about triceps and how to grow it. Peculiarities of Training Triceps The triceps are the key muscles in the arms. They account for up to 70% of the mass of the upper limbs, while biceps do about 30%. Moreover, if the biceps is a flexor muscle, which means that it is necessary for lifting weight, the triceps is an extensor. On the one hand, it is easier to develop triceps than other arm muscles due to some anatomical peculiarities. At the same time, the triceps can be easily overloaded, which will have a negative impact on any other exercises that involve the arms, for example, pull-ups and bench press. In other words, when training triceps, it is necessary to separate basic and isolation exercises. For example, you want to work on the pectoral muscles first and do 2-3 targeting exercises for triceps with dumbbells at the end of your workout. How to Train Triceps? Despite the fact that some exercises involve a certain part of the triceps to a greater or lesser extent, in the end, the entire triceps works in harmony. Thus, when training the triceps, you have to pay attention to the magnitude of the arm's range of motion as well as avoid trying to engage a specific part of the muscle. In this case, the mobility of the shoulder joint is very important, in fact, it has an impact on how much the muscle is loaded during the exercise. How Often Should You Exercise? If you want to build gorgeous triceps, you have to train at least twice a week. The total number of sets in triceps exercises should consist of 4-6 workouts, in other words, 2 exercises in 2-3 sets or 3 exercises in 1-2 sets. The number of repetitions should be about 8-15 repetitions in each set. To increase the efficiency of triceps training, we recommend alternating the load. You might want to start with an easy week and do functional exercises with light weight and high repetitions. Then you can move on to a medium one, then to a hard one, followed by one week of rest. Workouts for Building Triceps Finally, let’s have a brief look at some useful exercises that will help you build gorgeous triceps. So here they come: Close-grip bench press Lying triceps extension Cable rope tricep pushdown Diamond push-ups One-arm overhead extension Bench dip Push-up 45-degree incline dumbbell chest press Final Thoughts The triceps is a very important muscle of our arms and, fortunately, it is relatively easy to build. Therefore, if you are dreaming of having gorgeous arms, make sure to start training your triceps muscles.