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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.

Core muscles are the abs, diaphragm, and pelvic floor muscles and it’s needless to say that these muscles are extremely important. In this article, we will figure out how to correctly train your core as well as discuss the benefits of these muscles for the back and joints. What Core Muscles Are? The muscles of the core are divided into two groups: central and peripheral. The central muscles of the cortex resemble a sac, in which the abdominal cavity and internal organs are located. These muscles are divided into several parts: Front - rectus abdominis or abs and other muscles Lateral parts - oblique muscles of the abdomen and the muscles around it Back - the muscle that straightens the spine and the muscles around it Upper wall - diaphragm Lower wall - pelvic floor muscles At the same time, the peripheral muscle group includes the latissimus dorsi muscle, the pectoralis muscle, the trapezius, the muscles of the shoulder girdle, and buttocks. As you can see, the core includes many muscle groups, which is why you cannot strengthen it by simply doing crunches. Exercises for Developing Core Muscles As we have already mentioned above, in order to train your core, you have to select the exercises that involve many different muscle groups, so let us take a brief look at these workouts together: High plank Hollowman Crunches Superman Leg lifts from lying position Bridge V-sit V-ups Plank knee crosses Plank shoulder taps Elbow plank twists There is a huge variety of exercises for strengthening your core so do not underestimate them and try them next time you work out. Final Thoughts Core is an extremely important group of muscles that influence your posture, balance, as well as the ability to do other exercises. So if you want to have a strong and healthy body, you have to start with strengthening your core.

The quadriceps is a large and strong muscle that plays the role of the main extensor of the knee joint. Since the knee joint carries the bulk of body weight, the quadriceps is the main muscle of the lower part of the thigh. In fact, if this muscle was weak, people simply would not be able to keep an upright posture. The quadriceps muscle consists of the following parts: straight, internal, external, and middle. Despite this, the load during a variety of exercises falls entirely on this muscle. Workouts for Quads Of course, it is very important to strengthen your quadriceps, so let us take a brief look at some of the best exercises for these muscles. Barbell and dumbbell lungesLunges can be done in different ways - with a barbell, dumbbells, walking around the hall, or from a standing position. Consider options in which the athlete stands in one place, using either a barbell or dumbbells. It is similar to the position when squatting with a barbell on the back. Step forward with your right foot. The lunge should be such that the thigh of the working leg at the lowest point is parallel to the floor. At the same time, the knee of the left leg almost touches the floor and also forms a right angle. Return to the previous position. Swap legs - lunge with your left leg forward. Leg pressThe leg press eliminates the work of the back and buttocks as much as possible. At the same time, the simulator makes it possible to work with a much higher weight than in squats. In order for the load to fall on the quadriceps, you need to press when setting your feet shoulder-width apart. The execution technique is the following: the back and head are tightly pressed against the back of the simulator, the legs are almost completely straightened and rest against the frame, the hands firmly hold the handles. Bend your knees to form a right angle between your hips and lower legs. Return the legs to the previous position. One leg squatsCan't go to the gym? Squat on one leg. This is a great exercise for the quadriceps, with which you can load your legs without using additional weights. Start in a standing position, slightly extend one leg forward. Squat down, extending the leg forward and straightening it. Return to the previous position. Do at least 10 repetitions for each leg. Kick SquatStand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your toes slightly turned to the sides. Place your hands on your belt or hold them near your chest. The emphasis should be on the middle of the foot. Sit down in a horizontal position of your hips, do not forget to keep your back straight. Stand up and shift your weight to one side. Raise your knee to a horizontal position and kick. The kick should go in one motion. Fitball squatsPlace your feet slightly wider than your shoulders, turn your toes to the sides at 45 degrees. Take the fitball, keep tension and natural deflection in your lower back, your shoulders should be straight as well as your neck. Take a fitball and raise your arms to shoulder level. Along with inhaling, start to bend your knees to the sides, making sure they do not protrude over your toes. At the same time, your buttocks should go down first. The center of gravity lies on your heels. While squatting down, slightly get your back forward, with outstretched arms and raise the fitball above your head. Do 30-50 repetitions. Final Thoughts Everyone dreams of beautiful legs and, luckily, getting gorgeous quads is not that difficult at all if you know what you are doing. So why don’t you give these exercises a try?

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.

The path to beautiful abs should not start with the question 'How to strengthen abdominal muscles?' The thing is that the visual image of a flat stomach depends on the percentage of body fat. This means that the way your abs will look not only depends on the number of crunches you do but on the quantity and quality of your food. So today we are going to talk about the tips for getting gorgeous abs. Abs vs Food Nutrition is extremely important for getting abs. In fact, your coach will probably give individual nutrition recommendations after testing, but there is one universal rule that everyone should follow - eat healthy food. In particular, you should avoid eating bakery, sugar-containing foods, and salty snacks. On the contrary, you have to eat more vegetables, fruits, herbs, nuts and seeds, as well as meat or other high-protein foods. Getting Started Before starting a workout, it is important to obtain data on your body condition. This means that the best place to start is fitness testing. Your trainer will ask you some questions in order to learn about your lifestyle, test your ability to move, and measure you. Then the coach will recommend the activities that will be safe and effective for you. Popular Abs Workouts It is believed that the best ab exercises are the training of the rectus abdominis muscles, which perform the function of flexing the body and keeping it upright. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. You also want to work on the deep muscles, which are part of your core and include the muscles of the abdomen, back, thighs, and buttocks. Their function is to help the body maintain posture and balance in an upright position. As a matter of fact, if your core is not strong enough, you will most likely experience discomfort while doing other exercises. Strengthening the core should be your top priority and you can do that with the help of TRX loops, plank and its variations, as well other bodyweight exercises. Exercises for Strengthening Core and Abs As we have mentioned above, to have gorgeous abs, you have to make sure you not only work on your abdominal muscles but on your entire core. So here are some exercises for improving all these muscles: Diagonal twists Plank Pushups Plank push-ups Crunches Leg lifts from lying position Wrapping Up As you can see, getting gorgeous abs is totally possible if you know how to work on them. Healthy nutrition and regular exercises will help you sculpt the body of your dreams, so do not hesitate and start going toward your dream now.