maratoolLeg Lift
How to do the leg lift
- While standing up straight with both feet next to each other at around shoulder width, grab a sturdy surface such as the sides of a squat rack or the top of a chair to brace yourself and keep balance.
- With or without an ankle weight, lift one leg behind you as if performing a leg curl but standing up while keeping the other leg straight. Breathe out as you perform this movement.
- Slowly bring the raised leg back to the floor as you breathe in.
- Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
- Repeat the movement with the opposite leg.
Muscles worked
The prime mover is the gluteus maximus, which is the strongest hip extensor you have and drives the pelvis forward at the top of the movement.
Even with a single joint doing the moving, the muscle is not working alone — the hamstrings assist hip extension and slow the knee down.
Every exercise for:GlutesHamstrings
How this movement works
One joint moves, and it moves the load away from the body. With nothing recruited to assist, the target muscle reaches its own limit rather than the limit of the weakest link in a chain — which makes this useful for adding volume after the heavy compound work, not for opening a session.
It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.
What you need
No equipment at all. The resistance is your own bodyweight, so you progress by changing leverage, range or tempo rather than by adding plates — and you can do it anywhere.
Every exercise using:Body only
These train the glutes too, using equipment this one does not:
- One Legged Cable Kickbackcable
- Physioball Hip Bridgeexercise ball
- Piriformis-SMRfoam roll
- Barbell Glute Bridgebarbell
- Hip Extension with Bandsband
Difficulty
Listed at beginner level: the pattern is simple enough to pick up without coaching, and a position that goes wrong mid-set is obvious enough to correct on the next repetition.
Of the 24 glutes exercises in this database, 13 are listed at beginner level.
Photos: free-exercise-db — public domain (Unlicense) Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.