One Half Locust

Muscles worked

The muscles under tension are the quadriceps across the front of the thigh, which straighten the knee and, just as importantly, control it on the way back down.

A stretch loads them at the far end of the range they normally work in, so the position you hold is itself the resistance.

Nothing travels, but holding the position is not the target muscle’s job alone: the abdominals brace the trunk so force can pass between the hips and the shoulders; the biceps add force at the elbow; the chest adds pushing force at the shoulder.

Every exercise for:QuadricepsAbdominalsBicepsChest

How this movement works

Nothing travels once you are in position. The muscle holds a length under tension instead of working through a range, so effort is measured in seconds rather than repetitions — and the honest progression is more time in a good position, not a deeper one forced early.

It is filed under stretching, so the target is range of motion rather than force — a position you can settle into and breathe in, held long enough for the tissue to give.

What you need

These train the quadriceps too, using equipment this one does not:

• One Leg Squat with Barbellbarbell
• One-Arm Overhead Kettlebell Squatskettlebell
• Pile Squat with Dumbbelldumbbell
• Quadriceps-SMRfoam roll
• Rear Leg Raisesbody only

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 173 quadriceps exercises in this database, 70 are listed at beginner level.