Expert advocates a single action for alleviating tightness in hip, hamstring, and lower back areas
In a bid to enhance lower-body mobility, balance, and strengthen key joints and muscles, kicking is emerging as an unexpected yet effective exercise. According to mobility expert Mike Chang, kicking can help loosen up the hips, hamstrings, and lower back.
To get started, an individual changed into yoga pants to allow for freer leg movement. They noticed a soft clicking in the knees and ankles initially, but the movement became more fluid as the body loosened up. For beginners, Chang suggests doing knee raises, raising knees forward, to the side, in a half circle, and kicking low to start off.
One of the key exercises is the Standing Kickback. Stand with feet hip-width apart, hold onto a stable surface for balance, shift weight to one leg with a slightly bent knee, and extend the other leg straight behind you, squeezing your glutes at the top. This challenges balance and strengthens the hips, glutes, and stabilizing muscles around the knees and ankles.
Another exercise is the Side-Lying Leg Kick. Lying on your side with legs extended, lift the top leg slightly and kick it forward and then sweep it backward in a controlled motion. This works hip mobility and strengthens stabilizers around the hips and core.
Flutter Kicks, lying on your back in a near-vertical position, are also beneficial. Do fast straight-leg flutter kicks or flick kicks with slightly bent knees, focusing on ankle flexibility and pulsatile movement. These improve ankle plantar flexion, important for dynamic kicking motions, and strengthen lower abs and hip flexors.
Incorporating related stretches for calves, hamstrings, and quadriceps is also essential to maintain and improve flexibility, which complements kicking exercises for mobility.
Mike Chang advises starting with a little bit of kicking each day to recondition the body's ability to perform this exercise. In his video, he demonstrated a high kick, which may take a lot of practice to achieve. However, with consistent practice and gradual progression in intensity, kicking can significantly improve ankle flexibility, mobility around hips, knees, and ankles, balance, and strengthen core, ankle, knees, and feet muscles.
- To enhance overall fitness and health-and-wellness, one might consider incorporating kicking workouts as an alternative exercise, since they help increase lower-body mobility, balance, and strengthen key joints and muscles.
- Besides the Standing Kickback and Side-Lying Leg Kick, Flutter Kicks are another form of kicking exercises that improve ankle flexibility and lower abs and hip flexors, being beneficial for dynamic kicking motions.
- Yoga pants are recommended for better flexibility during the kick workouts, as they allow for freer leg movement and contribute to getting started with the exercises with ease.
- In the realm of sports and fitness-and-exercise, incorporating stretches for calves, hamstrings, and quadriceps is essential to maintain and improve flexibility, especially when partaking in kicking workouts, as it complements enhancing mobility around hips, knees, and ankles.
