Strong, stable, sufficiently stretched quads are the secret ingredient to everything from straighter knees to fully extended arabesques. But what are the most effective ways to get them? Dance Spirit turned to Michael Gernold, a personal trainer with Progressive Personal Training in NYC, for a crash course on lengthening and strengthening your quads.
Photos by Erin Baiano. Modeled by Shannon Mcavoy.
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1. Start standing with your legs shoulder-width apart.
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2. Keeping your right leg straight, activated, and secure, bend your left knee and bring your left foot as close as possible to your buttocks, keeping the toes pointed. Make sure to keep your standing knee as close as possible to the working knee.
Standing Active Quad Stretch
3. Return your left leg to the starting position. Repeat 15 times, then switch legs.
Standing Active Hamstring Stretch
1. Start standing with your legs shoulder-width apart.
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2. Keeping your core fully engaged, lift your left leg up towards your chest, keeping the knee bent.
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3. Slowly straighten your left knee in front of you, holding it parallel with your foot flexed.
Standing Active Hamstring Stretch
4. Keeping your left leg straight, lower it back to the starting position. Repeat 15 times, then switch legs
Double Lunges
1. Start by stepping with your left leg into a large forward lunge, keeping your right leg behind you, your right knee bent and just above the floor, and your core fully engaged.
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2. Pushing back and through with your right leg, step your left leg behind you and relax into a lunge with your right leg in front.
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3. Without slowing down, push up on your right leg and bring your left leg to the front, stepping into a lunge. Keeping the momentum, repeat this 10 times.
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4. Begin the exercise again, starting Step 1 with your right leg instead.
Wall Sits with a Twist
1. Start standing with your back against a stable, sturdy wall, with your legs shoulder-width apart and your toes pointed forward.
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2. Slowly squat until your thighs are parallel to the floor and your knees are just over the middle of your feet.
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3. Raise your arms straight overhead.
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4. Slowly lower your left arm in front of you until it's parallel to your thighs. Hold it for 3 seconds, bring it back up.
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5. Switch arms. Do this for 1 minute while holding the wall sit.
A version of this story appeared in the June/July 2018 issue of Dance Spirit with the title "Quad Goals."