Exercises We Love To Hate: Band Supported Leg Lowering

Band-Supported Leg Lowering is probably in the top-three most hated exercises by all of my clients. These Sneaky McSneakersons look easy when in fact, they are quite brutal... if done correctly.

Let me repeat that. These are brutal. If.  Done.  Correctly.

So what is so great about Band Supported Leg Lowering?  I am so glad you asked!  Band Supported Leg Lowering has a long list of benefits including:

1. Core strength
2. Hip separation (flexing one hip while extending the other)
3. Lengthening the hip flexors
4. Lengthening the hamstrings
5. Correcting asymmetries and imbalances between your right and left sides

There are many variations of Band Supported Leg Lowering and you will see them in the video below.

Just make sure that you start with the easiest variation and work your way up to the more difficult variations.  A couple of key things to remember, no matter which variation you choose:

1. Roll your pelvis under. Think about rolling your pelvis under and pulling it towards your ribcage.  This should put your lower back in contact with the ground.  Use your core to press your lower back into the ground with as much pressure as possible.
2. Exhale hard. Before you start the exercise, exhale hard and drive your ribcage down towards your pelvis.  It should almost feel llike you are doing a crunch.
3. Slowly lower your leg. It should take you about 2 seconds to lower your leg and about 1-2 seconds to bring it back up.  Don't rush this.  Going too fast will allow you to use momentum and make the exercise less effective.
4. Maintain pressure into the ground. As soon as you start to lose the pressure from your lower back into the ground, stop and reverse the motion.  You might not be able to go very far at first, and that's OK.

Depending on your ability level, start with 5–8 repetitions of this exercise per leg.  You can gradually progress to up to 10 repetitions. Once you can easily complete 10 repetitions on each side, progress to a more difficult variation of the exercise.

These are fantastic to throw into your dynamic warm-up, or to use as a supplemental exercise between sets of squat and deadlift to reinforce a strong core.