Glute Kicks

Glute Kicks Exercise in the Pool

​The glute kicks is an excellent exercise for building leg muscles while also improving your aerobic fitness. This workout involves bending your knees back, in an alternate jumping motion. It is similar to jogging on spot, except your legs are bending backwards. This will also activate muscles that are used less when jogging, or when doing regular daily activities. 

How to perform

​Starting Position:
​Stand up straight in the shallow water, with your legs together, and your arms at your sides. Alternatively, you can place your hands on your hips. Keep your head up, and your back straight. Water level should be at least waist-high. 

Action:
​Bend your knees backwards in an alternate jumping motion, bringing your feet up toward your buttocks. Simultaneously alternate straight arms up and down, with opposite leg-arm movements. You can start at a slow pace, and gradually increase the speed. Your leg-arm movements should be fast enough to keep up with your jumping. Repeat until you feel that your leg muscles are tired, or until your breathing becomes difficult. 

Breathing
​Because this is an aerobic workout, you should focus on your breathing. Your breathing should be continuous, steady and not too deep. Depending on your speed, you may feel the need to breathe more or less often. The speed demonstrated in the above animation is ideal if you want a long, continuous workout with comfortable breathing. Jump twice as you inhale and twice as you exhale. ​

Muscles Used:

​This exercise specifically targets the muscles in the back of the thigh, known as the hamstrings. Hamstrings are responsible for flexing the knee and are also important in jumping. The arm movement targets your back and shoulder muscles. ​

Benefits

This exercise will increase the flexibility in your knee and strengthen your back leg muscles. It is also a great cardio workout to use alone, or in combination with other exercises. Because it is done in shallow water, you don't need any equipment. It is beginner friendly and almost anyone can benefit from it. The arm motion provides extra benefit for your upper body muscles. 

​​VARIATIONS

​The above animation is a basic example of the exercise. You can increase or decrease the number of times you jump or change the pace of your jumping. You can also do this exercise with your arms in the air, in a ‘rowing’ , or jogging motion. Or, if you want to focus on legs only you can place your hands on your waist. To make this exercise really challenging, bend your legs together, with higher jumps. ​

All Cardio Exercises