Three Great Thigh Strengthening Exercises for Athletes

Thigh strength is very important for an athlete, because it can help him or her gain flexibility and strength in the hips, legs, and abdomen. Thigh muscles are also important because they can help prevent the leg from moving too far one direction or another, which can help prevent injuries. There are a lot of exercises that an athlete should be doing to improve thigh strength, especially if he or she is involved in contact sports.

Here are three of the best thigh exercises that an athlete can do, to improve his or her overall thigh strength.

Frog Stretch

A frog stretch is a great exercise for an athlete looking to increase thigh strength, since it works a lot of the muscles inside the thigh, and in the groin area. For this exercise, you should lie on the ground with your arms down to your sides, keep the palms facing upward, and allow for your heels to touch each other. The heels should then be extended upward to the groin area, while keeping the knees in a relaxed position, and hold this pose for 10 seconds. Move back to starting position, then repeat the frog stretch 10 times, making sure to hold the position each repetition.

Lunge

A lunge is a simple exercise that an athlete can do to strengthen the thigh muscles, and it can be done with or without a medicine ball. For a lunge, you should stand with your feet close together, step forward with the right foot, and lunge down so that the left knee softly touches the ground. Let out a deep breath as you move back to starting position, and then repeat the exercise with the opposite foot, so that your right knee touches the ground. You should then repeat the exercise 10 times for each foot or 20 repetitions, making sure to let out a breath as you move to starting position, and make sure you do not lunge to the ground too quickly.

Plyometric Squat

The plyometric squat is also a great exercise that an athlete can do, if he or she wants to strengthen the thigh muscles. For this exercise, you should stand with your feet shoulder length apart, and squat down so that the knees are bent to a 90 degree angle. You then want to jump upward softly, making sure to land in the squatting position, using the leg muscles to increase the height of the jump. You do not want to jump too slowly, since this will not benefit the thigh muscles, but you also do not want to jump too quickly, which might cause injury. During this exercise, you want to make sure that you keep your body weight behind you, not in front of you, which might cause you to fall flat on your face. You should do 10 repetitions of this exercise, making sure to go back to starting squat position after each gentle landing.