Any value in those old (hate-to-say-it) 'toning' exercises?

[teechur20]

I wasn't sure what else to call these types of exercises! I'm referring mainly to floor type leg exercises like donkey kicks, fire hydrants, leg lifts, etc. A few years ago I did Tae Bo quite a bit and at the end of one of the vidoes there was like a 15 minute floor routine of different butt/leg exercises and they were really hard--I definitely remember muscles on fire during those. I haven't done them for a long time now, and I guess I'm wondering if there is any place for those types of exercising in a workout routine? Opinions?

[terracotta]

The thing is.. the burn you feel when doing these exercises is just muscle fatigue, and won't actually result in muscle growth.

The taebo would be a good addition into your program though - on the cardio and abdominal side of things (if you aren't already doing it, and have a place to put it in)

[Megin]

I do these in my stretching... I think that helps 10 fold for my lifts as after a few 'leg lifts or donkey kick' (whatever someone wants to name them) its easier to stretch the muscles as they are warmed up


Then go to the gym and hit it heavy

:D

[darkangel]

I dunno... these are really just unweighted isolation exercises, right? I think they have some benefit, when used in addition to heavy, compound lifting, particularly if you add ankle weights.

I've mentioned this before, but I use Lotte Berk's High Round Assets workout - in addition to squats, SLDLs, etc. and I think it's really helped. Targets the muscles differently than heavy lifting does.

[Rachel_n_SD]

i like to do unweighted plyo-type exercises such as squat-jumps.

they actually use a different type of muscle fibers than traditional heavy weighted exercises.
you can use some of those types of exercises as the "icing on the cake" but i wouldnt rely too heavily on them.

also, i spent 6 years in the army doing all the fire-hydrants, jane fondas, etc etc you could ever want to do, and saw *0* results.

[Mango]

I dunno... these are really just unweighted isolation exercises, right? I think they have some benefit, when used in addition to heavy, compound lifting, particularly if you add ankle weights.

That I would agree with, but only because you're adding these "light" exercises after you've fatigued the larger muscles with multijoint exercises. I'd say go for it, provided you did them after working the larger muscle groups.

I like doing knee ups and hamstring curls on the bosu ball and the stability ball, respectively, after I have finished my harder leg exercises.