Anyone know what these excercises are??

[SarahC]

Maybe one of our PTs will be able to help me out here. I have some strange and unusual excercises mentioned in my program and am not sure what they are exactly. They are:
- Stiff leg deadlifts (hamstring excercise)
- Sissy squats
- Donkey calf raises

I think I know most stuff, but these have got me scratching my head

[zeedeveelgirl]

Stiff legged deadlifts -
First of all, do you know normal deadlifts??? If you've ever done a Body Pump class, stiff legged deadlifts are the ones they do in there!

Feet shoulder width apart, knees very slightly bent (pretty much straight but not locked out), hands hold the bar in an overhand grip resting just outside the thighs.
The movement is to take it from where the hands hang to the knees and back up, making sure your shoulders are back and your eyes are staring about a metre in front.

Sissy Squats -
Erm....
You got me on that one

Donkey Calf Raises -
I'm assuming these are just like regular calf raises?! You probably already know this one but...

You can use a step or the edge of a stair or something, just put your foot on it enough that you won't slip off and raise up onto your toes and then drop your heels as far down as you can.

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/exe ... ercise=123

Hope it helps!

[KimE]

Sarah, here is a great site which has hundreds of exercises on it.

I found all three of the ones mentioned.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm

From this page click on the body part ie. calves, quads (for squats) etc. then scroll down until you find the exercise. The sissy squats was the hardest to find but when you get to the bottom of the page there is a button that reads 'View the Next 10 Exercises'. Click through there a few times. I have also posted the pages below with each exercise but not sure if it will take you right there.

Oh and if you need a hand with the donkey calf raises for a 'passenger' I'll zip down to Werribee.

DONKEY CALF RAISES
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercis ... cle=Calves

WEIGHTED SISSY SQUAT
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercis ... order=Name

STIFF-LEGGED DEADLIFT
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercis ... Lower+Back

[SarahC]

Thanks Emma and Kim! What great websites!! Those donkey calf raises certainly look interesting

Funny about the deadlifts. I thought they were more of a back excercise... my back aches just looking at the pictures Not sure how the hamstrings come into it. I reckon your back would be sore way before you even started to feel the hamstrings

[zeedeveelgirl]

......
Those are some WEIRD exercises

The stiff legged deadlifts, cool, but the sissy squat and donkey calf raises look just plain silly and dangerous!!!!

BTW Sarah, make sure you really poke your butt out while doing the deadlifts, that makes sure you feel it more in your hammies

Be careful!! Let me know how it goes, I'm curious!!

PS Cheers for the good site, Kim

[bluebox451]

Hey Sarah! Yes, the deadlifts are also classed as a (lower) back exercise as they also work the Erector Spinae (I think that's how you spell it) which helps straighten your back after being bent over. These really helped me strengthen my lower back after having problems for ages. Be very careful though, because if they're not done properly they can be dangerous. They are however, a hamstring exercise and if you're not feeling it there take Em's advice mentioned above. Also, if you're very flexible you could probably go down a bit lower until you feel it. I always hold mine for a couple seconds at the bottom for the full effect.
Liz

[SarahC]

I had a go of the deadlifts the other day. I just used really light dumbells (5kgs ) as I was a bit worried about my back... it's been bit achy lately. It took a while to get it so that I could feel my hamstrings but I got there eventually. Funny though it felt like I was hardly doing anything, but the next day my hamstrings did feel a little tight Still like the prone hamstring curls on the machine though (well, "like" is probably not the best choice of words, but you know what I mean!!)

[Trusylver]

the stiff leg dead lifts also work the gluteus maximus.

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Glu ... dlift.html

I usually do straight leg deadlifts on my squat day at the gym to balance out the heavy work i do on my quads.

[kate_turner2000]

there are a couple of hi 5 songs that about the gluteous maximus. i always walk around the house singing them haha