6 best mobility exercises to boost your legs

For regular exercisers, enhancing stamina and improving mobility are perhaps the most important. Mobility not only improves your pace but also helps improve your posture and enables you to exercise more efficiently.

Therefore, besides weight training and other strength training exercises, it's worth it to do mobility exercises to boost your overall performance, especially your legs. Incorporating mobility exercises to boost your legs may help lower the risk of foot, hip and knee injuries.

The good news is that there are several mobility exercises you can do either as a standalone workout regime or depending on your comfort level. On that note, here are a few great mobility exercises to boost your legs:

#1 Ankle mobility exercise

Mobility workouts prevent ankle injuries (Photo by Kindel Media via pexels)

Ankle mobility helps prevent falls and improves performance during exercises such as deadlifts and jumping jacks.

Here’s how you can do an ankle mobility exercise:

• Stand straight next to a wall.
• Place either of your hand on the wall for support.
• Now rock forward onto your toes and come to a tip-toe position.
• Lift your toes off the floor and rock back onto your heels.
• Switch legs and repeat 10 to 12 times.

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#2 Soleus mobilisation exercise

Soleus exercise improves calf muscles.(Photo by Pavel Danilyuk via pexels)

The soleus and gastrocnemius are the two major muscles that make up your calves. The soleus tends to get restricted at times and prevents you from bending your ankles, making it hard to squat or do lunges.

Here’s how you can perform the soleus mobilisation exercise:

• Stand in a staggered stance position with your front leg bent and back leg straight. You should feel pressure in your back calf.
• Now sit back and bend your back leg into your hips as your ankle stretches, and your knee comes in the front.
• Slightly shift forward so that your hips come to the centre.
• Straighten your back leg again and repeat the exercise for 1-2 minutes.
• Switch your legs.

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#3 Leg swings

Leg swings are a great mobility exercise to boost your leg muscles. It works on your thighs and also your calf muscles and ankles.

Here’s how you can do a leg swing exercise:

• Stand straight and parallel to a wall or anything strong that can support your weight.
• Balance yourself properly against it with one arm.
• Now start swinging your outside leg backwards and forward while increasing the speed as you swing.
• Do it for 30 to 40 seconds and switch legs.

Check out this video to understand better:

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#4 Lunge stretch

A woman performing a lunge stretch. (Photo by Sergio Pedemonte on Unsplash)

A lunge stretch increases your leg muscle mass and also strengthens your core and butt. Moreover, lunge stretch mobility exercise also improves your posture.

Here’s how you can do a lunge stretch:

• Stand straight. Your arms should be by your side.
• Now place your left foot forward and try to stand in a split stance.
• Lower your left knee and form a 90-degree angle with your right leg properly extended backwards.
• Stretch yourself and hold this position for 30 seconds.
• Repeat the same exercise on the other side.

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#4 Bulgarian split squat

A Bulgarian split squat is one of the most effective mobility exercises not only for your legs but also for your core and glutes.

Here’s how you can do a Bulgarian split squat:

• Stand straight. Your legs should be hip-width apart.
• Extend your right foot backwards and put it on an elevated surface.
• Now move your left leg forward and take a lunge position.
• Lower your left knee towards the floor with your back straight, and slowly get up.
• Do at least ten repetitions for three sets on both sides.

Check out this video of a bulgarian split squat exercise.

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#5 Knee pull

A knee pull is basically a stretch exercise, but it's also great for improving the mobility of your legs. It's an easy and effective mobility exercise that helps prevent leg injuries during workouts.

Here’s how you can perform a knee pull exercise:

• Stand straight with your legs hip-width apart.
• Lift your right leg slowly towards your chest.
• Hold this position for a few seconds by holding your knee with your hands.
• Stretch your legs.
• Go back to the starting position and repeat with the other leg.

Check out this video for reference.

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#6 Walking spiderman

Besides boosting your legs, walking spiderman mobility exercise also enhances your core muscles and works on your glutes, hamstrings and calves.

Here’s how you can do a walking spiderman:

• Take a plank position.
• Start crawling forward with your left hand and bend your right knee forward.
• Repeat the same with your right hand and left knee.
• Keep alternating the movement and do this exercise at least 10 to 12 times.

Check out this video of walking spiderman exercise:

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Taking a few minutes every day to perform the above-discussed mobility exercises can help boost your legs and improve your workout performance. Remember to be consistent and patient, and perform each exercise correctly to avoid any strain or pain.