Who Loves Some Feet In Strap Action!

I certainly do!

But do you know why it is so good? Apart from being able to lay down while you work up a sweat, feet in straps is great for stabilising the core, strengthening the abdominals & learning placement & control of the hips & legs.

A heavier spring will create more resistance for the legs, a lighter spring will create more work for the abdominals & single leg will take you places you have never been before! The heavy spring means you need to work more in the push part of each more & control the spring & straps on the return. Therefore, you are working both the concentric (activation that causes the muscle to shorten) & eccentric (activating the muscle while it is being lengthened) phases of the move. The lighter spring means the push of the move will be easier & the return a little harder because you don’t have the springs to pull you back & therefore the core needs to stabilise to keep the correct form (& in some cases, keep you one the carriage). When I say single strap will take you to places you have never been before, well I mean you only have one leg doing the work of two, so it straight away shows up any weaknesses between each side of the body. You have to do the push, the pull & the stabilising with the one side & you will quickly develop a relationship with your obliques

Let’s now take a look at who needs to do feet in straps & why. Short answer is everyone will benefit from it & after the initial awkwardness of getting your feet in the straps it quickly becomes a firm favourite.

Long distance runners need strong hips, glutes & core to support their gate. Without this support over-pronation can occur from the lack of strength down the leg.

Sprinters need strong hips, glutes & core to allow for the explosive part of their run gate. Without it they will fatigue & start using other muscles like the hip flexors to complete each step.

Swimmers need to have control through the hips & core for kicking. While it assists all strokes, breast stroker's will especially benefit with learning the control of rotation in both the inner & outer range of the kick.

Dancers need the strength through the hips to support their flexibility. Flexibility without control leads to weak muscles which then leads to injury & ongoing lower back, hip, knee & ankle problems.

Activities aside, having strong hips, glutes & core will help with aging in general. From the awkward adolescent phase where there is a lack of awareness of where the limbs sit (kind of like a baby giraffe trying to stand up for the first time), through to the other end where having good bone density & an awareness of your body will assist with falls prevention. The feet in straps moves really will help with whatever part of your life you are in & whatever goals you have.

So next time you got to class, why not ask for some feet in straps.