2019-10-01 Australian Men\'s Fitness

● Game Changers Lift your game

How to

do the wall sit

Prepare your thighs for a pasting.

Wallsareeverywhere.Eveninthecountry

there’llbea fewstonespiledontopof one

anothertostopsheeproamingfreeand

terrorisingtheneighbours.Andyetmost

humans– andsheep,forthatmatter– havenever looked

ata wallastheperfectpieceofequipmenttoimprove the

strengthoftheirlegs.Thatwillallchange,forhumans

atleast,oncetheylearnofthethigh-bustingbenefits

ofthewallsit.Thismovestrengthensyourlower body,

especiallyyourthighs,andimprovesstaminaso you’ll

bethatlittlebitmoresprightlyattheendofyour next

run.Sufferersofrunner’skneeinparticularcould benefit

fromwallsits,asthestrengtheningeffectthey have

onyourquadmusclescanhelppreventthecondition.

W

34 MEN’S FITNESS OCTOBER 2019

VARIATIONS

Weightedwallsit

Theeasiestwayto

progresstheexerciseis

toaddsomeweight.You

canholda medicineball,

dumbbellorkettlebell

infrontofyourchest

orresta weightplateon

yourlap.Eitherway,it’s

goingtouptheantefor

yourlegsandcore.

Single-legwallsit

Asyou’dexpect,lifting

onelegofftheground

makestheexercisemuch

tougher.Getintothe

standardposition,then

pointonelegstraight

outinfrontofyou.This

increasesthechallenge

toyourstandinglegas

wellastoyourcore,

whichhastoresistthe

naturalinclinationto

fallovertooneside.

Whichisnota goodlook.

Exerciseballwallsit

Yourthighsareundera

lotoftensionduringthe

standardwallsit,butif

youdeterminethatyour

innerthighsaregetting

offsomewhatlightly,you

cantargetthemdirectly

byholdinganexerciseball

betweenthemduringthe

exercise.Youcanusean

inflatableballor,formore

ofa challenge,a heavy

medicineball.If you’re

findingtheexercisetoo

toughthenjustlettheball

dropandseeif youcan

gettotheendofthetime

you’reaimingforinthe

standardwallsitposition.

■Standneara wall(around

60 centimetresaway).

You’reprobablythinking

anyolddistancewilldo,

butcomplacencyonwall

proximityis theonetrue

dangerinthewallsit.Stand

toofarawayandyou’ll

missthewallentirelyand

potentiallycrackyourhead

open,andbeingtoonearwill

preventyougettingyourlegs

intotherightposition

duringtheexercise.

Leanbackagainstthewall

withyourtorso,withyour

feetshoulder-widthapart.

Thenpressbackandslide

downthewalluntilyour

thighsareparallelwiththe

ground.Yourkneesshould

beaboveyouranklesand

bentatright-angles.Keep

yourhead,shouldersand

upperbackagainstthe

wallandholdtheposition.

Holdforbetween 20

secondsanda minute,rest

for 30 secondsanddoit

again.Repeatthreetofive

times,tryingtoaddfive

secondseachtime.Then

thenexttimeyoudothe

exercise,seeif youcan

holdyourfirstsitfor

10 secondslonger.

DIRECTIONS

11hrs

Thelongeststatic

wallsit,achieved

by Dr Thienna Ho

in 2008.

51 min 14 sec