Great way to firm the thighs!

[itself]

Biking and hiking really haven't kept me as firm as I like. After I had back surgery, I stopped doing squats and weights in my gym.

I recently started using the gym ball and bands, and cannot believe in just one month, twice a week, doing eight exercises X 2 sets, what a difference!!!

The bands come in Yellow (easiest), green, blue and black, in order of difficulty. Look up the monster exercise, it is really hard!

[OakLeaf]

This one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fA5X4nKueUU)?

Mostly what I got when I searched on "monster exercise" was a bunch of fitness industry jobs on monster.com... :rolleyes:

[itself]

Yes, monsters can be done going forward or side ways. Also, another variation is to do side steps, knees locked.

It is really important to get either one on one or group instruction with these exercises. Form and technique are important, and let me tell you some of the exercises were tough to learn.

Here is a list of some of them:

Sidesteps: w/band knees locked
Monster Walk sideways
Single leg squat sequence
Single leg hamstring curl using gym ball
Gym Ball Squat, ball against wall
Static Lung with Theraband
Hamstring curls, gym ball w/ both legs
Lateral step downs
Lateral lunge with reach
Zig Zag Monster Walk
Sidelying clams

[itself]

I wanted to add to this post to encourage others to give it a try. The workouts I am doing are two or three times a week. Nate at Endurance rehab said that just twice a week, you will make great gain in strengthing weak areas. And the benefit of strengthening core muscles, and shaping the legs unlike any weight machine has ever done!

My workouts consist of only 6-8 of the exercises, and I am done in just 30 minutes. Not hours here, just thirty minutes!

[Blueberry]

Do you have a good reference for how to do these exercises?