I saw this thread mentioned in the recent newsletter. I've been wondering, does anyone use these iron boots for front leg raises too?
I mean like the ones you might do lying on your back to train the hip flexors primarily in their lengthened position. I imagine you'd need really strong abs for these.
I am not sure, would you be able to do slow leg raises to the front/back/side while standing? I'm not sure how securely fastened the weights are on these things like for when the leg is down if they would stay on since that would pull directly away from the boot compared to doing them laying on your back which it would not be.
I'd probably just use a kettlebell for standing ones except that it seems it would only stay on for a front leg raises. To do a standing side leg raise with a kettlebell I think you would definitely need to use turnout to externally rotate the hip and keep the thigh pointing up so that the handle stays on top of the foot...
I can't figure at all how to do a back raise with one unless the handle goes on the bottom of the foot instead of the top. This takes away the option of immediately switching from a front to back or vice versa. I don't mean to cheat with momentum, but just to superset agonist/antagonist for a single leg which would be fun with an iron boot.
I am wondering, what would be the antagonist exercise for the adductor flies with the iron boot? They work the adductor increasingly as it is stretched on the transverse plane.
Doing side leg raises does this, and I guess if you held your foot in front of you it would be on the transverse plane, but stabilizing the spine and hips might be tricky, and you could only do 1 leg at a time... I wonder how to do both legs at a time? Unfortunately, supporting your weight on the front of the pelvis isn't near as comfortable as on the back =(
http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/Pro ... ductid=IB5
There is also this 5lb set in addition to the 7.5lb set Dragon posted a link to. I imagine we would want to be doing adductor flies starting off with 5lb boots rather than 7.5lb boots. I am not sure, are they adjustible. Both come with courses and that seems like overkill, I would like both options of boot but only 1 course... it seems like they are made for different shoe sizes.
All and all, I think I like Kurz' idea of using a kettlbell that he writes about here:
http://www.stadion.com/mailings/mailing08302008.html
There is also this link that says 'boots and course'
http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/Pro ... ductid=IBC and I am not sure what it is, like the weight. It has an interesting illustration though.
I wonder if that might be something we could do to strengthen our hamstrings, to practise transverse leg extension without rounding the back.
There are also straps:
http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/Pro ... uctid=IBS4 so perhaps it goes beyond 7.5. The weight limits aren't clear.
This is the bar that goes through them:
http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/Pro ... id=IBKBBAR
It seems like you can make faux kettlebells but they don't look as comfortable or sturdy for doing adductor flies as solid kettlebells do.