Exercises

• Even if you do have access to a leg press, you should do these functional exercises, as they use your lower-body muscles---quads, glutes, hamstrings, calves---in a more functional manner than the leg press can. According to fitness expert Michelle Thompson of Sheknows.com, functional exercises are "exercises that simultaneously use multiple muscles and joints to improve muscular endurance, overall strength, coordination, balance, posture and agility."
  
  The squat mimics the leg press in every regard but one---your lower back is not supported in the squat. Learn how to do a squat the following way: Stand in front of a sturdy kitchen chair with your feet shoulder-width apart. Extend your arms in front of you as if you are reaching for something at chest level. Lower your buttocks as you would do when you sit down on a chair, but only touch the chair with your butt and stand back up. Repeat 10 to 15 times without weights. Hold free weights on your shoulders when you get stronger.
  
  Lunges work the same muscles as the leg press and the squat. You can adjust how much you work your lower back and core depending on how you maintain your form while performing a lunge. If you bend forward a lot when doing a lunge---especially if you hold free weights in your hands---your lower back is under lots of stress. You need to put stress on your muscles in order to strengthen them. Master squats before your attempt to do lunges. How to do a lunge: Stand with your hands on your hips, abdominals in. Take a step forward and shift the weight over to that foot. Move the foot back to the starting position. You just lunged forward. You can do the same to the sides, backward and diagonal (lunging forward and to the side simultaneously). When you feel you can lunge well with a small step, increase the step. Keep increasing it, and then add weights to your lunges. The key to lunging is to have control of the movement and transition your weight smoothly.