What Are Flutter Kicks?
The flutter kicks exercise targets the cardio muscle and this exercise is practiced by lying on the back with the legs raised off the ground lightly. If you want to strengthen the core muscles, you must raise one leg and then lower the other and for several times. This strengthens the hip muscles, the muscles of the lower back, and the quadriceps. This exercise also targets the lower abdominal muscles more than other basic exercises such as abdominal exercises and crushing.
Flutter kicks raise the heart rate and increase cardiovascular health, although flutter kicks are traditional and do not require any equipment. You can also develop this exercise by wearing ankle weights to be advanced and then raise your leg. The upper part of your body becomes in a V-shape with the lower part of the body during the exercise.
What Muscles Do Flutter Kicks Work On?
The flutter kicks exercise targets the middle and lower abdominal muscles, as well as the glutes, hip flexors, quadriceps, and adductor muscles, thus strengthening and activating the muscles of the lower body completely.
Benefits
The flutter kicks exercise targets the abdominal muscles, as it greatly strengthens the abdominal muscles and greatly increases the strength of the core. Among the benefits of the exercise are also:
- It further improves posture.
- Work to increase your ability to balance and stability.
- It increases the strength of the abdominal muscles.
- It helps facilitate other physical activities such as swinging a golf club, reaching for something on a shelf, or tying shoes.
- It helps you achieve more goals related to your physical fitness, because it strengthens your core, so you can practice the rest of your physical activities.
Flutter kicks are a great alternative to other lower abdominal strengthening exercises such as boat poses, mountain climbers, and V-ups.
How to Do Flutter Kicks With Perfect Form
Practice flutter kicks by doing 2 to 3 sets with 10 to 20 repetitions in each set on each side. You should also choose your sets and repetitions based on your ability to maintain the correct form of the exercise.
How to do the exercise:
- Lie on an exercise mat with your face facing upwards and your legs straight, then place your arms at your sides with your palms pointing downward or place your hands under your butt muscles with your chin folded throughout the exercise as if you were catching an egg under your chin.
- Make your pelvis lightly folded and your ribs should be facing down and you should keep your core busy as you raise your legs 4 to 6 inches off the floor with your toes away from your body and you should do all repetitions of this step.
- Keep it aligned, then raise one leg slightly higher than the other while lowering the other leg. You must also move your legs alternately and controlled to complete the required number of repetitions.
- Maintain its own alignment, then bring your legs together, and then lower them tightly to the ground again.
Tips To Do Flutter Kick Exercise Correctly
There are some tips that you should know while practicing flutter kicks to do the exercise correctly. These tips are:
- Make your stomach muscles taut, releasing your shoulders and looking toward the ceiling with your eyes at an angle of about 70 degrees to the floor.
- Keep your spine neutral while doing one set of exercises.
- Do not use your chin.
- Do not let your feet touch the ground.
- Keep breathing throughout the exercise as many people hold their breath while exercising, which is wrong.
- Put your palms at the bottom of your hips, if you have only the lower back.
You should do the exercise correctly, rather than doing it by doing more repetitions and sets.
Flutter Kick Variations
Criss-cross Flutter Kick
How to do it:
- Put your hands under your buttocks.
- Keep your lower back on the floor as you raise your legs up slightly above the height of your hips, keeping your core occupied throughout the exercise.
- Cross your legs on top of each other and then stop moving your legs up and keep your legs off the ground throughout the exercise.
- If you want to increase the difficulty of the challenge, you must raise your head and neck from the ground.
- And if you protrude your legs wide so that it is wider with each cross, you will feel that you are targeting the abdominal muscles more.
- Repeat this movement for up to 30 seconds.
Note: If you want to make the exercise more difficult, you can extend your legs wider with each width, as the more you increase the width of your legs, the more you feel them in your abdominal muscles.
Prone Flutter Kick
How to do it:
- Lie on your stomach with your elbows wider and bring both hands together so that they are in front of your face and then put your chin or forehead on your hands.
- Keep the core busy and then lift your legs off the floor so they are about hip height, or slightly above hip height if you can.
- Lift one leg and then raise the other leg using a flapping motion as if you were swimming.
- Repeat this movement for up to 30 seconds.
Note: It is easier to keep your legs under the ground on your back if you are a beginner in the exercise of the flutter kicks. Or if you feel the presence of an arch in the lower back while on the ground, start with your feet so that it is off the ground and raise your legs towards the top.
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