By RealJock Staff

This exercise provided courtesy of Billy Polson, founder and co-owner of DIAKADI Body training gym, voted best personal training gym in San Francisco by CitySearch in 2006.

Benefits
Set a Smith machine bar at your chest height and duck from side to side underneath it as quickly as you can, stepping wide and sitting deep as you cross under. Sounds easy, right? It isn't. In addition to building your leg muscles, this exercise also teaches you balance and coordination..

Muscles Worked
Legs

Starting Position
Set the bar on a Smith machine at the height of your chest and stand on one side of it, with your body perpendicular to the bar. Take up a "power" stance, with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees and hips slightly bent, abs engaged, and your hands up in a sparring position, near your chest with elbows low (see Photo 1).

Exercise

1. From the starting position, step wide under the bar and sit low, allowing you to duck under to the other side. Step as quickly as you can. Try not to lean down to get under the bar; instead, keep your back straight and sit deep in a squat as you step under. Engage your center to keep your upper body from dropping forward (see Photos 2 to 5).
2. Now, duck back under the bar to the other side again, and continue to alternate sides, keeping your steps wide and trying to move quickly as you can from one side of the bar to the other. Keep up the momentum for a set of 16 ducks.

About Billy Polson: Billy Polson is the founder and co-owner of DIAKADI Body training gym, which was voted the best personal training gym in San Francisco by CitySearch in 2006. A competitive swimmer and triathlete in his own right, Polson has over 15 years of experience working as a coach and trainer, and was recently named by Men's Journal Magazine (December 2005) as one of the Top 100 Trainers in America.