Who says you can’t get a good workout in bed? Most mattresses provide a slightly unstable surface. Similar to using a foam mat or exercise ball, bed exercises may help target stabilizing muscles like your hips, thighs, and butt while working large prime movers. Here are a few you can do at night right before you go to sleep or when you wake up.
5. Single-Leg Glute Bridge
Lie on the bed face up with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. With your hands at your sides, your fingertips should come close to grazing your heels. Engage your core to press your low back against the floor.
From this position, lift your right foot off the floor and extend your leg.
Push off your left foot, engage your core and squeeze your glutes as you lift your hips and do a glute bridge.
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Slowly lower your hips back to the floor.
Do all of the reps on one side, then repeat on the other.
4. Side-Lying Leg Raise
Give your medial glutes a workout with side-lying leg raises. This move is similar to the hip abduction, but the fact that you can’t tap your heel on the bed as you move your leg laterally takes this exercise up a notch in difficulty.
HOW TO DO IT: Lie on your side with your hips stacked on top of each other. Flex your top foot so your toe is pointing forward. Lift your top leg as far as you can while keeping your heel slightly behind your body and your toes pointing forward. Bend your bottom knee if you need extra stability. Slowly lower your top leg to return to start. Perform this exercise three times per day for a total of 10 reps per leg.
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3. Four-Way Leg Lifts
Four-way leg lifts strengthen the muscles at the front, back and sides of your thighs.
HOW TO DO IT: Lie on your back. Bend your left knee and place the sole of the foot on the mattress. Keeping your right knee straight and foot pointed toward the ceiling, lift your right leg up at least as high as your left knee. Slowly lower it back down.
Roll onto your right side. Bend your left knee and plant your foot on the bend behind your right knee. Now, with keeping your right knee
