A careful selection of exercises are needed and should target all muscles in the leg.
The following leg exercises are ideal and don’t require a lot of time to perform or expensive equipment to purchase. Plus, they can all be done in the comfort of your own home.
Squats
Squats target the thighs, hips, bottom, and hamstring muscles all at the same time.
Often called “king of the exercises” and for good reason, they are devastatingly effective. Squats hurt like hell but they do give excellent results.
Many women avoid them because they are hard to do but please don’t turn your back on this exercise, especially if you want to see benefits in the shortest time possible.
Squats can be performed using body weight only or using resistance such as weights like dumbbells or barbells. I recommend using two dumbbells for women.
How To Perform Squats:
1. Start in a standing position and position your legs shoulder width apart.
2. Hold two dumbbells in your hands and keep them on the side of your body, just next to your hips.
3. From this position perform the squat by lowering yourself down, while keeping your back straight. Stop the movement when your thighs are parallel to the floor. Pause for a second before slowly rising back up to the starting position.
Calf Raises
This exercise works wonders at targeting the calf muscles.
Be warned, doing calf raises will likely result in you feeling as if your calves are burning.
This is a good thing and indicates that the exercise is being done properly and with enough intensity.
Calf raises can be done without dumbells and will tone your legs but using weights will build more muscle.
How To Perform Calf Raises:
1. Start in a standing position, with your legs roughly shoulder width apart.
2. Holding two dumbbells in your hands, keep a straight back as you push up from the balls of your feet.
3. Once you reach the top, press harder into the ground with your toes so that your heels are well off the ground and you can feel tension in your calves.
4. Hold this top position for a few seconds before slowly returning to the starting position.
Hip Raises
Hip raises target both the butt muscles and the hamstrings simultaneously.
In addition, they will also help you to strengthen and stabilize your core muscles.
How To Perform Hip Raises:
1. Lie down on an exercise mat and bend your knees, while keeping your feet flat on the ground. This is the starting position.
2. Next, raise your hips up from the floor, so that your body is in a straight line from your knees to your shoulders. Your hands can be placed at the side to stabilize the movement but they should not be used to add power.
3. Hold this position for a few seconds at the top before slowly coming back down to the starting position.
Each one of these three exercises should be done together as part of a workout that should be performed three times per week. Do each exercise for 1 – 3 sets of 10 – 20 reps. If you’re not familiar with workout lingo this means doing an exercise, say the squat for example, 10 to 20 times (reps or repetitions) then resting…that is1 set.
If you havent exercised for a while start off by doing just 1 set of about 10 reps (repetitions) for each exercise. As you build up strength in your legs and fitness gradually increase the number of sets and repetitions.
These leg exercises may be tough but do yourself a favor, push through the pain and experience the benefits of what it’s like to have slim and sexy legs!