A fit body with a strong core certainly features on every person’s wish list, no matter their age. And while performing routine chores like cooking a meal, cleaning the room, or travelling to work keeps the arms and upper body moving and active, the lower portion comprising the legs don’t really get much exercise on a daily basis. In these days and times of lockdown and working from home, most of us are missing on daily walks, jogs and running.
Also Read: What Is A Leg Day? 5 Reasons Why You Should Never Skip It
This invariably leads to excess buildup of fat, particularly in the region below the hips – the thighs. Having fat legs no doubt causes health conditions such as hip sprains and knee twists, due to the bones in those regions bearing surplus body weight from the thighs. Moreover, this can also be embarrassing for men and women alike, especially right now in the hot summer season, when they are looking forward to sporting comfortable shorts and skirts.
Level Up Your Fitness Game And Boost Your Stamina With Our Extensive Array Of Health Supplements And Protein Powders!
And if you are worried about missing your leg days, the best way to reduce additional weight in the thighs is through intense workouts. Training routines that target the muscles in the hip and thigh areas help to improve their flexibility, strengthen the connective tissues as well as bolster stamina and endurance. Furthermore, toned legs also enhance the overall physical balance of the body, apart from making tasks like climbing a flight of stairs and easy and effortless lifting of heavy objects.
Also Read: Want To Build Stamina? 5 Awesome Workouts That Can Make You Fit
So go ahead and start doing these fantastic thigh workout exercises today, for strong, robust leg muscles and a slim and slender physique.
Fabulous Exercises To Tone The Legs And Thighs:
Bodyweight Squats
Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart and slightly turned out with your weight in your heels. Hinge forward at your hips and sit your butt back into a squat. Bend your knees until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Drive through your heels to stand back up straight. Squeeze your butt and keep your core tight as you stand.
Reverse Lunges With Knee Lifts
Start standing with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Step backwards with your left foot, landing on the ball of your foot and bending both knees to create two 90-degree angles. Push through your right heel to return to standing. As you stand up, thrust your left knee toward your chest. Repeat on the other side.
Squat Calf Raises
Stand with feet wider than shoulder-width apart, toes turned out, and hands-on-hips or in front of your chest. Squat until your thighs are parallel to the floor. While staying in a squat, lift both heels off the ground and hold for two seconds. Lower heels back down.
Squat Jumps
Stand with your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart. Hinge forward at your hips and sit your butt back into a squat. Bend your knees until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Jump up into the air as high as you can and straighten out your legs. Swing your arms down by your sides for momentum and keep your back straight and chest lifted. Land back on the floor with soft knees. Go directly into another squat.
Side Lunges
Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Take a big step out to your right. Bend your right knee and push your butt back, keeping your left leg straight. Keep your chest lifted and core tight. Repeat on the other side.
Apart from performing many vigorous core-strengthening exercises of squats, jumps, lunges, there exists a low-impact workout that helps build balance, flexibility and fortified muscles in the lower body known as Pilates. Here are two simple yet highly effective pilates workouts that flex the thigh, leg and calf muscles extensively, to confer slender, strong legs.
Plie Squat Pulses
Begin by squatting with both legs turned outwards, aligning the knees directly above the feet. Maintain an erect back and generate some pressure by contracting the navel inwards towards the spine. Bend down in a squat to a comfortable level and slowly lift both heels off the ground simultaneously, curving the feet and balancing the weight on the toes. Bring them back down and repeat this sequence in short quick pulses of 20 seconds each for 2 minutes, resting, stretching in between and complete 3 – 5 iterations.
Heel Beats
Lie down flat with the front of the face and body touching the ground. Bring both feet close to one another, with the heels in contact and toes wide apart to form a V-shape. Place the arms folded at the top to rest the forehead comfortably. Align the back, spine and knees in a straight manner. Raise the lower body off the surface, including the legs, knees and thighs, to flex the glute and butt muscles. Applying force from the inner thighs as well as the feet, balance in this position and energetically beat the heels continuously for 1 minute. Come back to a relaxed lying down pose and repeat this series 3 – 5 times.