Are you looking to tone and firm your thighs but don’t have access to a gym? Don’t worry, you can still achieve your fitness goals with these simple leg workouts that you can do at home.
Having a strong lower body not only helps with everyday activities but also improves your overall fitness and can prevent injuries. Plus, who doesn’t want toned and firm thighs?
In this article, we’ll share four effective leg workouts that you can do at home without equipment. Get ready to feel the burn and see results!
4 Leg workouts You Can do at Home Under 10 Minutes
1- Basic Squat
The squat is one of the most popular and useful exercises for working your legs without using a lot of space or equipment. This simple movement involves bending your knees to a 45-degree angle. A well-executed squat strengthens the legs, glutes and many other lower body muscles, helping to improve flexibility and keep joints and bones in good condition. However, poorly executed squats can lead to back and knee problems, so it is very important to get them right.
It is important to start from a comfortable standing position, with your feet shoulder-width apart, and gradually move to a motion similar to sitting on a chair, keeping your abs active and your legs tensed. It is important to avoid pulling the knees in or shifting the weight of the body too far forwards or backwards. As a general rule, the knees should not go beyond the tips of the toes when performing the bend, but people with good ankle mobility may feel comfortable in this position and the exercise would not be poorly performed.
This exercise can be repeated up to 20 times.
2- Sumo Squat
This variation of the previous exercise helps to focus the work on the glutes and is performed using the same technique as the basic squat, but with the feet wider apart. As the name suggests, the Sumo Squat is inspired by the position of sumo wrestlers during their matches. As you bend your knees, it is important to keep your back straight and contract your abdomen and glutes to engage the muscles you want to work.
When descending, it is important not to pull the knees inwards, just as when ascending, to avoid injury to this joint. Breathing is also important in this exercise, we need to take in air, hold it as we descend and let it out as we ascend.
This exercise can be done with weights to intensify the work and add upper body activation of muscles such as the dorsalis, trapezius, shoulders or arms, since the weight, usually a kettlebell, is held with the arms extended between the legs.
Perform this exercise for 15 repetitions.
3- Abduction with rubber band
This exercise strengthens the inner thighs and is based on performing leg extensions from a seated position. This movement can be performed simply with the resistance offered by the body, or you can add a rubber band or a short band to add resistance to the movement and thus work with greater intensity.
When performing this movement, it is important to keep the back straight, without bending it, to avoid lumbar problems and to concentrate the effort on the glutes and the inner and outer thighs.
Do 15 repetitions of this exercise.
4- Lunge
The lunge is an exercise in which you step forward or backward and bend your knees until the one behind you is approaching or touching the ground. There are many variations of this movement, depending on the muscle you want to work, but the basic one focuses on the quadriceps and glutes and consists of lowering the knee straight down to the floor.
From a vertical position, step forward, keeping your torso as straight as possible and perpendicular to the ground throughout the movement, avoiding swinging as much as possible. Once the front foot is supported, continue down, making sure the front leg does not bend more than 90º at the knee.
Perform 20 repetitions.
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