There is that old saying among gym goers to “never skip leg day”. Leg workouts are so important for a variety of reasons, though many of us may prefer an upper body workout to the seemingly difficult lower body routine.
Leg workouts build the solid foundations for our bodies to work even harder in our other workouts. By developing our lower body, we are increasing our overall strength, speed, stamina, and balance and not to mention the aesthetic benefits of toned legs and a tighter gluteus maximus!
Strong legs keep our bodies in perfect proportions over 50 so it’s important we incorporate a leg work out into our routine at least once a week. If you’re on the hunt for a new leg workout, I think you’ll enjoy this leg toning routine. All you’ll need is 10 minutes, a comfortable space with plenty of room and a water bottle. Ok, I’m excited, let’s get started!
PULSE SQUATS
Start standing with feet shoulder width apart. Lower hips until thighs are parallel to the ground and pulse two times. Make sure you don’t lean forward over your knees and keep your feet flat on the ground pointed forward for the whole exercise. Pulse squats are excellent for isolating and firing up our quads which will help improve stabilisation and balance.
LEG SWINGS
Start standing with feet together and hands on hips. Bring your left leg up and straight out in front of you, then swing horizontally out from your body. Bring your left leg back to the starting positions and then repeat. This exercise will really test and improve your balance, isolating the groin muscle for inner thigh toning and strength.
Repeat the movement on the opposite side.
WIDE SQUATS
Start with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart. Start your squat by gently sitting back into your hips, keeping feet firmly planted on the ground. Your heels shouldn’t raise at all during a squat. Lower yourself until your hips are parallel to your knees and then reverse the motion until you are back upright. We raise our arms in front of us during a squat as a counterbalance to keep us stable. Wide squats help us to better engage the muscles around our hips, giving our quads a little break and is particularly beneficial for targeting our butt (gluteus maximus)
NARROW SQUATS
Narrow stance squats are performed in much the same way as wide squats, however our feet are kept in a narrower stance throughout the movement. While wide squats will target our hips and but, narrow stance squats will help engage our glutes and puts much less pressure on our hip joints. Narrow squats also help increase our squat strength to help us better perform all kinds of squats.
SIDE LEG KICKS
Start by laying on your side with feet stacked on top of each other. Bring your knee up to your chest then kick it out directly in front of you before returning to the starting position. This exercise is excellent for increasing knee joint mobility and can help relieve tension in that area. This is also great for targeting the abs!
UNDER LEG RAISE
Lie on your side with your left knee bent and right foot on the floor over your right knee. Gently raise and lower your left leg. This exercise is extremely beneficial for loosening the hips and strengthening the quads. Our abs will also get a good burn!
Repeat the movement on the opposite side.
SIDE LEG PULSE
Lie on your left side, with legs stacked on top of each other. Place your right hand on the ground in front of your abs and your supporting arm under your head. Lift your top leg up and make tiny pulses upward. With pulse movements, we are isolating a particular muscle group for targeted training. For these pulse kicks we are targeting our hips and increasing our muscle endurance.
Repeat the movement on the opposite side.
TOE TAPS
Lie on your left side, with legs stacked on top of each other. Place your right hand on the ground in front of your abs and your supporting arm under your head. Keep your top foot pointed the entire time, and tap foot in front of bottom leg and then behind bottom leg.
This exercise will help align the pelvis and stabilise our lower body. As well as that, this will help strengthen our core and strengthen the entire leg.
Repeat the movement on the opposite side.
You can also follow along with the entire workout now on YouTube.
