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Leg days can be challenging, but training your legs is worth it.
Exercises targeting your leg muscles can potentially help you achieve a great variety of fitness goals. They can help you improve your sports performance, build muscles, and even assist you in slimming down your legs fast.
The best workouts to reduce fat from your legs, particularly from the inner thighs, hips, and calves, target the muscles from all angles and hit the anterior and posterior chain of muscles. The anterior chain consists of muscles, including adductors, quadriceps, front of your calves, and hip stabilizers. The posterior chain, on the other hand, includes the back of your calves, glutes, hamstrings, additional hip stabilizers, and abductors. Plus, these exercises also naturally involve other lower body muscles in the process.
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Whether you are a runner, cyclist, regular exerciser, or you simply want to tone up your lower body, incorporating the given leg exercises into your fitness schedule is worth your time and energy. Practicing these exercises at least twice a week is a great way to develop overall lower body strength and muscular endurance and slim down legs.
6 exercises for women to slim down legs
Tone and slim down your legs with the below-given lower body exercises. Aim to do each exercise for 3 sets of 15 reps and gradually increase the reps as you gain more strength.
1. Walking lunges
Walking lunges helps increase your range of motion, posture, and balance by strengthening your hamstrings and hips.
To perform:
- Place your hands on your hips and stand straight with your feet together.
- Take a large step forward with your left leg while keeping your torso straight. Bend your knees to lower your body into the lunge position and stop when your legs form a 90-degree angle.
- Now, press through your left foot and step forward again to land in the same lunge position with your right leg ahead.
- For an added challenge, try holding a dumbbell in each hand.
2. Skaters
Skaters are an amazing cardio exercise that enhances strength in your legs and knees and also boosts balance and stability.
To perform:
- With your feet at hip distance, stand tall and keep your hands relaxed on your sides.
- Now, shift your weight onto your right leg and use it to jump towards the opposite side laterally.
- Land on the other side with your opposite foot and continue to jump laterally while alternating sides.
3. Goblet squats
Goblet squats are a great beginner-friendly leg exercise that also targets your glutes and activates your core muscles as well.
To perform:
- Stand with your feet at a hip distance and grab a dumbbell or kettlebell in front of your chest. Make sure to keep your elbows pointing towards the floor.
- Maintain this position, bend your knees and push your hips back to lower your body into a squat position.
- Slowly push yourself up to the initial position and repeat.
4. Single-leg deadlifts
Single-leg deadlifts are unilateral exercises that target your glutes and hamstrings, challenge your balance, and help you slim down your legs.
To perform:
- Hold a dumbbell in either hand and stand on your right leg with your palms facing your thighs.
- Keep your right leg slightly bent and hinge forward at your hips while extending your left foot straight behind you.
- As you do this, move the dumbbells down until they nearly touch the floor.
- Now, drive into your right heel to return to the standing position.
- Switch sides and repeat.
5. Bulgarian split squats
Bulgarian split squats challenge the strength of your front leg while increasing the intensity of the exercise and improving muscle imbalances.
To perform:
- Stand straight before a bench or step and hold a dumbbell in each hand.
- Extend your left leg back and position your foot on the bench behind you. Bend your knees to lower yourself while keeping your chest up and shoulders back.
- Pause at the bottom position and then press through your heel to return to the start.
- Switch sides and repeat.
6. Fire hydrants
Fire hydrants are an excellent move that helps build strong abductors and improves the functioning of your knees.
To perform:
- Take a tabletop position on the floor and brace your abs tight by pulling your navel you’re your spine and keeping your butts in a neutral position.
- Keep both your knees in a bent position, and then lift your right knee to the side of your body.
- Continue to lift as far as you can go and then bring it back to the center with control.
- Perform the movement with your other leg and continue for a few reps.
Takeaway
As with any strength training routine, starting with a quick warm-up is important to activate the muscles you are about to work on. Hence, before performing the aforementioned exercises, do a few leg stretches to prepare your muscles for the workouts ahead. However, if you are a beginner, start slow and work under a fitness trainer to ensure you are practicing the moves correctly. Moreover, if you’ve had a knee injury or surgery in the past, consult a physical therapist before starting a lower-body workout program.
