Many women and men are sure that long, slender legs are a real indicator of beauty. If the shape or volume of the lower extremities is not satisfactory, this can be corrected.
In order to lose weight in your legs, you need to use not only a set of exercises, but also reconsider your food preferences. The guarantee of weight loss is contained in a simple formula: calorie restriction plus physical activity . By giving up high-calorie foods and regularly performing a set of exercises, you can quickly achieve excellent results, even at home!
Anatomy of the legs
The anatomical structure of the leg muscles is represented by the following muscle groups: gluteal, thigh, lower leg .
The largest muscles in terms of volume are the thigh muscles. It is in this area that the main fat layer is located.
Subscribe to our INSTAGRAM account!
The loads should be primarily aimed at working the target muscle groups: the quadriceps femoris and biceps femoris. By targeting the muscles, you can achieve a beautiful and slender leg line. Compliance with certain recommendations significantly influences the effectiveness of the exercises performed.
How effective are leg swings and other isolation exercises?
Isolation exercises almost always cover only one muscle , so such exercises are not entirely suitable for weight loss. To lose weight, you need to use as many muscles as possible to burn as many calories as possible.
Isolation exercises include:
- Taking the leg back and to the side. You can do them both in simulators and with free weights, for example, with weights that are put on your legs, you can also use expanders. These exercises work the gluteal muscle.
- Leg abduction and abduction in the simulator. The information involves the adductor muscle of the thigh, and the gluteal extension.
- Extension and bending of the legs in the simulator. The curls involve the hamstrings and a little of the calf muscles. I don’t recommend girls using extensions at all, since this muscle receives enough load from basic exercises.
- Gluteal bridge. This exercise is more of a basic exercise, since it works the legs, buttocks, back muscles, and even the abs. But the energy consumption in this exercise is significantly less than in those that I listed in the previous section.
In short, if you just do leg swings at home, it is unlikely to help you lose weight (unless of course you do it 24/7). I recommend starting isolation exercises when the goal of “losing weight” changes to the goal of “shaping your figure.”
General recommendations for performing the complex
- Start your workout by doing a warm-up. This is an important condition, as it will prepare the muscles, joints and ligaments for stress.
- Be careful when performing strength exercises if you are starting to exercise for the first time. Increase the number of repetitions smoothly and consciously.
- The musculoskeletal system of the legs and ligaments adapt to the load within several weeks. After this, you can practice fully and increase the number of repetitions.
- It is very important to alternate tension and relaxation. We always do tension while exhaling. You need to get used to doing this automatically.
- The number of exercises and repetitions performed, the pace of execution and other training parameters are not the same for everyone. Set your workout routine in such a way that you feel pleasantly tired after it.
- Sports doctors warn! There are often cases when a person gets injured when he immediately starts training too intensely. It is necessary to be able to distinguish between sore throat and injury
Attention! Each body is individual, so listen to yourself. You tailor the workout to suit you and your capabilities.
How to pump up your abs
The following exercises for the abs and buttocks will help you gain a toned body:
- Oblique twists. Lie on your back, bend your knees, feet on the floor. Place the ankle of the right foot on the left knee, fingers clasped behind the head. Raising your shoulder blades, stretch diagonally towards your right leg. When working the abdominal area, do not forget to alternate their positions.
- Bike. Lie on the floor with your legs bent at an angle of 90˚, hands behind your head. Lifting your shoulders off the floor, stretch your left knee toward your right elbow, straightening your right leg. Alternate between knee and elbow.
- The letter V is an amplitude exercise. Perform after a good muscle warm-up and only on a soft mat. Lie on your back, stretch your arms above your head. Engaging your abdominal muscles, simultaneously raise your lower limbs and body to form the letter V. Slowly return to your previous position and relax.
- Reverse crunches. Lie on your back, legs at an angle of 90˚. Using your abs, lift your pelvis from the floor and stretch your knees to your shoulders.
Important! Don't put any strain on your neck. There is no need to touch your knees to your shoulder
- Raising your legs. Lying on your back, legs straight, slightly lift your lower limbs. Hold back a little and slowly come back. To make it more difficult, you can put your hands behind your head.
- Scissors. Lie down with your hands under your butt, palms down. Lift your straightened legs off the floor a couple of centimeters. Perform the criss-cross movement for as long as possible.
- Sit on the mat, back straight, hands on hips. Tightening your abdominal muscles, lean back without lifting your lower limbs. Stay a little, come back.
Home is the most comfortable place for training, but if there is no trainer in the family, you should never forget about the exercise technique. Excessive stress on the spine and muscles can harm your health. If the workout causes pain, most likely it is not going well or you should try easier gymnastics. The process of losing weight should bring physical satisfaction and a beautiful appearance.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=embed/BFaYipEsivI
The most effective system of 7 exercises
The complex below, consisting of the best exercises affecting the legs, is quite popular in many types of training. It is designed in such a way that it allows you to qualitatively work out the main muscle groups.
Remember! You can achieve your goal only with regular training.
Plie squat
Works the leg muscles well with an emphasis on the inner thigh. This area needs a good load, as it is usually little involved in everyday life. It is in this part of the thigh that subcutaneous fatty tissue is usually developed, which can be difficult to cope with.
We perform squats with a straight back. Arms are extended parallel to the floor. Feet wider than shoulder width, toes turned slightly outward. We do not do the squat completely - the knees do not go beyond the toes. The pace is slow, breathing is free.
We start with ten repetitions. For an advanced level, we perform twenty exercises, with two to three repetitions. Rest for thirty seconds between sets.
Lunges
The most common movements for the legs. They form muscle relief and give slimness to the legs. The main load is directed to the hips and buttocks.
Lunges are among the TOP 10 most effective exercises for the buttocks.
Stand up straight, straighten your shoulders, lift your chin. Lower your arms freely. Take a step forward so that your knee angle is ninety degrees. Repeat the movement for one and the other leg twenty times. Do several approaches.
In order for the load to be greatest, the step should be as wide as possible.
As a variation of this exercise, walking with lunges can be used. This option is convenient to perform by walking in a circle with maximum amplitude, but without touching the floor with your knee. We don’t wave our arms, we don’t use the force of inertia. The entire load goes to the legs.
Swing your legs
They work perfectly on the thigh with emphasis on its front part, the gluteus maximus and gluteus minimus muscles. It is performed in several versions.
Option 1. We get down on all fours with emphasis on our hands and knees. We make swings with the leg slightly bent at the knee with maximum amplitude. We perform twenty exercises for each leg with two to three repetitions. Rest for thirty seconds between sets.
Option 2. Perform while standing. The legs are slightly narrower than shoulder width. Bend the leg at the knee at a right angle. Leaning against the table top or the back of a chair, we make swings with maximum amplitude. We perform twenty movements for each leg with two to three approaches. Rest for thirty seconds between sets.
Exercise “Chair” (static)
A common exercise that gives a good load on all muscles. Great for burning calories.
Static exercises are good because they give you the opportunity to work all the muscles in a short time.
The “chair” is best performed with the rest of the movements of the static circular complex.
Standing with our back to the wall, we step back half a step from it and begin to slowly lower ourselves, as if sitting on a chair. In the hip and knee joints we repeat the bend of the chair structure. Hold the pose for thirty seconds. We rise and relieve tension from the muscles by finely shaking our feet and hands. We do three approaches.
Stepping onto the platform
We strengthen the gluteus maximus and minimus, as well as the front and back of the thigh. Those who are friends with the step platform do not have extra pounds.
To increase the load, we take dumbbells in both hands, starting with the minimum weight. First, let's work out the execution technique. Learning to balance without dumbbells.
Option 1. We walk alternately with our right and left feet. Ten times with one leg, and the same number with the other. Rest for thirty seconds and do several repetitions.
The leg that first steps onto the platform should maintain a right angle at the knee. We do this due to muscle tension, and not due to the force of inertia.
We perform at a slow pace, then you can gradually increase the speed. The number of repetitions is twenty times with the required number of repetitions.
Option 2. We perform fifteen steps with the right foot, then the same number with the left. Standing on the platform with both feet, we increase the load by bending the leg at the knee and lifting the foot off the surface of the platform. The result is a kind of double stepping.
On a note! Stepping onto a platform is the number one exercise for burning calories and creating a slim and toned silhouette.
Bike
The abdominal muscles, hips work, and the knee joints are worked out. Good for losing belly fat. A slender knee and hip area is formed.
Lying on your back, place your hands behind your head. We perform the exercise with emphasis on the lower back. Raise your legs above the floor. Alternately bending our legs at the knee joints, we “ride a bicycle.” We don’t hold our breath, we breathe freely.
We perform ten to twelve exercises with several approaches. Rest for thirty seconds between sets.
Attention! The more we lift our hips off the floor, the less stress on the abs and lower back.
Scissors
The hips and abs are effectively worked out.
We lie down on the floor. Raise your straightened legs, lifting them off the floor by fifteen centimeters. At a fast pace we perform alternating swings of the legs. The movement resembles the movement of scissors. We do it ten times with several approaches.
How should you train to lose weight on your legs?
Training is always hard. It's easy to eat fat, but getting rid of it is always difficult.
If it's easy for you in training, then you're doing something wrong and your fat legs will stay with you until the end of your days.
First, you should overcome laziness and stop feeling sorry for yourself . Only princesses feel sorry for themselves, and I have yet to see a single princess with thick legs. So let’s run into the hall and start becoming a princess.
You need to train regularly. One workout per millennium will not make you slim, I hope you understand this.
Many girls are afraid to lift barbells and dumbbells and, in general, anything that weighs more than their smartphone, citing the fact that they will become masculine Amazons. I assure you, this is not at all true. To be a man, you literally have to have balls. Because with a woman's testosterone levels, your chances of pumping up are negligible. For those who want to lose weight in their legs without building muscles , I wrote a separate article.
Therefore, we put aside all fears and take a heavy dumbbell in our hands and begin to pump the legs of our dreams.
Train in the gym 2-3 times a week for about 1-1.5 hours and your thighs will become more toned in a month. But this does not mean that in a month they will become perfect. For a good result, you need to go a long way, which can take more than one year. So I wish you to have patience and strength.
How does the fat burning process occur?
Fat is distributed unevenly over the surface of the legs. His favorite areas are the lower part of the buttocks, the so-called “ears,” and the hips.
The knee joints are also covered with a fairly large layer of fat and become like a ball.
It also affects the calves, which take on a bottle shape.
Initially slender legs, under the influence of fat deposits, become voluminous and lose their attractive shape. Lumps of cellulite appear on them.
As soon as we begin to lose weight, the volume of fat in the leg area begins to decrease. Muscles are tightened and strengthened. A slender line of legs begins to emerge.
Exercise No. 10 for the buttocks - “Lunges”
Try this exercise and you will be surprised to find beautiful, round and firm buttocks.
“Squats and lunges” (step 1)
One leg is brought forward and placed at a right angle to the floor surface.
“Squats and lunges” (step 2)
The back is kept straight. The exercise is done dynamically.
Exercise for the buttocks “Lunges” execution technique
For greater efficiency, take a dumbbell in each hand (start with the lightest ones).
Lunge exercise for beautiful buttocks with dumbbells
Exercise lunges with dumbbells
The effect of this exercise is enhanced by the same constant weight - a barbell lying on the shoulders or dumbbells.
Watch this video on YouTube
Does leg size decrease when you lose weight?
When you lose weight, your leg may shrink by one or two sizes. This is due to the fact that fat disappears from the body evenly: if you exercise and eat right, your feet will also lose weight. This is what will allow the leg size to decrease.
By following the basics of a balanced diet and purposefully doing exercises at home, you can cope with fat and gain slimness. Nutritionists and sports instructors emphasize that this problem must be solved in a comprehensive manner:
- Reducing caloric intake. Avoiding foods with excess calories. Inclusion in the daily menu of salads from fresh vegetables and herbs, boiled fish, cottage cheese. Dishes made from cereals, especially buckwheat, cooked in water with the addition of a spoon of any vegetable oil are healthy.
- Following the proposed system is the basis of your actions to lose weight in your thighs and buttocks. In addition, you can add exercise classes, dancing, swimming, and walking at a fast pace. This will help you lose extra pounds and strengthen your muscles.
If you use these methods, the volume of your legs will decrease by several centimeters every ten days. This is all you need to do to achieve results.
Morning stretching for weight loss
Many who have pets have noticed that they stretch immediately after waking up, which helps them stay alert all day. Indeed, morning stretching for weight loss helps to charge you with energy, improve blood circulation in the tissues, and therefore speedy weight loss.
But you shouldn’t do sharp and difficult exercises in the morning. The following are suitable for this:
- Standing on all fours, you need to raise your knees and pelvis up, and lower your head down. Your back and legs should be straightened as much as possible. Then you should move your hands closer to your legs until you can straighten up to your full height.
- Starting position – lying down for push-ups. The arms are bent at the elbows at an angle of 90 degrees. The legs are stretched down, then one needs to be bent at the knee and pulled up, resting the foot on the thigh of the other. The chest drops and the arms extend forward. Then the legs need to be changed.
- Starting position – lying on your stomach, arms extended upward. Then they are pulled up to the chest, the body supported on the palm rises, bending back.
- Lying on your back, you need to take turns lifting your knee to your stomach, you can help with your hands.
Will fitness stretching help if you only attend this class?
Typically, stretching is used as a separate, but additional activity. As a rule, in fitness clubs, stretching is an independent activity, but they attend it after cardio or strength, aerobic training. They also often go to stretching on a separate day, if each one has different weight loss loads. This helps relieve tension and increase muscle elasticity.
Thus, stretching works well in combination with other types of physical activity.
However, if you don’t want to go to the gym or treadmill, stretching will still be effective for losing weight. During stretching, tissues are saturated with oxygen, and this helps to burn fat deposits faster and more efficiently. Flexibility of the body and muscles increases metabolism, which means that the process of losing weight and burning calories is accelerated.
But in this case, you shouldn’t count on quickly getting rid of extra centimeters. But the result will remain for a long time. It is also important to take into account proper nutrition, exclude harmful foods and drinks, then stretching as an independent activity will bring the desired result.
We recommend reading about stretching for weight loss. From the article you will learn about the benefits of stretching, a set of exercises for losing weight in the abdomen and sides. And here is more information about the barbell for weight loss.
Regular stretching exercises will make life much more enjoyable. Stretching helps you relax, relieve stress and tension after a hard day at work. With regular exercise, pain in different parts of the body goes away; on menopause days in women, the functioning of the heart and blood vessels improves, and blood pressure normalizes. In combination with physical activity, stretching muscles for weight loss helps speed up the process.
