When you are running out of time, leg workouts at home are a blessing for your exercise routine, and what's more, they work on a number of muscles in the body, as most of these exercises are compound exercises. Let's see some lower body workouts which you can easily practice at home in this story.
Most people now know the importance of an exercise routine. Among the many options for exercises, leg exercises are important, as legs are vital for weight bearing and movement of the body. If the muscles of the legs are not worked on efficiently, it may cause deep vein thrombosis.
Leg exercises also help in toning the leg muscles and in keeping your weight in check.
You do not have to go to a gym to do leg workouts. They can easily be done at home. We will first see some leg exercises that you can do at home, before we go to the information on leg workouts.
Leg Exercises at Home
Leg exercises can easily be done in the confines of your home, a park, school yard, etc. When these exercises are done correctly, they add more resistance to your workouts.
Lunges
This type of exercise works on most of the muscles in the legs. When you are doing this exercise, it is important you take care of the alignment of the body, and ensure that the knee of the leg in front is positioned exactly over the ankle.
Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, take a giant step forward and place your right foot in front of you.
Lower your torso straight down, until the left leg forms a right angle at the knee, and the thigh of the right leg is parallel to the floor.
Using both your legs, slowly rise up.
Repeat the exercise on both the legs.
Pliès
This is a wonderful toning exercise for both, the outer as well as the inner thighs. With this exercise there will be less stress on the joints.
Stand with your feet about 15 to 18 inches apart.
Take a small step out with each of your feet and stand duck toeing out.
If you are comfortable, place your hands on your hips. If you are not comfortable, hold the back of a chair for support.
Keep your back straight and gently lower your body, till both your thighs are parallel to the floor.
Slowly rise up and repeat the exercise.
Squats
This exercise is well-known for shaping the buttocks and upper thighs.
Stand with your feet, hip width apart and place your arms on your sides.
Keep your back straight and slowly lower your buttocks, as if you were about to sit on a chair.
Lower yourself as far as you can and then slowly rise up.
Repeat the exercise for desired results.
Heel Raises
Often it is seen that people work their legs, but forget about the calf muscles. This exercise will work on the calf muscles. An advantage of working on these muscles is that they respond to strengthening very quickly and you will notice the results faster.
Stand with your feet, hip width apart.
Raise your body up on your toes and hold the position for a few seconds.
Lower your body to repeat the exercise.
If you want to increase the intensity of the exercise, you can do single leg raises at a time.
Seated Butterfly
This is an exercise, which must be included in leg workouts for women who have heavy thighs. It will work on the inner thighs and tone them.
Sit on an exercise mat with your back straight, bring the soles of your feet together and pull them as close to your body as you can.
Apply pressure on your thighs and try to push your thighs towards the floor.
Hold in the position for 20 seconds, release and repeat the exercise.
Before you start doing any leg workouts, it is important that you warm up well. Cardiovascular exercises, like walking, running and jogging, step aerobics, etc., are also some of the exercises which will help in working out the legs.
There are also a number of resistance band exercises, which can be included in your leg workout. If you feel pain of any sort when doing the exercises, consult a physical trainer.