In this article, we are exploring our lower body exercise which is leg exercises.
Many of us tend to overlook this part of our bodies when it comes to exercise.
For beginners, leg exercises don’t need to be so complicated. In fact, you can work on them without using any weights for building the basic foundation for strengthening your leg muscles and gradually helping to achieve your fitness goals.
What are the easy leg exercises to do at home, literally no weights workout and using only your own body weight?
Keep on reading.
Can You Build Leg Muscles Without Using Weights?
Yes, you can still build strength and muscles for your legs even if just depends on your own body weight.
The good thing about the bodyweight exercise is you are focusing on a variation without any weights or resistance.
In time, your movement variations will get stronger and you are also working on the different joints and muscles at one time with workouts such as squats, lunges or leg raises.
There are plenty of easy leg exercise techniques that are functional and realistic you can do at home. They are very effective to help you gain strength and endurance in preparing your body for more advanced moves with weights.
How Can You Tone Your Legs Fast?
What do you do in order to build muscles in your legs?
Yes, take your training to the next level with the right techniques and exercise routine.
Exercise your legs and the rest of your body regularly for at least 30 minutes, 3 to 5 times per week. On the day when you are resting on a particular muscle group, you can do leg exercises. Try not to work out on the same muscle group on two consecutive days.
When you do leg exercise or any other muscle group, practice each proper technique (with or without weights) for at least 8 – 10 reps per set, targeting 3 – 4 sets. Then, as you build the strength slowly, you can increase to 15 reps or until you feel can’t continue the reps anymore.
You can explore weight training rather than cardio for your leg exercise. Practice calf raises (targeting your calves) by holding a dumbbell on each side. Or, try sumo squat by holding a kettlebell with both hands. Very effective for your glutes and inner thigh.
Don’t forget to eat healthily in order to build your muscles quicker. Having high-calorie and protein nutrients from healthy food sources such as fish, lean meat, dairy products, and eggs is important to fuel your body with the extra energy for your fitness goals. How about whole grains, nuts, vegetables, and fruits which are also rich in these nutrients?
Oh, always stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water (8 oz per glass, 8 – 10 glasses every day) during any workout session. Remembered, water is essential in helping to flush out all the toxins from your body after an intense workout.
Can You Do Leg Exercises Daily?
I think there is not necessary to work out on your legs every day.
Giving it 2 – 3 times a week is ok. Split each session into a few different leg exercises. For example, do squats (for thighs) on Monday, take a day or two for rest for muscle recovery, then continue with deadlifts (for hamstrings) or calves.
If you want stronger and more muscular legs, then you may need to do heavier lifts following the above exercise routines.
Remember, always start low (5 – 6 reps) and gradually aim for a higher intensity workout (8 -10 reps or more), but these also depend on your fitness goals, whether to build more muscles or just gain strength and endurance.
Can you do squats every day?
Yes, you can, anytime and everywhere. If not daily, practice it regularly!
Doing squats regularly not only helps thigh muscles but also reshapes your glutes.
Do you know squats,
* create a basic foundation for all your daily movements and keep your body stronger.
* enable more fat and calorie burning by increasing lean muscle mass in the thigh bone (femur).
* helps to work out in different variations without moving too much of your body, with or without equipment (such as resistance bands or a barbell).
* not only strengthen your legs but also your core, lats, glutes, and hip flexors.
* considered as a complete leg exercise. As you lower down, your hamstrings are targeted and, when you are standing up, your glutes and quadriceps are working out.
Can squats make your butt bigger?
It sure can.
Squat exercises with continuous strength training are targeting the glute and thigh muscles to build a shapely ‘butt’.
The good news is if you have a lean body structure, you can stand a chance to reshape the ‘butt’ nicely. However, note that besides consistency and intensity of your exercise, the diet you are eating and probably genetics do play crucial roles too.
Nevertheless, it is no harm to try squatting exercise now!
Do squats burn belly fat?
We cannot dictate to tell our bodies to focus on burning these stubborn belly fat areas.
However, if done regularly, squat exercise can be one of the useful and effective workouts in building more lean muscle mass and burning body fat including your belly and thighs areas.
Depending on an individual, the best way is to lose overall body fat instead of targeting a certain area of the body. This way you can at least stand a good chance of burning fat that may come from the belly area.
Besides, the process of how quick or slow the burning fat process depends on these factors:
* age.
* gender (males tend to build more visceral body fat in the bellies than females).
* your daily activities.
* The family history of obesity
What Are The Easy Leg Exercises At Home?
You can try home to tone your legs with these few leg exercises without using any weights.
1. Glute bridges. The name says it all, good for strengthening the glute which also helps reduce the stress on the knee by offloading the stress to the glute.
You can literally be working out glute bridges without even leaving your bed.
This simple home leg exercise involves lying your back on the ground and raising your hips upwards.
Besides helping to strengthen your glutes, it also stabilizes your core, and if performed correctly, may help to improve problems associated with lower back pain.
Glute bridges also strengthen your hamstrings by holding longer times with the pose.
Try to perform 3 sets each session with 15 reps per set before sleep.
2. Calf raise is a good lower leg exercise to build calves’ strength and endurance, and your ankle’s overall balance. It involves stretching and flexing your calf with straight or bent knees, using weights (such as a dumbbell or leg press machine) or without (by standing on an elevated surface or ground).
Calf raise exercise is best to include into your other lower leg exercise as a finisher, suggesting about 15 – 30 reps per set. Knowing that for a greater result, you can perform it on an elevated surface (advanced level) than on the ground (beginner level).
For a more challenging form, try one-legged calf raises with one leg at a time by holding on to the wall for balancing.
3. Side leg raise exercise targeting your hip flexor, glutes, core, and hamstrings muscles. If practice this form correctly, side leg raise can help to improve your hips’ mobility and core strength.
On an exercise mat, lie your body on one side, and slowly lift up your leg to almost 45 degrees above the other leg. Then, lower down the leg to its starting position and continue with 3 sets, 8 – 10 reps per set.
Switch your body to the other side and repeat the same steps.
4. Wall sit exercise works great for toning legs and losing weight too. It helps develop strength and stability for the core, glutes, quads, and calves as the exercise is focused on the legs.
When you do wall sit for a couple of seconds, your heart rate will increase and the cardio starts working resulting in burning calories. Not only that, five minutes of wall sit workout daily is good for stress management and improves the mind’s clarity.
When you do wall sits exercise, depending on your current lower body strength, try to aim for a minimum of 20 – 60 seconds per set (3 sets). Ensure you stand against the wall with your feet about two feet from the wall.
In a squat position, begin to slowly slide down until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Your knees should be bent over 90 degrees angle and above your ankles now.
Not quite sure what I’m trying to explain here lol, check this video tutorial from Layla.
5. Squat jump is another excellent workout targeting glutes, lower back body, calves, and hamstrings. Like a wall sit workout, it works great for leg toning and weight loss too.
It is widely considered a high-intensity plyometric workout and really gets your adrenaline pumping.
Noting that this workout does give a lot of stress to your knee, ankles, and hip joints. Make sure you have greater strength and endurance ready prior to trying a squat jump. Remember to perfect your techniques first before attempting this or get a consultation from your fitness instructor.
Check this video tutorial from Layla.
6. Lunge exercise is popular for those who wish to build strength, toning, or sculpt their overall bodies. It is targeting your legs, hips, and lower back by improving stability, flexibility, and mobility.
For beginners, the starting variation is usually the stationary lunge targeting your hamstrings, glutes, calves, and quadriceps. This technique uses your front leg to put all the weight in and your back leg to stabilize, balance, and support your entire body.
Lunges exercise is best to do when you are starting your leg exercises. You need only a few minutes to do lunges, with 8 – 10 reps per set, and 2 – 3 sets each session. As you are feeling stronger as you progress, you can intensify it by increasing the repetitions or adding weights such as dumbbells.
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My Overall Verdicts: Easy Leg Exercises To Do At Home
When you are at home, you can do plenty of home exercises such as leg exercises to keep in shape.
Or perhaps, if you are getting a little bored with home exercises sometimes, do some walking nearby the park or down the road and back.
Getting your leg muscles stronger at all times is important to get you from point A to B, especially when you are aging slowly.
Many people underestimated that walking exercises frequently not only helping for your legs but also improve overall health, building stamina and strength, and weight loss management.
I hope this has been a great insight into the leg exercises episode. Do leave me a comment below if you have and I will be back within 24 hours.
To your other Home Fitness success!
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