Do you have a part of your body that you just think really kicks a lot of butt? For me, it’s my legs. I have always been blessed with awesome legs and my calves have always been well toned. I absolutely love doing leg day, as crazy as that sounds! My legs surprise me with the strength they carry. I did find out recently, though, that just because I have toned legs doesn’t mean I don’t have areas in them that need a bit of work. There are many muscles in your legs that most people don’t use often enough so the muscles there can get weak. If you are looking to have stronger stems, here are some good workouts for strong legs that anyone can do.

 

 Side Lunges - This one is a real workout for your body and not just your legs! To do this kind of lunge, you will be altering a typical lunge. This is where you don’t go straight forward, but instead lunge to the side like pictured. You will take your opposite arm and reach as close to the ground or your ankle as you can and switch. The idea is to do this as fast as you can while still holding good form and not hurting yourself. To make it a bit more challenging, try hopping between sides. I do 20 reps of this per set with a 30 second rest between sets.

 

 

 

Reach Lunge - I like this one for stretching as well as my legs. To do a reach lunge, you will be doing a side lunge and instead of reaching down, you will be reaching up with the opposite hand as pictured. You can add a hop to this one as well to get your heart pumping more. I do 20 reps of this switching back and forth between sides with a 30 second rest between sets.

 

 

Side Hip Raise - The side hip raise is great for your inner thighs and it also doubles as a stretching exercise as well. To do this, you can either use a wall or pole for assistance like I do, or you can just do it on your own. Make sure you are standing as straight as possible and bring one leg up as far as it will go and then down. You should not be doing these super fast as the idea is to do it in a well coordinated motion and come to neutral pose every time. Do 20 lifts and then switch sides per set.

 

 

Chair Pose to Crescent Pose - Since I love yoga, I like to use yoga positions as a good way to get a swifter workout in. Many of them go together well enough to do them repetitively. Chair pose to crescent pose are two of them that do.

 

To do this rep, get into chair pose by placing your hands in namaste (together like praying) and ‘sit’ like you would on an imaginary chair with your buttocks out and your back straight, kind of like a squat.

 

Move into crescent pose by lifting one leg and lifting your arms up above your head as pictured. Come back to chair pose and switch legs. Do 20 reps of this per set with a 30 second rest in between sets.

 

Written By Christine Tolhurst from Saved By Grace Blog

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