Toned Legs in 30 Days – Exercises To Firm Up Thighs and Hips

0

Does it seem impossible to go from having flabby thighs to being fit and lean? Well, read on because it’s not! You can achieve it if you put in enough time, effort, dedication and discipline. It’s time to reshape both your genetics and your legs so you can chisel them into long, lean and sexy stems!

Toning up your legs requires a lot of patience and a low level of body fat in order to get the amazing shape you’re striving for. Unfortunately, the legs, hips and thighs are big problem areas for ladies and it’s easy to pack on a lot of body fat quickly on these body parts. Due to the way female bodies work, fat seems to be attracted straight to the area around the thigh bone and then just seems to stay there forever! After your body fat increases to a certain level you may start to see dimples and cellulite. You might even eventually be left with ugly and troublesome stretch marks. Even after you’ve slimmed down your physique, these nasty stretch marks can be very difficult to get rid of. But don’t fret ladies because did you know that a large percentage of women have stretch marks? Yes, even some of the figure and fitness competitors! I’ve seen them on stage when I’m walking behind certain women and I’m sure that they’ve also noticed mine too! Welcome to the elite group of stretch marks and imperfections.

toned-legs-30-days-quadsSo how can you go about firming up your legs and burning fat quickly to get impressively toned legs in just 30 days? The most important thing is to combine plenty of strength training leg exercises along with increased cardio workouts. It’s important to pump up your cardio sessions to 45-60 minutes for 6-7 days per week using cardio machines like the stair climber and the elliptical. Remember to do your cardio AFTER your weight lifting workout. Replace your existing routine with the leg exercises outlined below and within a few weeks you will definitely see and feel a difference!

Remember to always warm up before starting your workout for around 10 minutes to get your muscles warm and ready for a hard workout. Try riding the stationary bike or walking on the treadmill to warm up your leg muscles and increase your heart rate a little so you can be ready for the harder work to come. Always cool down after your workout with a 10 minutes of stretching while focusing on your hamstrings, calves and quadriceps.

Some great and effective exercises to help you get toned legs in 30 days are squats and lunges (using both barbells and dumbbells) which also help to tone your butt at the same time as your thighs which is always a bonus! These can even be performed in the comfort of your own home without any equipment. So on a day that you can’t get to the gym or feel like doing a little extra work at home, move some furniture out of the way and give them a shot. You might think these exercises are easy to do, but it’s really important to get your form and technique down correctly so that your leg muscles are working to their full potential. Follow these instructions to make sure your technique is correct:

#1. Squats: Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart and your hands by your sides or stretched out in front of you if you need help balancing. Bend your knees and squat down so that your legs are almost at a right angle with your thighs parallel to the floor. It’s really important to keep your back straight and avoid letting your knees extend beyond your toes. Try to perform 2-3 sets of 15 to 25 reps.

toned-legs-30-days-exercise

#2. Lunges: Stand in a split stance with your right leg forward and your left leg back. Bend your knees and lower your body down into a lunge until both legs will be almost at right angles. Keep the weight on your heels during the movement and push off your front foot to get back up to the starting position. As always, keep strict form at all times with a straight back and don’t let your knees go beyond the toes. Do 2-3 sets of 10-15 reps on each leg.

#3. Bench Side Steps: Now it’s time to get into the more vigorous exercises to really help you get toned legs quickly. Bench side steps are great for really hitting your quads and glutes. Stand on top of a weight bench, then drop your left foot down and place it firmly on the ground then bring it back up. After a few reps, switch over and do the same thing with your right leg. Holding onto dumbbells or a weight plate will help maximize the muscle building and fat burning effects. You probably won’t be able to do  50 reps nonstop to begin with until you’ve practiced it a few times. But don’t worry because once you’ve done a few sessions, you’ll be able to manage more reps nonstop until you’re doing the full 50 in one shot. Focus on doing 2-3 sets of 10 reps when first starting out and then shoot for 50 reps on each leg once you’re more advanced.

#4. Single Leg Squats: After this exercise, it’s time to stretch out a little and prepare for the next set of exercises. Grab an exercise ball and do 3 sets of 50 single leg squats. Using an exercise ball makes this movement far more strenuous and effective. Keeping strict form is crucial so make sure your knee remains above your ankle as shown in the picture below and don’t let your knee move inwards. A useful reference point is to visually line up the middle of your knee cap to the outside of your upper foot.

toned-legs-30-days-1

#5. Multi-Hip Raises: Stretch after this exercise, hydrate yourself and get ready for the last exercise. The Multi-Hip exercise for the outer thigh is performed using the Multi-Hip machine. It is a very simple movement and allows you to achieve a higher amount of reps with some resistance work as well. The goal is to perform 3 sets of 25-50 reps and try to do them nonstop if you can. The most important thing about the technique for this exercise is to keep your hips facing forward throughout the movement and avoid letting them pivot left or right. The key to this movement is having a stable foundation leg with a “soft” knee and you will feel that this leg also benefits from an isometric workout during the exercise. Once you’ve finished your sets you should stretch thoroughly and drink plenty of water to maximize your recovery phase and reduce any muscle soreness the next day.

toned-legs-30-days-2

Feel free to change up your exercise routine to fit your specific needs and remember that although the above exercises are the best ones to get you fast results and help tone up your legs, it’s also very important to do cardio between your strength training workouts. You will benefit greatly from exercises such as running stairs and sprinting. You can also walk up stairs and make it even more effective by holding hand weights which increases the resistance. Even if you start to feel bored with these exercises, make sure to keep on going because they will deliver the results you’re looking for. If you really want to try something different, you can always try kickboxing classes which are great not only for developing your leg strength and overall muscle tone, but also for a killer fat burning cardio workout.

Don’t forget, you also need to follow a nutrient dense diet that includes lots of healthy food to really make a difference because all the exercise in the world is not going to make a difference if you eat fast food and other processed items that are loaded with sugar, fat and calories. By doing the strength training exercises listed above along with eating clean and doing plenty of cardio work to burn enough calories to lose excess body fat, I guarantee you will be able to see beautifully toned and sexy legs in no time!

JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER
I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information )
Join over 175,000 ShapeFit subscribers who are receiving our free weekly fitness newsletter and learn how you can build more muscle, burn off body fat and get into the best shape of your life!
We hate spam! Your email address will never be sold or shared with anyone. You can unsubscribe at anytime.
Share.

About Author

Linda is a national level fitness and figure pro who dabbles in bodybuilding competitions, obstacle and strength challenges along with fitness model competitions. She is a triple certified elite personal trainer and the owner of Body Rush Personal Training. See my profile page for more information!

Leave A Reply