Exercising At Home, Prt II
Yesterday I started a new series on exercising at home. Let’s get started with a few more of my “do-at-home” favorites…
Leg Lifts: These have to be one of my favorites for strengthening and toning the thighs, hips and buttocks. Lying on your side, align your top leg over the bottom one. Make sure you have a just a soft (barely noticeable) bend in your knee. Contract your glutes (buttocks) and raise your leg at the hip joint just past a 45-degree angle, then slowly lower it back to an inch above your bottom foot and repeat the motion. By ‘hovering’ your leg, you keep your butt and leg muscles in a constant state of contraction. When you’ve tired out the muscles on that leg simply switch sides.
To focus on the inner thigh muscles maintain your position but plant the toe of your upper foot on the floor just in front of your bottom one. Contract the thigh muscle of your bottom leg and raise that foot as far as you can (a few inches) from the floor, hold the contraction at the top until it tires and relax, repeat as necessary.
Note: If you own ankle weights they can be a great way to make this exercise even more challenging!
Squats: Squats are another great allover workout for the thigh and buttocks area. Start by standing with your feet shoulder width apart, toes pointed straight ahead. Keeping your torso and head up, slowly sit down as though you were going to sit in a chair. Keep your weight on your heels (being careful to keep your balance). Make sure as you sit back that your knees do not extend over your toes, this will reduce knee strain.
When you’ve lowered yourself as far as is comfortable (NOT below a 45-degree angle at the knee) contract your buttocks and thighs and slowly return to a standing position, reaching full contraction at the top.
That’s all for today! See you tomorrow!
