When it comes to leg workouts for women, these 6 simple exercises are all you need for immediate results
April 14, 2011
| by
Kristen Oldham Giordani | 63 COMMENTS
Wish you had legs like Angelina Jolie or Jessica Biel? Or maybe just legs you'd feel confident showing off in shorts or dresses this summer? Yeah, us too. That's why we talked to master trainers to give us the leg workouts for women that actually work -- and work fast.
So what did we find? Well, after having a candid conversation with nutrition and fitness consultant Ashley Borden and celebrity and pro-athlete trainer Ky Evans, we were sold on these exercises. Yes, you can get your legs looking toned, lean, and dare we say it -- sexy -- in time for bikini season. "The muscles in your legs and butt are the largest in the body, which means that when you work them, your heart rate goes up faster than if you were working smaller muscle groups," says Evans. "And that means your leg workout will also give you a fat-burning cardio blast." All you have to do is add these six simple moves to your go-to workout routine.
Don't have a routine? Now's the time to start one. How to do that? Simple: Do 15 repetitions of each of these moves and when you're done, do two minutes of cardio. Repeat the leg workouts for women set four times -- doing cardio between each set -- to get gorgeous-looking legs this month.
Also, to help you avoid boredom when it comes to cardio, "don't hop on the same machine with the same resistance," says Borden. Variation is key -- try the bike then the treadmill then the elliptical. If you prefer to workout outdoors, jump rope, do sprints, or even play a game of touch football with your family.
These work! I remember many of these moves from the hour of warm-up exercises I had before ballet class at a college. I was in amazing shape and my legs never looked better!
some days i am too tired to workout but i push myself to do it anyway and it always makes me feel better. the one legged squat seems like it will hurt but "no pain, no gain" right? Im going to try these today!
You can definitely pull some of these off without the equipment. Use the stairs, for example. Looking forward to adding these to my routine! My legs are probably the worst part of my body.
These tips are great. Even for a guy to do (Not sure about the ballet part though for a guy, lol) but nonetheless, I think most of these exercises can be great for a man or woman to do. One tip I've heard is to have a workout buddy and I see alot of couples working out together now-a-days. Wish there were more co-ed exercise tips on this site rather than just woman exercises :/