Exercise

Lower-Body Home Exercises

June 28, 2009
By J White

Exercise, when applied with a proper diet, speeds up weight loss. Strength training exercise helps to build up muscle, which is the best way to continually burn fat. The reason for this is that muscle burns fat faster, which helps to speed up your metabolism.

An important type of strength training exercise is lower-body exercise, which works your legs. Your lower body has one of the largest muscle groups, and as such is valuable in burning fat.

Gyms provide convenient equipment to exercise your legs. However, they are not necessary to get a good lower-body workout. In fact, you can make use of items in your house to get an effective workout. The following are some of the exercises that you can perform. And by the way, always stretch before trying any of these exercises.

Lower-Body Home Exercises

Knee Bends Squats

Since you may have done these in high school, you may be familiar with this exercise. To perform it, stand with your feet shoulder length apart, stretch your arms out in front of you, and then bend your knees slightly to about a 45 degree angle and come back up. Do this 10 times. Rest and then repeat. This exercise helps to work your quadriceps or thighs. As your legs get stronger, you can bend slightly more to about a 90 degree angle to get a more strenuous workout.

Standing Knee Lifts

To perform this exercise, place your hand on the back of a chair, raise your left leg until your thigh is parallel to the floor, and then kick out your leg 10 times. Repeat this procedure for your right leg. This exercise is design to help work your thighs.

Calf Raises

Calf raises of course works your calves. To perform this exercise, simply stand flat-footed, and then raise yourself up on the balls of your feet for about 15 repetitions. To make it more demanding, while balancing yourself, stand with your toes on the edge of the stairs and then raise yourself up.

Back On The Wall

This exercise helps mostly to work your thighs, although you can feel it all throughout your legs. Simply stand with your back against the wall and lower yourself to about 45 degrees and hold this position for a count of 10. If you can hold if for longer, all the better. As your legs become stronger, you can lower yourself down more for added intensity.

Walking Squats

Walking squats is an advanced exercise, so you probably may want to hold off trying this until your legs are stronger. To perform the exercise, stand with your feet shoulder length apart, squat slightly and start walking. If you can, walk 10 paces. Rest and then repeat. With this exercise, you can really feel the burn in your thighs. For a more challenging workout, you can hold a big book on your chest while walking.

Share and Enjoy: