How to tone your Legs, Bums and Tums - Beginners
This is one of the biggest topics that many women are worried about and wanting to find the answers. As a personal trainer, I am constantly asked about this topic and I am here to tell you the best approach to tone your legs, bums and tums.
There’s no secret for this, one thing for sure we all need to realise “diet” is an important factor to help you achieve your desired goals; read up on previous weight loss articles, on this website. By incorporating a good diet, you can achieve better results with your workout. Now here is what you’ve been waiting for, I’m going to be giving my top 3 beginners exercises for each body part to help you reach your goals. So here it is!
Legs
You’ll get fantastic toning with my selection of exercises. Why? They all integrate the areas we are targeting legs, bums and tums. So you’re working all the targeted areas by one exercise, and I’m providing three for you!
So we have the squat, lunge and squat jump. These exercises will help with your daily lifestyle whether it’s squatting up from a chair, squatting or lunging to pick something up and making life easier for you.
Perform 15 – 20 repetitions, 2 – 4sets with one minute rest for each exercise.
1. Squat - Grab a pair of dumbbells by your side, feet shoulder-width apart and toes pointed slightly outward. Inhale and bend your knees and hips to lower into a squat position. Keep your head up, heels on the ground, back arched and chest out. Once your thighs are parallel to the floor or lower; rise while you’re exhaling.
2. Walking Lunge - Keeping your torso upright, step forward with your right leg and lower your body until your front knee is bent at least 90 degrees and your back knee almost touches the floor. Then alternate with your left leg.
3. Squat Jump - Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, hands by your ears. Squat down until your knees are bent about 90 degrees. Immediately swing your arms and jump upward as high as you can. As you land, gently bend your knees and sink back down into the squat position. Swinging your arms will give you momentum so you can catch more air.
Bums
Targeting the muscles in your butt can help make your tummy flatter. The reason: When your butt is weak and you have tight hips - as they are in most women - the top of your pelvis tilts forward. This not only places stress on your lower back, but it causes your tummy to stick out - even if you don't have an ounce of fat.
To fix this I have chosen the following exercises to strengthen and tone your butt: glute bridge, quadruped butt blaster and butt kick Perform 15 – 20 repetitions, 2 – 4sets with one minute rest.
1. Glute Bridge - Lie on your back on the floor with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Now brace your core, squeeze your glutes, and raise your hips so your body forms a straight line from your shoulders to your knees. Pause for 3 to 5 seconds - squeezing your glutes tightly the entire time - then lower back to the start.
2. Quadruped Butt Blaster - Place your hands and knees to the floor. Take a deep breath in then, draw your belly button in. Squeeze your butt, and slowly raise your right leg to the ceiling, hold for five seconds then bring it back to the starting position.
3. Butt Kick - Start in a squat position, arms by your side. Explosively extend your legs, simultaneously swinging your arms overhead. Once in the air, kick your heals to your butt. Then land on your toes then heels.
Tums
These following exercises are some of the simplest, yet most effective ways to tighten your tummy. You might notice that there aren’t any crunches in my top 3. The reason being, doing crunches will strengthen your tummy rather than toning, this will cause postural degeneration and lower back pain. Give these ago and see what you think.
Perform 60 seconds repetition for 2 – 4 sets with one minute rest.
1. Plank - Starting at the top of a pushup position, bend your elbows and lower yourself down until you can shift your weight from your hands to your forearms. Your body should form a straight line. Brace your tummy (imagine someone is about to punch you in the gut) and hold for 60 seconds. If you can't make it to 60 seconds, hold for 5 to 10 seconds and rest for 5 seconds, continuing for 1 minute. Focus on form: Don't drop your hips or raise your butt.
2. Performing the Mountain Climber - Get into plank position with your hands shoulder-width apart on a 12-inch-high bench/stairs. Step forward to the front of the bench/stairs with your right foot, keeping your left leg straight and your right thigh parallel to the floor. With your hands on the step, jump, switch legs in the air, and land with your right leg straight behind you and your left leg bent. Continue hopping to switch legs for 60 seconds.
3. Performing the Side Plank - Lie on your right side with your legs straight. Prop yourself up with your right forearm so your body forms a diagonal line. Rest your left hand on your hip. Brace your abs and hold for 60 seconds. If you can't make it to 60 seconds, hold for 5 to 10 seconds and rest for 5; continue for 1 minute. Be sure your hips and knees stay off the floor. Remember to keep the tummy tight throughout, while performing each exercise.
So these few exercises here will help you kick start your training for legs, bums and tums. Good Luck with them and let us know how you get on. After 4 – 6 weeks move onto the intermediate level for a new challenge, which will be on here in the next few weeks. Watch this space!