LEG TONING WORKOUTS

Many of us may find it difficult to tone certain areas of the body – and it can be frustrating, especially when you can’t spot reduce fat. However, you CAN adapt your program to target the muscles you want to build; and typically, the most common areas of desired toning for the ladies are legs and backside (with abs as a close second).

Most people tend to run on a treadmill or ride a spin bike for long periods of time hoping it will tone their legs. But, unless you’re a full-time professional Tour De France cyclist or Ironman Triathlete, you might have a problem – cardio alone does not sculpt for us on a limited time-budget.

In order to build the lower body, it makes sense to incorporate both cardio and strength training exercises within our program. Cardio will increase your heart rate, help with lymphatic drainage, remove toxins, and help metabolise fat while you’re exercising, while strength training will increase the size of the muscle and help our legs look toned and our backside look lifted. Additionally, the more muscle we have the more we metabolise stored body fat at rest (longer lasting than cardio)

Our legs and glutes are the largest muscle groups in the body and, because of that, they require a great deal of external force to grow and develop. This means we need to rev up our workouts and include resistance-based exercises in these areas.

The two workouts below are a combination of strength (Workout 1) and cardio (Workout 2) to ensure we achieve the best results.

Workout 1:
Select a challenging weight for the rep range
3 sets of each superset
8-10 reps of each exercise
2-3 min rest between each superset

Warm up – Mobility and Glute activation

Superset A
Barbell Romanian Deadlift
Pin Loaded Leg Extension

Superset B
Kettle Bell Goblet Sumo Squat
Pin Loaded Leg Curl

Superset C
Barbell Hip Thrusts (or Glute bridge)
Dumbbell Suitcase Split Squat

7 minutes – slow inclined walk on the treadmill (as steep as possible)

Cool Down – Stretch and Mobility

Workout 2:
3 rounds per circuit
45 seconds on (do as many reps as possible of each exercise within these 45 seconds), 20 second rest after
3-minute rest between each circuit

Warm up – Mobility and Glute activation

Circuit 1
Squat Jump
Dead Ball Squat Slam
Curtsey Lunge
Kettlebell Deadlift
Dumbbell Sumo Squat

Circuit 2
Glute Bridge Walk Outs
Kettlebell Swings
Forward Backward Lunge
Wall Squat Hold
Rower (as many meters as possible in 45 seconds)

Cool Down – Stretch and mobility

Remember: Our Unlimited Personal Trainers are always here to offer support and guidance