Gyms may offer access to an array of equipment and information, but mastering at-home exercises allows you to integrate your fitness goals into your daily life. There are plenty of ways to tone your legs at home even if you don’t have a lot of room to move around. However, even if you aren’t using complicated machines or heavy weights, it’s always important to maintain proper form through the entire duration of each exercise.
Resistance Band Steps and Presses
Resistance bands are one of the most convenient, portable and affordable types of strength training equipment and you can easily incorporate them into your home exercise routine. Many kinds of conventional exercises, like side steps, can be done with or without a band. You can also use a band to simulate the effect of a leg press machine, allowing you to target a larger range of muscles and movements.
Squat Exercises
Squats are a foundational exercise in almost any kind of whole-body fitness plan. These exercises can help tone almost all of the major muscles in the legs with variations to focus on different groups. Dumbbells and other weights can also be slowly added to make the exercises progressively more challenging over multiple sessions. Always take care to research proper form and start with no extra weight until you are familiar with the motion.
Lunge Variations
Much like squats, lunges can work all parts of the leg and have plenty of variations to choose from. Despite the implications of the movement’s name, conventional lunges typically involve a vertical lowering movement rather than forward or backward one. They are also great for integrating into compound exercises, like a reverse lunge into a knee lift. Side lunge variations are also an easy way to work on some of the underused muscles around the hips and thighs.
Indoor Aerobics
Aerobics can be one of the more challenging types of exercises to do exclusively at home, but there are several good options to choose from. If you can’t find space for a cycling machine or treadmill, then consider clearing out a space for jumping rope or dancing. High-repetition leg exercises can also be a good way to get your blood pumping.
No matter what kind of leg exercises you decide to do at home, don’t forget to stretch before and after each session. A set of dumbbells and few other pieces of basic training equipment is enough to get your legs into shape without ever leaving the house.