How to Tone Your Legs

By Elma B.

Many women, including myself, struggle to keep our legs toned and lean. Unlike men who store fat in the belly, women tend to store fat in hips and thighs. For pear shaped women, again including myself, our weight tends to concentrate on our legs, especially on our thighs. So what do we do? How do make our legs more slender?

Me

Toned Legs: Inspiration 

Here are some steps to lean out your legs. Before, I continue,  I have to emphasize that having a lean body entails an entire lifestyle, i.e. (1) a healthy diet, e.g., lean protein, steamed veggies; tip eating lots of green veggies will help you shed water from your legs; cut out non-organic food, coffee, and drink lemon water; and (2) almost daily cardio, e.g., running, stair master or biking. To top it off, (3) weights!

Healthy Lifestyle

Cardio on an Elliptical 

Training tip A:  Know your body, i.e., what type of food makes you gain weight? How does your body react to various foods and exercises?

Whatever Makes You Pack On Pounds: STAY AWAY. #KnowYourBody

Training tip B: to get rid of puffiness, hydrate adequately with SIMPLE water! Eight glasses of water is recommended; set aside a bottle of water to know how much water your are consuming.

Hydrate with Refreshing Water

1st: Stairmaster (or just stairs).  15 minutes on the stairmaster will suffice; make sure that the level of intensity is a minimum of 5, your feet quickly touch the ground, and your elbows are not resting on the side or front bars. If you are taking the stairs (for an effective workout, go to a local high school stadium), run quickly up and walk slowly down; repeat once or twice.

Make Exercise Fun with Your Girlfriends

2nd: Lunges. 15 walking lunges in 4 sets. Rest about 30 seconds in between each set. If you start breathing strong, it is a positive sign because it means you are working hard and burning calories. To increase intensity, add 5 pound weights in each hand. Do not add more because you do not want to become bulky, you want to lean your legs out. You should feel your legs burning.

Lunges with Weights 

3rd. Squat jumps. Jump 15 times in 3 sets. Position yourself like you are sitting, and jump; each time, land flat on your feet or on your tippie toes. Rest 30 seconds in between each set.

How To: Squat Jumps

4th. Incline walking. Incline walking on a treadmill or up the hill outdoors is perfect to reduce cellulite on the back of your legs. Again, make sure that you feel the burn. Try 15 minutes of incline walking after a 30-45 minute jog.

Incline Walking

I hope you enjoyed these steps on "How to Tone Your Legs." Remember, the most important aspect to keep in mind is that it is an entire package, i.e. healthy diet, cardio and weights! In the mean time...do not forget to make exercise fun with your favorite music and people! 

Simple Rules on How to Tone Your Legs