5 Lower body strength exercises for women

1. Static Lunges

Lunges in general are really good for developing lower body strength. It works a bunch of muscles (quads, hamstrings, gluteus) and it's a fairly easy exercise to get used to.

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and keep your head straight and shoulders back.

Step out with one foot and bring your opposite knee down toward the ground.

Keep your back straight and head looking forward.

Keeping that same leg forward, repeat the motion for the required time or reps.

Switch sides to work the other leg.

Breathe out as you push yourself back up.

2. Squats

Another great exercise for the lower body. The squat will work mainly the front of your thighs and most importantly your butt. One of the biggest mistake women make when doing the squat, is they tend to have their weight forwards on their toes rather than on their heels.

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart with your knees slightly bent and head looking forward.

Bend your knees and stick your butt out to the back as you squat.

Once your thighs are parallel to the ground, use your legs to push yourself back up.

When you are in the down position, you can extend your arms outward to help keep your balance.

3. Sumo Squats

All women love this exercise. Why? Two words. Inner thigh. This is a great exercise to work your inner thighs. The key to really toning and defining your inner thighs is to use a decent amount of weight when you do your sumo squats so working up to a weight of 30 lbs and beyond would be ideal.

Stand with your feet double shoulder-width apart with your back straight and head looking forward.

Bend your knees and squat down until your knees cover your toes. Push yourself back up and squeeze your butt.

You can place your hands in front of you to act as a counter balance.

As you push yourself up, breathe out. Maintain a straight back throughout the exercise.

4. One-legged step ups

With the 1 legged step ups you'll be able to develop that lower body power. Similar to the squat this exercise is going work the front of your thigh and butt.

Place one foot on a bench and bend your knee to a 90-degree angle.

Using the front of your thighs (quads), push yourself up until your opposite foot is fully on the bench.

Step back down carefully and switch legs.

5. Hamstring Pull-ins with Stability Ball

This exercise works the back of your legs. The exercises that we took a look at before mainly worked the front of your legs. So we need to have that balance. And plus you want the backs of your legs to look good too, right?

Lie on your back with your hands by your sides.

With good control, dig your heels into the stability ball and lift your pelvis off the ground by contracting your butt.

Slowly roll the ball out by extending your legs.

Repeat this "in and out" motion as you keep pressing your heels into the ball.

You should feel this in the back of your upper legs.

Breathe out as you extend your legs.

Guidelines:

Beginner: 12-15 reps/ 3 sets (30 sec rest)

Intermediate: 20 reps/ 4 sets (15 sec rest)

Advanced: Each exercise for 1 minute/ 3 sets (10 sec rest)

A final note on the home abs workout:

Remember that all of these exercises should be done extremely slowly. Many women have the picture in their head that if they do the crunches quickly it means that they are working harder and burning more calories and getting fitter. This is wrong. You will get most out of the abs exercises if you do them slowly - really making the muscles in the midsection and stomach work hard!

5 Lower body strength exercises for women

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