28 Days To A Trimmer And More Tone Lower Body Using Just Five Body Weight Exercises

Jun 15, 2018 by apost team

Procrastination and weight goals often seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly. January of every New Year, for example, brings about countless resolutions concerning weight goals, but these are often put off to be started next week, and then the next, and the next, until it’s summer and you’re panicking that your swimsuit and cute summer outfits don’t fit for your vacation just a couple weeks away.

The bad news first? Your body isn’t designed to lose large amounts of weight and fat quickly. It can get toned via a single exercise session. Diets and exercise programs promising such exorbitant overall changes are actually doing so via unhealthy methods that can actually compromise your long-term goals as the consequences can damage your metabolism and cause strain to organs and other soft tissues. Plus, a large part of such programs simply involves dehydrating you into thinking you’ve lost fat when all you’ve really lost is water weight.

The good news? With consistent effort and commitment and the right target points, you’ll be astonished at how quickly you can get back into tip-top shape.

One of the most difficult and slow areas of the body to trim and tone are the thighs and buttocks areas. Combining the right exercises with a healthy diet can expedite results. And, you don’t have to spend a fortune to get fit. This buttock-thigh five exercise combo uses nothing more than your own body weight and power. You can add an exercise pad, resistance band, and hand weights if you’d like. Ready to get started?

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Begin with your feet shoulder-width apart. Tighten your core by sinking in your rib cage and abdominals. Squeeze your lower pelvis and place your shoulders back. Keep your head straight forward and your spine in a neutrally straight position. Knees should be slightly bent. Criss-cross your arms across your body so that your left-hand touches your right shoulder and vice versa; this will help you avoid bending your back as you squat. Now, it’s time to begin squatting. Exhale and sink your buttocks downward toward the floor as if you’re about to sit in a chair. Keep your weight on the heels of your feet. Watch your knees - the knee should never go so far as to prevent you from seeing the tips of your toes. Slowing rise and inhale.

The big question is always - how many squats should be done?

Toning and building muscle requires the muscle to first engage and then fatigue. How fast this happens is an individualized process. Use your body as a guide.

Squat as many times as it takes for you to feel the achy, tiredness in your thigh muscles. For beginners, this is usually around 15 squats, or repetitions, which makes up a set. In 28 days, you’ll be fine doing 300 squats a day. After, the first set, rest two or three minutes before repeating for a second and third set. Make sure to increase the number of squats within each set by five every day to gradually work yourself up to that 300 repetitions.

Note: the same repetition and set strategy applies to all the exercises on this page.

Quads, hamstrings, gluteals, calves, and core - forward lunges target some big muscle groups. Chin up, shoulders back, back straight, and keep your core and pelvis engaged. With squats and lunges, it can help to pick a spot to look at after you’re in the right posture and keep eye contact to ensure fatigue doesn’t break your proper form. Your hands can cross your chest or rest on your hips for added balance.

Start your lunges by exhaling and stepping forward with your left leg, thereby continually lowering your hips until both knees are bent at 90-degree angles. Your left knee should not go past the tip of your toe and your right knee should never touch the floor. Keep your ankles straight and your knee and ankle aligned. Weight should be on your heels. Now, push back into a standing position and inhale. You’ll repeat using your right leg to step forward. Both legs account for one count in your repetition. Again, follow the above rep and set strategy to work your way up to 300 lunges per day.

Side lunges are similar to forward lunges, but they also have the added bonus of working inner and outer thighs. Your feet will be spread apart slightly further than shoulder width apart. Chin up, shoulders back, engage core and pelvis, and back straight.

You aren’t actually picking your feet up with side lunges. Instead, you’ll shift your body weight completely onto your right heel by bending your right knee at 90-degree angle, which will naturally stretch out your left leg inward if you keep your foot stationary. Again, watch those knees aren’t past your toes and that knees and ankles are inline with each other. Return to center and repeat the side lunge to the left side. Both sides count as one in your repetitions. Don’t forget to exhale on exertion and inhale as you relax.

Target all the above and your hip abductors with a move that’s a cross between a squat and lunge.

You know the positional drill by now, right? Chin up, back straight, shoulders back, and core and pelvis engaged. Start with feet shoulder-width apart and hands on your hips. Your right leg will take a big step back and toward the left, leaving you looking like you’re curtsying. Now, push your buttocks down as if you’re about to squat. Your left thigh will be parallel to the ground. Hold for a second. Return to standing by pushing off with your right leg. Repeat the process using the opposite leg.

While your gluteals are part of a concerted effort in lunge and squats, the fire hydrant exercise isolates the gluteal muscles to do the majority of the work.

An exercise pad makes this easier if you’re working on a hard surface. Get on your hands and knees, with hands directly underneath shoulders and knees directly underneath hips. The spine shouldn’t be stiff, but it should be straight and in line with your neck. Engage your core and pelvis. Begin by exhaling as you slowly lift your right leg out to the side; your knee will stay bent. Continue lifting as far as you can, but do not go so high that your hips rotate or your body leans with your leg. Slowly lower the right leg, inhale and repeat using the left leg.

If you have trouble finding the neutral placement of your spine from an all-fours position, you can roll your hips to arch your back up and down a few times until it settles in a comfy position. Be sure to realign your neck and head once you find neutral.

There you have five lower-body exercises that can help you erase the results of procrastinating on your goals to fit and tone. Don’t forget to increase your reps as you progress. Do you have questions, concerns, stories to share? We love to hear from you in our comments.