There is a vast variety of exercises that you can do to tone your legs but some of the best ones are exercises that incorporate dumbbells for more weight.
If you want to tone your legs, you must strengthen your legs and add muscle while eliminating fat. Lifting weights is a really great way to do this. As a female, your body doesn’t have nearly as much testosterone as a male, therefore you aren’t going to build big muscles. Instead, you’re going to build lean muscles. So don’t be afraid to lift heavy.
When you lift weight, you are increasing muscle and the more muscle you have, the more our bodies burn fat. This results in lean muscle. Sounds pretty nice right?
So, get off those treadmills and pick up some dumbbells because today I have 6 exercises to tone your legs and burn fat!
1. Bulgarian Split Squats
Split squats are one of my favorite exercises but also one of the best exercises to tone your legs because it activates multiple muscles at one time, including the quads, hamstrings, and the glutes.
To do this…
Find a base
This can be a bench if you are at the gym, or anything that you can place your back leg on, such as a low chair at home. Find a stable position for your front leg. Not too far in front so that you can’t squat and not to far back.
Control your squat
You want to control the bend of your front leg to reach the bottom of your squat and then using your top leg and quads, drive yourself back up.
Find a weight that you are comfortable with. I recommend starting with 10-15 pounds and increase depending on how that feels. However, don’t be afraid to challenge yourself. By the end of your reps, it should be hard and a struggle.
2. Glute Bridges
Here is the famous exercise for all your booty goals! This exercise targets the back of your legs which includes hamstrings and glutes, as well as your lower back and even core. I highly encourage all women to include this in their workout. It is super fun and a great exercise especially for toning your legs and butt.
Position your back and legs
When placing your back on the bench or base, just your upper back should be on the bench. Include everything up to your shoulder blades on the bench and the rest of your body should be hanging off. Lower your hips and place one dumbbell by your hips in a comfortable position. Your legs should be a good distance out so that when you thrust up, your shins are perpendicular to the ground.
Squeeze your butt
I cannot empathize this enough! At the top of your thrust, squeeze your butt, and engage your muscles. Don’t speed through these. Take a moment at the top and hold the position before coming down.
3. Romanian Deadlifts
Deadlifts are also one of my favorites and my to-go leg day exercise. This exercise is super good for working the hamstrings and stretching out that muscles. It also works the glutes, back, and hips. However, to get the max benefits and hit all the muscles, proper form is essential.
Proper form
Begin with standing with your legs hip distance apart. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with them hanging in front of you. Slide the dumbbells down your legs by hinging at the hips and stop about halfway down your shins. Your arms should be extended with a slight bend in your legs.
Then, slide the dumbbells back up your legs while driving your hips through and squeezing your butt at the top. During this exercises, you should think about hinging at the hips rather than bending your legs and squatting down.
Keep your back and shoulders engaged. Don’t let your back round out and keep your head up. Avoid looking directly at the ground.
4. Sumo Squats
The sumo squat is a different variation of regular squats, the difference being your leg and feet position and it also activates other muscles.
The sumo squat targets inner thighs and the outer glutes as well as quads, hamstrings, and core muscles. Sumo squats is also an exercise where you generally can use a heavier weight compared to some of the other exercises because it hits bigger muscles.
Position
You want to stand slightly wider than hip distance and point your toes slightly outward. I find that this position it easier to squat down than a regular squat and I feel it more in the glutes than the quads.
Start by holding one dumbbell vertically by one end with your arms extended. Keep your arms extended as you squat down. The other end of the dumbbell should touch the floor before standing up.
Squat all the way down so that your hips are at least in line with your knees, or the weight has touched the ground and then drive your hips up and all the way through squeezing your butt at the top.
5. Goblet Squat
Goblet squats are similar to sumo squats except the weight is in a different position. Your leg and feet position are the same. Place your feet slightly wider than your hips and turn your feet outward.
Hold the weight
Take one dumbbell. Grab the top part of the dumbbell from the base and bring it to your chest. Your arms and the dumbbell will stay in this position during the exercise. The only thing that moves are your legs.
Keep your body and shoulders back as you squat. Don’t allow the weight to pull your body forward. If you have to hunch over to carry the weight, grab a lighter weight.
Just like any other squat, this works the quads, glutes, hamstrings, and calves, but because you are holding the dumbbell, it also works biceps, forearms, shoulders, and core muscles.
6. Walking Lunges
Walking lunges is a good exercise especially if you want to incorporate balance in your workout as it takes a little more balance and coordination to perform. This exercise works the quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves, hips, and abs, so it is a really great exercise.
How to:
Start standing with your feet hip distance apart. Take 2 dumbbells, one in each hand. Keep your body up right and shoulders back throughout the entire exercise. Don’t allow your body to come forward.
Take a big step out with one leg and bend your legs so that you form about 90 degrees.
Then, stand up bringing your back leg forward and keeping your front leg in the same spot. End with feet hip distance apart. Repeat on the other side.
Workout Tips
- Engaging your muscles during each workout will help you stay in proper form to get the most out of your workout and decrease risk of injury.
- Keep in mind that everybody and every exercise is different, therefore, the weight of each dumbbell can vary.
- Anywhere from 10–15-pound dumbbells are a great start if you are more of a beginner and then you can increase your weight per exercise depending on how it feel.
- Don’t be shy about how much weight you use. You can probably handle more than you think. A 50–60-pound dumbbell for the sumo squat is definitely possible to work up to. As weight gets heavier, the number of reps can decrease.
- Adding more weight and lifting heavy is how you get results and tone your legs.
- To get the most out of each workout, make sure you fuel your body and eat food! Check out this amazing, Simple and Healthy Pesto Caprese Chicken Recipe.
For example, if you use 20 pounds dumbbells, 3 sets of 10 reps is good. However, if you are using the barbell with added weight, 3 sets of 5 pounds might be more manageable.
You got it!
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