Nothing Beats a Great Pair of Legs: Leg Exercises for Women

While cardiovascular exercises will help women lose weight, leg exercises for women can:

• Help build muscles and
• Increase your strength.

Since muscle is more efficient at burning calories than fat, building muscle can be a big boost to your weight loss program.

Before doing any leg exercises for women, keep in mind a few basics that will help keep you injury free.

Make sure to warm up your muscles before doing any type of strength training exercises.

Doing some gentle stretches or taking a quick five minute walk is a perfect warm up.

Also, when you are first building muscle, some soreness is to be expected.

However, if you are having more severe pains or they last longer than a few days, make sure to consult a physician or a physical therapist.

There are many leg exercises for women that you can do in a gym or health club where there is weight equipment available.

Leg presses are a great exercise.

Lie on your back and place your feet on the board, shoulder width apart.

Push yourself back from the board, using your legs. Then return to the starting position.

Try working up to three to four sets of 10-12 repetitions.

Another leg exercise at the gym is leg extensions.

Sit at the machine and place your ankles under the pads.

Slowly raise the pads, using your legs, until just before your legs are straight.

Then slowly lower the pads back down. Try working up to three sets of 12-15 repetitions.

If you aren’t into the gym scene, there are still plenty of leg exercises for women that you can do at home.

Lunges are one such exercise.

While keeping your back straight, step forward with one leg, lowering your body until your knee is bent at a 90-degree angle.

Make sure your knee does not go past your toes. Then return back to the starting position.

Rotate your legs and aim for three sets of 14-16 repetitions.

Another great at-home exercise is squats.

Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Slowly pretend to sit in a chair that is right behind you.

Don’t squat down farther than where your knees are at a 90-degree angle.

Then slowly return to the starting position. Aim for three to four sets of 10-12 repetitions.

You can make both of these exercises more challenging by adding weights.

Simply hold hand held weights down at your sides as you do them.

If you are looking to combine a cardio workout with leg exercises for women, try an activity like:

• Walking
• Running
• Bike riding or
• In-line skating.

All of these exercises give both your heart and your legs a workout.

Whatever leg exercises for women you chose to do, just make sure to start with only as many reps as you can handle doing.

Once you build more strength and endurance, try adding more reps or more sets to your workout.

Adding leg exercises to your fitness routine is a great tool in helping you overcome obesity.

Here are some more tools that can put you on the right track to losing weight.

• Incorporate a proven, complete nutritional program into your daily life.
• Enhance your nutritional program with a complete mutivitamin supplement because no nutritional program is perfect.
• Use a behavior modification and motivational program that will help you stay on track with your nutritional plan.
• Exercise at home with your own:
  Treadmill

  Stairstepper

  Exercise bike

  Elliptical trainer

  Hand weights or

  An aerobic video.

• See what kinds of weight loss aids your health insurance covers such as:
  Hypnotism

  Gym membership discounts

  Nutritional counseling.

Whether you are doing leg exercises for women or just trying to lose weight the tips above will guide you in the right direction.

You can reach your weight loss goals!

So, go ahead. Use the tips above to start losing weight right now.

Remember, losing weight and feeling great. That is your new motto!