If you want to start your day with a quick, equipment-free work out, squats and lunges are the exercises you are looking for. Both of these exercises are great in that you can do them in the privacy of your own home, in as little time as you need, and work out various parts of the body. You can always mix up the variations with squats and lunges leaving you with many different forms of these exercises to try. Squats could be one of the most effective forms of exercise there is. No matter what your goal, squats are the basis to many weight training programs. A squat is a multi-joint exercise, meaning it works more than one muscle group. With squats you can target just about every major muscle in your upper leg, including the hamstrings, and quadriceps.
Some easy tips to remember when beginning your squat exercises are:
Stand with your feet shoulder with apart.
Lower your body slowly, as if you were seating yourself in a chair, until your thighs are parallel the ground.
Extend your hands in front of you for balance.
With your weight on the heels of your feet, push yourself up until you are back in the position in which you started.
Remember to never let your knees to extend over your toes. If you feel off balance at any time during this exercise, use a chair to squat over.
Lunges are also great exercises for your butt and thighs. These exercises, like squats are also considered a multi-joint or compound exercise. For this exercise, start with one foot forward and the other back, making sure your front knee is over your front ankle. Lower your back knee and rise, squeezing your buttocks as you do so.
Squats and lunges are also a great lower leg-sculpting workout, but when done correctly, they should not leave your calves looking bulky. If this happens you are most likely curling your toes and shifting your body weight forward. This overemphasizes the calve muscles. Focus should instead be placed on the weight on your heels. Here are some other variations of squat and lung exercises. The Plie squat focuses on the inner thighs, quads, and buttocks. For this exercise, stand with your feet WIDER than shoulder width apart, with the toes pointing out. Bend your knees and lower your body keeping your knees in line with your toes. As you push back up, squeeze at the heels of your feet.
Doing these exercises just one to two times per week in sets of two or three with repetitions of 15 or 16 will demonstrate a substantial change in your leg muscles as well as your cardiovascular system.