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Strength Training: Ladies! Toning your Thighs and Butt.

Before I mention a single things about exercising the thighs and butt let's make sure we are clear on one thing. You can not decrease the fat you have on your legs and lower body by doing leg exercises! Again, you can not decrease the fat you have on your legs and lower body by doing leg exercises. All you can do is tone the muscle you have under the existing bodyfat that you do have. So before you read the rest of this article on leg exercises, please do two things for me. Fix your diet, and do your cardiovascular training. Once your diet and your cardio training is consistent, you can then be comforted that your efforts in the gym will be noticed.

When looking at the thighs and butt, you must look at the anatomy involved. Which muscles are being worked here and which should be focused on? With this in mind, we will assume, when we say thighs, what we mean is the upper part of the leg. The part of your leg between your butt and your knee. When we say butt, what we mean is the gluteus maximus. The gluteus maximus is by far the largest and most prominent muscle on your posterior side. With these clarifications, we will continue to discuss how to work the thighs effectively and how to work the gluteus maximus.

The thighs are the muscles from the hip to the knee. These muscles are very attractive on fit and healthy persons and women in particular are often concerned with the appearance of these muscles. Many times, women look at the thighs from the side because this is where much of the focus is when wearing shorts and skirts. Because of this, many times, the emphasis of the woman in her training becomes focused on the sides of her leg because this is what is visible. This is a mistake. The reason why this is a mistake is because the part that is visible are really just her hamstrings and quads overlapping on the sides. If a woman wants to tone her legs, she would be well advised to spend less time doing exercises on those itty bitty muscles on the sides of her legs and more on the underlying the much more prominent quads and hamstrings.

So now that we have established that it is really the quads and hamstring muscles that need attention, we need to focus on which exercises work these muscles. This is simple. The quad muscles work to extend the leg and straighten it while the hamstring muscle group works to bend or curl the leg. This can be done in isolation with machines by doing a variety of leg extensions for the quads or a variety of leg curl machines for the hamstrings. Additionally, these muscles can be worked indirectly by doing a variety of pressing type movements such as lunges, side lunges, squats, and leg presses. If you do both these isolated and nonisolated exercises, you will see results in your leg tone and development.

Now, when it comes down to working the butt or the "glutes", the same basic rules apply. You can either work your legs in isolation, or you can do it indirectly. Both are required. I recommend that you first do the indirect work first, then the isolation direct work. This means, for the glutes, that you should first do squats or deadlifts before you do any direct glute work such as glute kickbacks. I am also a believer in doing lateral lunges and forward lunges for general functionality and balance to your leg muscles. These exercises will work both your glutes and thigh muscles and provide a great stretch while incorporating healthy movement patterns.

Remember, you need to do indirect work for both these muscle groups. The legs are tricky especially when talking about the thighs and the glutes as though they are separate subjects. Many exercises such as the leg press, squats, and deadlifts all work both thighs and glutes. In general, it would be best to do the squats, deadlifts, and leg presses first and then to do the specific thigh work second. This way, you can reap full benefit from the difficult work of the squats/etc and then isolate your thigh muscles ex. Hamstrings and quads latter.

I've written some other articles to help you with your workout results. You can read more and join in the discussion of these workout articles in our Forums.

• Nutrition: Before you even start thinking about exercising.
• Nutrition: What is the best nutritional program?
• Nutrition: Alcohol (The good and the bad)
• Nutrition: Milk - "It does a body bad, real bad"
• Strength Training: "Just do it" Why Nike has it right...
• Strength Training: It's called Intensity!!
• Strength Training: Toning and Building the Arms
• Strength Training: The Best Exercise Routine For Busy People
• Strength Training: Ladies! Toning your Thighs and Butt.
• Strength Training: How can I be Consistent with my Workouts and get Results with my busy schedule?
• Strength Training: How to get a Sexy Flat Stomach
• Strength Training: Getting Bulky
• Cardiovascular Training: It is crucial to know your why...
• Cardiovascular Training: Why you should be exercising less
• Cardiovascular Training: Cardio the right way, intensity.
• Commitment: It takes six weeks
• Commitment: How I went from cute pretty boy to hot stud in 5 seconds flat
• Commitment: Train for your potential

Contact Us with your questions and suggestions for more articles

Please Note

The articles are only simple guidelines. They do not stand alone in your success. Workout 4 Results specializes in providing results and forming your body into a balanced, athletic, and aesthetic shape. In every case, this requires individualized programming in every area of each dimension. Your diet, your resistance program, and your cardiovascular program, and even your committed approach will all be unique in order to reap the biggest results.