Summer may be coming to an end, but it’s not too late to tone your legs. While you can have great legs for late summer stops at the beach, continue to the New Year, and that short dress will accent your gorgeous calves There are so many muscles of the leg to work and a wide variety of exercises for each muscle group, you have to focus on choosing the best exercises. Here are a few favorites.
Start at your ankles and work your way up the leg.
Having gorgeous ankles makes you look stunning, whether you’re wearing evening wear or jeans. Nobody wants Cankles, where there is no distinction between the calves and ankles. Weighted calf raises can help avoid that problem. Jumping rope helps shape ankles, as do stair calf raises. You can do a stair calf raise by standing on the edge of a step with feet hip-width apart. Don’t forget to hold the railing. Slowly raise yourself onto your toes and hold the position. Then lower your heels until they are lower than the edge of the stairs.
Tone your calves with a ballerina plie.
A ballerina plie tones more than just the calves. It’s a squat that tones the entire leg. You can work all muscle groups in the leg by adjusting your feet. There are five foot positions in a ballerina plie. Each one works muscles differently. Start with your feet next to each other. As you keep your heels together, widen the distance between the front of the foot. Each time it’s wider, do a squat. When you raise your body from a squat, go up on your toes and hold.
A plank can tone your entire body.
A plank tones your entire body. It seems simple but can be difficult if you’re not in shape. You start facedown with your arms bent at the elbow and your upper body weight on the forearms. Your toes are on the floor and your body is kept straight. Hold the position for ten seconds. To give your legs a good workout, lift one leg off the ground and kick your heel in the air.
- For ankles and calves, do single calf raises while you’re doing dishes/ Hang on to the edge of the counter as you lift one leg off the floor. Raise your heel off the floor of the other foot and balance on tiptoe. Slowly lower your body and repeat on the other foot.
- Do walking lunges while you’re busy with chores to get full leg toning. Just take big steps, keeping your back foot behind and bending the knee until it almost touches the floor. Stand up, bringing the back leg forward. Then do the same on the other leg.
- Taking the stairs is more than a good cardio workout, it’s a great leg toner, too. Walking up the stairs tones a different set of leg muscles than descending. Do both.
- A mountain climber is another leg-toning workout. Start in the plank position, then bring one foot forward until your thigh touches your chest. Put it back in the starting position, bringing the other foot forward in a running motion.
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