While it’s tempting to give in to full couch potato mode, spending a few hours a week to exercise has insurmountable benefits not only for physical health but mental wellness too. Depending on physical traits like age, height, weight, and even activity level, the best exercise routine for your body is one only you can discover through time.
Sources say that to keep healthy, 150 minutes of aerobic exercise weekly is ideal. This effort is best amplified with strength training (to build muscle) at least once or twice a week. To keep things simple, you may want to spot train per muscle group (legs, arms, abs, etc). This might also help curb fatigue and boredom when working out. Training different parts of your body per session allows you to carefully work up your resistance and try out different exercises every time.
For this edition of our Quarantine Routine: Home Workouts series, we round up a few tried and tested videos on Youtube that focus on legs. Check them out below:
1. Chloe Ting’s Slim Thigh Challenge
This 15-minute workout by Chloe Ting is great as it’s beginner-friendly but can also be levelled up by adding ankle weights. If you’re not a fan of too much jumping around (who is, really?), try this out as it progresses with a few floor workouts and ends with a couple standing exercises. It’s generally slow-paced so even if you’re feeling particularly lethargic today, it’s a video you can still power through with minimum effort.
2. Pamela Reif’s 12-Min Leg Workout
Fans of Pamela Reif can attest to the efficacy of her videos and this routine is no exception. This 12-minute workout involves a mix of standing leg lifts, squats, planks, and lunges. If you’re a complete beginner, try to go through this slowly and concentrate on learning the proper form first. For a more high-intensity workout, a leg band or ankle weights may be added to get that extra oomph!
3. XHIT’s Miley Cyrus Workout
Who hasn’t admired Miley Cyrus’s svelte figure? This workout brings you closer to your dreams of getting toned legs like the pop star’s. XHIT Daily brings you a combination workout that includes fire hydrants, leg lifts, side lunges, and more to help you tone your leg muscles. This video is around 17-minutes so it may require a little bit more patience and mental strength to get through. Make sure to have your favourite workout playlist on blast to help you get into the mood!
4. Perfect Legs with Blogilates
This 15-minute workout to ‘perfect legs’ offers a combination of intrinsic muscle training and pilates. This routine may require a bit of lower ab strength as most of the moves here are lying-down leg lifts. To amend the difficulty level, keep your legs bent when going through the movements and work up your strength little by little. This is a great addition after a quick run or treadmill session!
5. Popsugar Fitness
If you’re a fan of dancing and keeping things fun, this leg workout is for you! As it is only 7-minutes, you’ll most likely go through this routine in a breeze. Because this is a Zumba-style workout, it has the added benefit of being a light cardio exercise. For days you’re feeling a bit lazy to break a sweat, click play on this video to get the best of both worlds—strength training and aerobics!