Welcome to another article and video about my favorite fitness exercises for your legs and booty. In this article I will be talking about four exercises that helped me create leaner and defined legs. They also helped me create a fuller and rounder booty, and I’d never say no to that. This article is a little different though, because I’ll be going into depth a little more. I personally watch a lot of fitness routine videos, to get some inspiration for my own workouts.
But I always miss not getting the information I want. I don’t just want to blindly follow someone, without knowing why and how an exercise works. That’s why I am going in depth about my favorite exercises for your legs and booty. I really hope this will cater to your need to ramp up your knowledge about fitness. I think that if you really want to take care of your body and get to your goals the right way, knowledge is key. So let’s get into the exercises right now!
Lunges with dumbbells
I recently came across these lunges with dumbbells because of this video by Stephanie Buttermore. Here trainer showed how you can use these lunges to focus on your glutes. By using the Smith machine, you can truly focus on your butt muscles, while doing lunges. Place the barbell high enough for you to hold onto it, while going down into your lunge. This helps you keep your balance, so you don’t have to worry about that. This allows you to truly focus on your form and your mind-muscle-connection.
Meaning that you can execute this exercise with the perfect form, without having to worry about losing your balance. And you will definitely feel this in your glutes, also known as the main muscles in your butt. Add a dumbbell to make the exercise heavier and get more results. I personally did 4 sets with at least 10 to 15 reps. I used different weights, starting from 4 to 10 kilos. I used a step board on the lowest setting, so that I could force myself to use my standing leg only. And lord, that made my glutes burn up like fire!
Deadlifts
Oh my god, I can’t live without deadlifts. Forget hip thrusts, start deadlifting! Deadlifts helped me with smoothing out the back of my legs. They also helped me create a rounder underbutt and a fuller booty in general. I like to use a barbell, but you could also use the Smith machine if you like. Just make sure you’re still able to hold a good form, so you can’t hurt your back. Deadlifts are meant to activate the back of your legs, your butt, lower back and core. It’s an exercise that works your entire lower body.
If you have trouble with creating a rounder butt and smoother legs, then this is your exercise. When I was heavier I had some ‘fat bumps’ on the back of my legs. It wasn’t cellulite, but close enough. By losing weight I tackled the fat, but the deadlifts gave me the chance to work on getting my legs back in shape. This exercise also made my underbutt look a lot rounder. I usually use a barbell and use 5 kilos on both sides to warm up. Then I go up to 7,5 and 10 kilos. I do at least 3 to 4 sets and I aim to do at least 10 to 15 reps.
Leg raises and kickbacks
I love me some leg raises to create leaner legs. After being overweight for a really long time, I was fed up with chubby thighs. Well, losing weight is one thing, shaping your legs is another. Leg raises are the easiest way to work on tightening up your legs. In this case your inner and outer thighs. I love using the cable station and an ankle strap for this exercise. For the inner thighs you pull the cable towards your other leg, instead of raising your leg outward. This makes you use the muscles of your inner thigh like no other!
I like turning leg raises into a superset, by going straight into kickbacks. You can do this with an ankle strap, but I prefer using a handle around my foot. This allows me to bend over a bit and kick my legs further behind me. The kickbacks are really good for the back of your legs, your underbutt and glutes. It’s basically an amplifier for your deadlifts. Start with ten leg raises and then immediately go into ten kickbacks, that’s a superset. I use at least 5 to 7,5 kilos for the kickbacks and 2,5 for the leg raises. You can start with 3 sets, but I’m at 4 for a while now.
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Aerobic kickbacks
Yup, an old school exercise that’s still able to rock your world. You can do this in the gym or at home, whatever you like. All you need is a yoga matte and some ankle weights. My ankle weights are 1,5 kilos each. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but don’t let it full you. Working with your own body weight can be quite the challenge. Get on all fours after putting on your ankle weights and start your kickbacks. Make sure you don’t just kick back, but also a bit higher towards the ceiling.
Pointing your toes is a good idea, this makes you use your muscles a different way than your used to. I love doing aerobic kickbacks because they allow me to really stretch out my legs. This helps me with creating leaner muscles, which is exactly what I’m going for. I prefer leaner legs compared to bulkier and muscular legs. This exercise helps me to do it! I start off with 10 reps as a warmup. Then I go in for my three other sets and I do at least 15 to 20 reps per leg. Trust me, this will make you feel the burn the next day, no matter what!
I really hope you like my favorite leg and booty exercises as much as I do. If you have doubts about using these, ask your trainer (in the gym) to see what suits you best. Take responsibility for your own body and make sure you do what’s right for you. Don’t forget to let me know what you think of these exercises after trying them out. They’re quite different than the Insta-popular hip thrusts and what not. Uut I assure you these exercises work just as good, if not better!
Go ahead and try my favorite leg and booty exercises today,
Kaya-Quintana
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