Five fantastic lower body exercises worth trying in the comfort of your home

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle and improving overall health requires a combination of regular exercise and a nutritious diet. With ongoing Covid-19 restrictions limiting gym access, home workouts and healthy eating are key. While many athletes and fitness enthusiasts may prioritize problem areas or cardio for calorie burning, it’s crucial to also prioritize lower body strength. Instead of solely concentrating on arms and shoulders, focusing on enhancing lower body muscles such as calves and hamstrings is essential. Improving your lower body involves exercises targeting the legs, thighs, hips, and buttocks.

Strength Building Workouts for Your Lower Body

Below are five lower body exercises recommended by fitness enthusiast and Steadfast Nutrition founder, Aman Puri, to help strengthen your lower body muscles.

1. Squats

A fundamental lower body exercise that engages the glutes, hamstrings, and lower back muscles is essential.

2. Side Lunge

Side lunges are a fantastic inclusion in lower body workouts. They allow you to engage in lateral movement, working within the frontal plane where the body moves from side to side. This motion effectively targets and stabilizes the muscles around the hips.

3. Wall Sit

Engaging in wall sits effectively targets various joints and muscles simultaneously. This exercise is excellent for comprehensively targeting the entire lower body, focusing on the glutes, hamstrings, and quads alike.

4. Band-assisted side leg lift

Ensure that you support yourself with your right forearm. Keep your legs straight, aligned one on top of the other, and point your toes forward.

5. Glute Bridge

The glute bridge effectively targets the glute muscles without straining the lower back. It’s particularly beneficial for individuals experiencing knee, back, or hip discomfort, who may find squatting challenging.

Exercise with care

Performing lower body exercises is essential for maintaining overall health and fitness. Aim to incorporate these exercises into your routine at least twice a week, but no more than four times a week to allow for proper recovery. It’s important to vary the muscle groups you target to avoid overworking specific areas.

• Focusing on the gluteus maximus, the largest muscle in the body, during workouts requires significant energy expenditure, leading to increased calorie burning. Strengthening the lower body can help prevent common bone ailments like arthritis and improve bone strength. Additionally, targeting muscles such as the quadriceps and hamstrings can address posture issues, reducing back and neck pain associated with poor posture.
• Lower body exercises also stimulate the release of testosterone, promoting muscle mass and strength development. Even without additional weights, body weight exercises can effectively build muscle and improve strength. This is particularly beneficial for athletes, as strong lower body muscles enhance performance in sports and contribute to overall aerobic capacity.

• Incorporating lower body exercises into your routine offers numerous health benefits, including improved cardiovascular health and circulation. So, don’t hesitate to put on your comfortable gym attire and start reaping the rewards of a lower body workout regimen.