The best training programs for toned legs for girls

Slender legs evoke admiration among men, and among women a strong desire to stop eating sweets and go to the gym. If you want to make your legs attractive, then this article is for you!

Slender legs are an object of worship for men and an object of dreams for girls themselves, which means it’s time to find out how to properly pump up a girl’s leg muscles so as to get a guaranteed result.

Toned buttocks, elastic thighs and firm tendons are a clear manifestation of feminine strength and beauty. Therefore, girls constantly demand advice on how to pump up their leg muscles, reduce their hips and shape their buttocks. The truth is that it's not that hard to tone up your legs if you know how to do it right.

What perfectly toned legs look like for girls

Regardless of your physical predisposition to training and body type, any girl deserves and can get perfectly toned legs. Both asthenics (ectomorphs) and hypersthenics (endomorphs) will receive decent results within 4-8 weeks of training.

Christina Kuddus not only knows everything about relief training, but also regularly demonstrates first-class results at Fitness and Bodybuilding Championships.

No less decorated athlete, Bahar Nabieva, also known as “Miss Iron Buttocks”, gives endless motivation to all beginners in working on their legs.

See more beautiful photos of female athletes and bodybuilders with toned legs at the end of the article.

What leg muscles need to be worked?

Competence in working out the legs is closely related to knowledge of their structure, because they are one of the most complex parts of the body. The leg anatomically consists of three main parts: the thigh, lower leg and foot.

When we say “pump up your legs,” we usually mean working the thighs (quadriceps or inner thighs), leg biceps, and calf muscles. Although the buttocks are not considered part of the legs, we will cover this training in this article.

• The quadriceps muscle (quadriceps) is essential for stretching the knee joint and flexing the leg at the hip joint. It consists of four separate muscles: rectus, externus, medial (intermediate) and internal.
• What a girl needs to know about the hamstrings to consciously pump them up is that they are responsible for bending and rotating the knee joint and stretching the hip joint.
• The leg biceps are made up of four muscles: the biceps femoris, the semitendinosus, the small semimembranosus, and the short head of the biceps femoris.
• The gluteal muscle consists of three parts - large, median and small. They are primarily responsible for stretching the hips and are also used to rotate, retract and adduct the hips. And, of course, to drive you crazy if your buttocks are toned and firm.

Luckily for you women, your legs are stronger than any other part of your body. In fact, even stronger than in men in relation to the rest of the body. Thus, the female sex simply has no excuse for weak legs! As they say, let's take our feet in our hands and move forward - to pumped up forms!

Is it possible to reduce volumes quickly?

Often girls are faced with the question of how to quickly remove muscle or volume? If you stop exercising, then after a while your muscles will lose their volume, and the fat layer above them will increase. But if you decide to continue exercising, you will get in shape much faster than people who have not done anything before.

If we are not talking about the muscles themselves, but about excess volumes, then they can quickly disappear only in one case - as a result of severe dehydration. As you understand, such “weight loss” is not a long-term result, but often, on the contrary, leads to sad consequences in the form of impaired metabolism and a quick return of the lost kilograms. In order for the volumes to go away for a long time, this process must be slow so that your body gets used to the changes taking place and does not perceive them as stress.

Photos of girls with toned legs

And now let's move on to the most important thing - training options.

How girls can train their leg muscles and make a training plan

Your plan will consist of a basic, specialized training program with the addition of 1-2 days of cardio.

The basic one is mainly aimed at working out all muscle groups of the legs. These exercises are inherently good: By flexing your hips and stretching your knees at the same time, you'll be able to lift much more weight and also save time in the gym.

Multi-joint exercises burn more calories, require more intensity, and are much more effective for toning up legs for both girls and guys than single-muscle exercises.

Specialized programs will consist primarily of isolation exercises aimed at working specific muscle groups, such as the buttocks and calves. A sample weekly plan might look like this:

If there is not enough time to do all the programs on different days during the week, you can combine them within one training session. To do this, make exercises for all muscles the main ones in leg training and supplement them with isolation exercises in order to work in detail on a specific group in the second half of the workout.

Choose 2-3 exercises for all muscles and 2 exercises for individual muscles - one each for the hamstrings and quadriceps (quadriceps) to pump all the muscles of the legs with sufficient resistance and intensity.

You can also use your legs in most cardiovascular exercises, such as sprinting, running stairs or uphill, and cycling.

Frequency, duration and intensity

If your legs are not your weak point, exercise them once a week. Even if they are, you still shouldn't pump them more than twice a week.

Why is that? The legs are such a large part of the body that it takes a lot of time for them to recover after a hard or intense workout.

If a girl decides to pump her legs with extreme intensity several times a week, she is guaranteed to overtrain. And if she feels that her muscles are rested and can pump them twice a week, then she simply is not training with enough intensity.

Just for this, we recommend dividing leg workouts at the beginning and end of the week and be sure to do only one of them as the main one, with 75-85% intensity of the maximum.

However, there are circumstances in which training legs twice a week at high intensity is beneficial. For example, if you have already reached the advanced level of training that you want, or if your legs are more muscular and larger in relation to your upper body.

In this case, it is advisable to train twice a week with 80-90% effort, but with high repetitions and light weights, which is more like circuit training.

Help from professionals

It is important to understand what the reasons are in order to properly treat sagging skin on the legs. To remove such a defect, beauty salons often offer several common procedures:

• mesotherapy (microinjections with active substances are made into problem areas of the skin of the legs);
• RF lifting (radio waves are used to tighten the contours of the body);
• LPG massage (vacuum roller lipomassage is performed here);
• wraps (hot, cold);
• ultrasonic skin cleaning. Ultrasound is used here, the procedure is effective and painless. After it, the skin becomes firm, elastic and smooth.

But these procedures must be carried out by an experienced specialist who knows the correct techniques, the features of each procedure, indications and contraindications. Thanks to the professionalism of a specialist, you can get excellent results and avoid serious consequences.

If you want to remove sagging skin on your legs and get a good result, then you should forget about laziness!

Leg training program for girls in the gym

The first workout can be done on Monday or Tuesday. Do a light to moderate cardio workout to warm up your body for 5-10 minutes and stretch your muscles. Ideally, this training should be performed in a circular format of 3 circles: in the first circle the number of repetitions is 16, in the second – 18, in the third – 20.

The rest time between circuit series is no more than 60 seconds. If you are ready and willing, you can do each exercise sequentially for 3 approaches each, also maintaining only a short rest between exercises.

Basic leg training program

Squats with a barbell on a bench

• 3 sets of 16-20 reps
• Body part: Quadriceps Equipment: Barbell

Lunges with barbell to the side

• 3 sets of 16-20 reps
• Body part: Quadriceps Equipment: Barbell

Romanian deadlift

• 3 sets of 16-20 reps
• Body part: Hamstrings Equipment: Barbell

Lunge with dumbbells forward

• 3 sets of 16-20 reps
• Body part: Quadriceps Equipment: Dumbbells

Gluteal Bridge

• 3 sets of 16-20 reps
• Body part: Buttocks Equipment: Body weight

Swing backwards with a bent leg

• 3 sets of 16-20 reps
• Body part: Buttocks Equipment: Body weight

Note: Use weights as desired

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It is possible to make the necessary adjustments to the training based on the availability of the necessary equipment in the gym and your personal taste for certain exercises for each muscle group.

When making changes, always schedule compound exercises such as squats and deadlifts at the beginning of the session. You need to have maximum energy for these "big" exercises.

If you fatigue smaller muscle groups with isolation movements early on, you'll have less strength to load your legs on more difficult compound movements later where your full effort is really needed.

And most importantly, always keep your motivation at the highest unshakable level, think about the upcoming workout with joy from the very morning, program your subconscious only for a positive result.

At the end of the week, do a second core wellness workout. While it's important to work up to 80% personal effort, don't lift more weight than you can comfortably handle. This will reduce your form and lead you to injury.

Even in isolation exercises, heavy lifting is only safe when the weight is lifted using precise technique and trajectory, so start by mastering the movement's technique and focus on mastery first.

This workout is ideally performed as a partial circuit.

Special workout for buttocks and calves

Circuit training - 3 circles
Forward bends on one leg with a kettlebell

• 5 reps on each leg
• Body part: Hamstrings Equipment: Kettlebells

Plie squats

• Quick deep squats - 10 reps
• Body part: Quadriceps Equipment: Dumbbells

Taking the leg back while standing using an expander

• 8 reps on each leg
• Body part: Buttocks Equipment: Rubber (loops)

Swing your leg forward and backward

• 5 reps on each leg
• Body part: Hamstrings Equipment: Body weight

Seated calf raise with barbell

• 3 sets of 12-15 reps
• Body part: Calves Equipment: Barbell

Single leg calf raise

• 3 sets of 12-15 reps
• Body part: Calves Equipment: Dumbbells

Note: Alternatively, you can perform jumping jacks on one leg for 30 seconds.

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How else can you help yourself achieve results faster?

2nd opinion: It is useless to go to the gym to lose weight!

Firstly, simulators are different. For example, cardio equipment - a treadmill, an exercise bike, a stepper, an ellipsoid and others - is an excellent analogue to walking, skiing, cycling or skating. On a rainy or frosty day you can’t do without them.

Secondly, the so-called “strength” exercise machines (with weights, blocks and cables) can also be used in fat-burning mode. So, “jocks” put heavy weights on them and do 8–10 repetitions with them, then rest for a long time. And those who are losing weight need to select a light weight and do 15-30 repetitions with a short rest before the next approach. Such training will strengthen the muscles, increase their tone and blood circulation in them, due to which fat burning will increase, but will not give significant growth. At the same time, training on simulators is relatively safe: the loads move along a strict trajectory, there is no risk that an arm or leg will turn in, go to the side and crush you under the weight.

Tips for getting perfect legs for girls

How often do you hear the phrases “Tone your muscles”, “Keep your buttocks toned”? Let's reveal a secret: there are only two main goals - adding muscle mass and losing fat.

Do you want to either achieve one or both goals? You cannot “tone” a part of your body. Therefore, before pumping up her legs, it is important for a girl to identify problem areas and focus her training on them.

So, just like if you have “big” legs—larger in relation to your upper body—first determine whether their size comes from fat or muscle. It's not hard to find out. If leg size is related to muscle, you should have a good outer curve in your hips, the lower teardrop muscle will be clearly visible and there will be no orange peel at all. The tendons are round and dense. Legs can be large, but at the same time seductive and elastic. And if the volume of the legs is associated with fat, they will not have much shape and will be shaky and loose.

If you think your legs are too muscular, then you should not lift weights with your legs. All other girls - and they are the majority - should continue pumping up their legs and lifting weights until they reach their goal.

A well-structured diet, post-workout recovery, and quality sleep will help enhance your training results. This will not only consolidate the results of your efforts in the fitness room, but will also improve your health.

Swim in the pool, do yoga or Pilates exercises to keep your muscles flexible. If you feel muscle pain after training, do not let yourself lie on the couch doing nothing. The best way to get rid of muscle pain is lighter physical activity or massage.

If you are forced to miss a specialized workout in the gym or your gym membership has expired, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with 7 options for training your buttocks and legs at home for girls.

It's a good idea to have a regular "form check" session with a trainer or partner once every month or so. During these workouts, lighten the load, focus on using the best form possible, and your partner will give you tips and corrections.

This will help you avoid developing bad habits and technique mistakes that will be difficult to correct later.

You can read more about what exercises and in what methodology you can speed up results and effectively work out the legs of guys and girls in our article on how to quickly pump up your legs.

Exercises

Getting rid of voluminous calves on the legs is quite difficult, because in such an area the fat layer is minimal, so the structure and shape are determined by the calf muscle. The fat layer often increases in size, especially during the cold season, but with regular walking, the calves quickly regain their previous slimness and attractiveness. Therefore, the best way to combat this problem is to walk long distances. By the way, such physical activity is suitable for all people, regardless of their level of training.

Preventing Knee Injuries

Knees are a commonly injured area among athletes and athletes, so it is important to approach leg training with extreme caution. If you notice that you're pushing your knees past your toes during lunges or hack squats, immediately adjust your technique or ask a trainer nearby to help you with the movement.

Your technique may be skewed due to fatigue or too heavy a weight. Either way, you need to stop and make adjustments before injury occurs. Don't let your knees shake during squats or lunge too far forward or to the side.

Control your technique and be sure not to bring your knees past your toes in every leg movement you perform.

And finally, our little motivational bonus for an extra boost to going to the gym!

Sports supplements for leg training

Our expert recommends taking L-carnitine to improve the effect of fat-burning workouts, amino acids and protein to build high-quality muscle mass. You can choose any set of sports supplements - minimal or optimal, based on your capabilities.

A balanced diet coupled with sports supplements will help you achieve perfect legs. The modern fitness nutrition industry has made it possible to make these natural nutrients available to everyone - so that every girl can be guaranteed to achieve her goals!

What not to do

Some athletes ignore the body's warning signals and continue to train intensely. This should not be done - by loading “clogged” muscles, you risk overtraining and injury.

It is important to build a balanced training program, leaving enough time for recovery. It is also necessary to closely monitor symptoms. “If you feel muscle pain and limited mobility 5-7 days after training, you should consult a doctor,” sums up Yesenia Kalyuzhina.

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