In summer the heat already tightens and we hardly want to go out to the street to practice sports. Others prefer to stay at home with the air at full speed and thus overcome the high temperatures of this time. We want to make it easy for you and for that we are going to highlight some exercises to work the legs that we can do in our house quietly. The only thing we are going to need is our own body and the desire to carry them out in a habitual way in order to notice results and the evolution we are looking for.
It is necessary to keep in mind that training at home is not synonymous with doing it in a less serious way. It is equally important for us, because the results can be very good. It is true that at home we do not usually have the means we are going to find in a gym , but in spite of everything it is a very good way to keep us active in summer or to start practicing sports if we are not used to it.
Squats on the carpet
In the first place we are going to stop in a classic, the squats . We can do them at home with our body and own weight. The trick is to perform each movement well and impact the muscles that make up the legs in the right way and that intervene in this exercise. For this, what we will do is stand up facing forward. The feet should be supported on the floor and slightly separated, so that they are a little more separated from the hips. In this position, what we will do will be, without bending the back, to take the backside while we lower it down, as if we were going to sit in a chair.
The feet will not move off the ground throughout the exercise. The knees will be the part where our body will be articulated, just like the hips. The arms can be placed bent in the chest or forward, as they will serve to maintain balance when throwing the body back. With this exercise we will work almost all the muscles of the legs , as they will intervene the quadriceps, the ischiums and the gluteus directly. In addition, the abductors will do it indirectly, as well as the psoas.
Ninja Squats
Another exercise that we recommend you to do at home is a variation of the squat we have described above. The execution of the exercise and the tools that we are going to use are the same. In this case what will vary is the route. What we will do is lower and squat in a normal way, but when we raise the body again what we will do is throw one leg upwards as if we were going to kick .
To achieve this movement and not fall down, we will help with our hands, which we will place together while we rise forward in order to take the knee to look for our hands and try to touch them. In this way we will find much more in the worked muscles. What we will do is alternate the legs and do it first with one and then with the other when we make the whole journey again.
Lateral leg raises
As a third option we will propose a very simple exercise that will help us to work the outer part of the buttocks and part of the abductors . For this we will stand up facing forward. This time the legs are going to be placed more open and with the tips of the feet facing forward. In this way, what we will do is to support both hands on the leg that is going to stay still, since with the other we will raise it laterally by means of the action of the glutes. In this way what we will do is to congest this area that we will put to work. This same exercise we will do with each of the legs to work in the same way.
Squats with legs open to work the glutes
As a next exercise we want to propose a variation of the squat. In this case what we will do is to place the legs very open and with the tips of the feet sideways, not facing the front as in the squats. What we will do in this position will be to perform the same movement that we carry out with squats. That is, look forward, back straight and bend knees and hips to perform a kind of backward movement as if we were going to sit on a chair. We will use the hands to balance ourselves, since we will have them in front during the whole exercise. With this routine we will work mainly on the part of the buttocks and the abductors.
Quadriceps contractions in a chair
Finally, we are going to propose an exercise to work the quadriceps and isolate them to the maximum. For this we will need a chair in which we will sit with a straight back and relaxed legs. The arms will be placed to the sides and in this position what we are going to do is simply raise one leg to the front, so that we contract the quadriceps. This same exercise we will do with each leg to keep this part worked completely.
Some points to keep in mind to improve performance
It is important that we take into account that it is always necessary to concentrate each movement on the part worked and perform them as intensely as possible in order to achieve better results. What we recommend are variations of each exercise, that is, adding weight in the ankle or wrists to give more intensity to the exercise. We can also use rubber bands to increase resistance in exercises such as lateral leg openings or front elevations sitting on a chair.
As a routine we recommend carrying out some four series of at least 20 repetitions each . This will also depend a lot on the intensity, the physical form of each one and the time we have. However, it is necessary to avoid performing the exercise badly in order to complete all the repetitions. It is better to perform less but of good quality than many without obtaining results or putting our physical health at risk.