The most effective lower body exercises are the ones that can be done anywhere with
no equipment. Being single with no kids may allow for wasted time in the gym doing
fourteen sets per lower body part, but once in the real world of spouse, kids and
career those 'gym visit' exercise days are over. The great news is this should be
a welcome change because the old school bodybuilder, weight and leg machine type
exercise routines for the lower body can do more damage in the long run as compared
to a smart, properly structured lower body, body weight exercise program.
Yes, weights and machines will always have their place in the fitness industry -
but they are not the only way to achieve a strong, well toned lower body. The right
selection of lower body exercises can produce a sufficient training stimulus to
bring about desired changes, continuous progress and visible results. As health
clubs and fitness centers are filled with and endless amount of leg machines and
weight training equipment it is in their best interest to promote weight and machine
type exercise programs. Naturally, members develop a dependency on these types of
workouts because they do not learn any alternative training methods.
The problems with this scenario range from the 'more is better' syndrome to the
'I got out of my routine' excuse. To develop a strong, fit and defined lower body
your exercises must be realistic for long term adherence and they must consist of
exercises that can be done at home or in a hotel room. As a career personal trainer
and fitness consultant I've had the opportunity to work with many people at various
stages of life. The people who live with long term fitness success are the ones
who adopt their lower body exercises so that they are 'portable' - meaning if they
don't have a gym available to them - it's not going to prevent them from getting
their lower body exercise session in.
Lower body exercises, consisting of body weight moves, produce a good amount of
natural strength while providing gender specific improvements in muscular development.
While women seek more of a toning and firming effect, men seek more of a lean muscle
building effect with muscle group definition. A silly fitness myth exists that has
people believing that a woman will develop muscles like a man if she follows the
same type of lower body exercise program. The exercise program does not dictate
this result. Its the gender/genetic differences of the male and female DNA dictate
the characteristics of the results that men and women derive from well rounded,
and properly structured lower body exercises.
Yes, we occasionally see women who look like male bodybuilders or power-lifters
- but these freakish looks can almost always be traced back to some method of pharmaceutical
enhancement - not by choice of lower body exercises (although some women do have
a genetic tendency to build more muscle than others). For example, taking anabolic
steroids to develop as much muscle mass as possible is one way for a woman to lose
the fit and feminine look - regardless of the specific lower body exercises she
chooses to follow.
Whether you are male or female, the benefits of properly structured lower body exercises
that do not rely on the confines of a gym or fitness center can give you all the
results you could ever want, in a program that can easily be followed for life.
After all, isn't that what true fitness is about?