My Favorite Leg Shaper

Legs are one of the hardest body parts to get into shape for most women.  But then again most women do not train their legs hard enough to get the results you need.....plus eating helps with that but thats for another post!
One of my favorite exercises to shape the legs are lunges. Every kind of lunge!  Theres stationary lunges, walking lunges, diagonal lunges, backward lunge, jump lunges, back and forth lunges, backward lunge with high kick.....there are so many and all are FANTASTIC  for shaping the legs.  I use lunges a lot when I train my BOOTCAMPERS. 
I rarely use weight when conditioning the legs.  I go for high reps and keep the intensity level high.  For my BOOTCAMPERS, I push them as far as they can go for their own fitness level.  One thing I stress on is DONT GIVE UP!  Your legs will start to burn....some people will say "it hurts", but its not a pain hurt, its the burn that feels SO DARN UNCOMFORTABLE.  But thats the point where you need to push beyond to see results.  IF you do feel a pain (sharp pain) then do stop, but otherwise its the burn from lactic acid in the muscles.  Legs will ALWAYS get that burn, so for the beginner or even the intermediate, that is wondering "geeez, i must be out of shape" or "will this burn ever go away?".....NOPE!  lol.  You will just learn to tolerate it.
Here are some pointers on the perfect lunge....

-  front should be at a 90 degree angle when in the down position
-  front knee should NOT go past the toe
-  keep front heel on the ground AT ALL TIMES!!!
     -  if front heel comes off ground, what happens is you are pushing with your toes, which then puts pressure on your knees....RESULT, BAD KNEES!  Be sure to push with your heel!
-  do not bring body forward when doing the lunge.  Body should be moving up and down only!
-  keep chest up and shoulders back.  Always proper posture
-  when doing walking lunge, besure to take a long stride.  A short stride will result in your front heel lifting and therefore you pushing with your toes.....again, BAD FOR THE KNEES!
- be sure to bring back knee down so it almost touches the ground.  A nice deep lunge to benefit the legs most.
I will do about 20 - 30 steps of walking lunges.  I will also so timed lunges.  When I train the bootcampers, I keep the times around 30 - 40 secs as I have them also supersetting (doing back to back exercise) with another leg exercise.  Conditioning legs is my specialty.

Now go get those legs in shape!

NL xoxo