Seven leg exercises to tighten thighs and stretch calves

Steps: Stand naturally with your feet slightly shoulder-width apart, bend your legs 90 degrees, extend your arms forward and keep them horizontal, lift your chest, tighten your abdomen, straighten your waist, and keep your hips lifted.

Function: Exercise the quadriceps, which is the muscles on the front of the thigh, to tighten the buttocks, and also tighten the waist and abdomen.

Tips:

1. Be careful not to let your knees exceed your toes when squatting.

2. For X-shaped legs and O-shaped legs, you can practice and improve them separately. When doing this movement for X-shaped legs, practice with the feet-inward standing posture, and for O-shaped legs, practice with the feet-outward standing posture.

3. Do 15-20 squats in a set each time. It is generally advisable to practice 3-4 sets.

Action 2: Lunge

Steps: Stand naturally, take a step to the right with your right leg and change to a lunge stance. Bend your right knee, lift your left heel, and squat up and down to complete the movement. Do 8-12 times on one leg and then switch legs.

Function: Tighten the front and back thigh muscles. It also stretches the back thigh muscles when squatting. It is a combination of contraction and pulling. It can also help improve the lines of the buttocks muscles.

Tips:

1. Be careful not to let your knees exceed your toes when you bend your legs.

2. Keep the heel of your back leg lifted off the ground and try not to let your knee touch the ground.

Action 3: Single-leg kick

Steps: Lie prone, raise your arms and support yourself with your elbows, stretch your arms forward naturally and place them on the mat, with your abdomen on the ground, head forward naturally, eyes looking straight ahead, lift one leg up, bend it, and keep your toes straight. Do 2 reps of the alternating leg exercise with each leg, 12 each time.

Function: Tighten the biceps femoris, which is the muscle on the back of the thigh, to tighten the leg shape. It also has a certain effect on waist and abdominal muscle training.

Tips:

1. Be careful not to put too much pressure on the lumbar spine when doing this movement to avoid injury to the body.

2. When lifting your legs, make sure to keep your toes straight, otherwise the effect will not be obvious.

Action 4: Sitting Kick

Steps: Sit on a reclining chair with your legs together. Use the front thigh muscles to slowly lift your legs to a horizontal position, hold for 2 seconds, and then bring them back down.

Function: Unlike the previous movements, this is an isolated movement that only tightens the quadriceps, or the muscles on the front of the thigh.

Tips:

1. Be sure to choose a slightly higher chair with a reclining back for practice. The best height is one where your feet cannot touch the ground when you sit on the chair in a normal posture.

2. Use your thigh muscles to lift your legs, rather than speed. It is better to go slow than fast.

Action 5: Side Kick

Steps: Lie on your side on the mat, support your body with one hand, bend the leg slightly, straighten the other leg, stretch the foot forward and upward at a 45-degree angle, and repeat 20 times on one leg.

Function: Exercise the inner and outer thigh muscles to improve leg shape.

Tips:

1. Pay attention to keeping your legs straight and toes pointed when lifting your legs sideways.

2. Raise your legs as high as possible at a 45-degree angle.

3. The above two movements are inspired by Pilates and require certain body flexibility.

Part II: Calf Stretching

Action 6: Standing Calf Raise

Steps: Use a chair with a backrest as an aid, place your hands on the back of the chair for support, place your feet 5-10 cm above the ground, stand on tiptoes up and down, 15-20 times as a set, usually do at least 3 sets each time.

Function: It mainly exercises the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles of the calf, which is very helpful for girls who often wear high heels. Wearing high heels frequently can easily cause these two calf muscles to shrink into a ball, affecting the calf curve. This action requires creating a height difference between the feet and the ground so that there is a stretching process after the feet step down. This stretching process is the key to preventing the calf muscles from shrinking into a ball.

Tips:

1. When you can’t find anything to put under your feet, you can use door thresholds or steps.

2. It is better to have a slightly heavier chair to increase the sense of stability of the movement.

Action 7: Single-leg standing calf raise

Steps: The basic movements are the same as standing heel raises, the difference is that you lift one leg and place it sideways on the knee joint of the other leg, and practice each leg separately.

Function: Exercise the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles of the calf and beautify the calf lines.

Tips:

1. You can start the single-leg standing calf raise exercise when you feel you can do it easily with both legs.

2. You can exercise the inner and outer calf muscles separately. When exercising the inner calf muscles, stand with your feet turned outward, and when exercising the outer calf muscles, stand with your feet turned inward.