Tone your legs and booty on our Challenge
Do you want to tone up your butt, thighs and hips and burn extra calories?
Then take part in our awesome 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge!
Squats are a fantastic exercise for helping to build muscle and to get wonderful toned legs. Squat exercises also promote body wide muscle building, working up your quads, hamstrings, calves, abdominal muscles, lower back and your butt too.
The aim is to build up repetitions of four squat exercises over the period of 30 Days. As you increase the squat exercises over time and they come part of your daily exercise regime you will see and feel your legs becoming stronger and more toned in just 30 days! And that’s not all….
What are the 4 squat exercises?
Each of the four different squat exercises on the chart work slightly different muscles through your legs, thighs, calves and glutes and when done together provide and all round lower body workout.
Watch Healthy Mummy Mel Timmer demonstrate each of the squats below.
1. Duck Squats
To do a duck squat, stand with your feet shoulder width apart with your toes turned out. Place your hand together in front of your body.
Squat down as low as far as you can, then raise back up to a standing position. This is one rep. This exercise targets your glutes, hamstrings and quads.
Squat Jumps
Plie Squats
To do a Plie Squat, stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder distance apart with your toes turned out into a 45-degree angle.
Bend your knees and lower your torso, keeping your back straight and your abs tight. For an extra inner thigh work out, lift each heel while you are low in the squat, then squeeze your glutes as you come up to a standing position.
Squats with Side Leg Lifts
For this squat variation, stand with your feel shoulder width distance apart and your feet parallel. Sit your hips back and lower down into a squat bringing your hands together in front of your chest.
Engage your glutes and rise back up straightening your legs completely and lifting your right leg out to the side. As you step the foot back into shoulder -width distance position, squat down again and lift the other leg.
TOP TIPS FOR ALL SQUATS!
- Engage your core
- Push through your heels
- THINK about pushing your knees out
- Slightly turning your feet out will activate your glutes more
- Keep your head in line with your back – don’t look at the floor!
- Reset your stance and your body if the movement doesn’t feel right, its all about proper technique!
9 effortless ways to squat your way to that bootylicious butt
1. At the playground
Ash Petroff says “Instead of just sitting around watching my children at the playground I use that time to jump on the slide and knock out a few sets of squats!”
2. Folding the laundry
If you have children, you probably have laundry to do, and lots of it! Sam Stevenson puts on music and does her squats as she is folding her laundry. “It makes the whole process of laundry so much more fun!. I can easily do 100 squats during this one activity,” Sam said.
3. Waiting for the kids to get dressed
Anyone with kids knows how stressful it is waiting for your kids to get dressed or put their shoes on! It brings a whole new meaning to ‘snail pace!’ Courtney Trotter uses the time it takes for her children to put on their shoes every day to smash out her squats. Not only does it make her feel great, it reduces that stressed feeling.
4. The grocery store
No shame here! Nikola Green proves that any place is a good place for a few squats. Even the grocery store! Ok, you may get a few weird looks but if you have seen Nikola’s amazing butt transformation results you will be squatting your way around the grocery store too.
5. Waiting for the kettle to boil
If you are partial to coffee or tea and find yourself drinking several cups a day you will be amazed how many squats you can do while waiting for the kettle to boil. 5 cups a day and 20 squats each time.
You will easily be smashing out 100 before dinner time. Waiting for the kettle to boil is where Chloe Cox smashes out her 100 squats.
6. Hanging the washing
We love Nikola Green’s system of squatting while hanging out the washing. 1 squat for each item of her children’s clothes, 2 squats for adult clothes and 3 squats for larger items like bed linen. Go Nikola!
7. With clingy children onboard
Got a child that always wants to be held? No problem. Julie Meadows simply does her squats with her daughter onboard! Check out Julia’s amazing butt transformation results.
8. Scenic view squats
Lauren da Silva likes to take breaks while she is out walking to do her squats. While we don’t necessarily encourage you doing your squats at the edge of a cliff, a great view or point of interest can make your squats that much more enjoyable.
9. Walking the dog
Jenny McPhail stops to do her squats while doing her daily walk with her dog. Warning – your dog might bowl you over in their excitement of having you down at their level (as Jenny discovered), but it is definitely worth it.
Screenshot or save the below image to stay on track!