Tone Your Entire Legs With This ONE Move!

I often get many questions regarding toning the legs and the booty. We all know squats are the answer to it all… or so it may seem! However, not many people can do countless bending of the knees due to an old injury, bad knees, or some other curveball that life has thrown you.

This is a low-impact, barre-inspired move. Barre workouts use a combination of postures inspired by ballet and other disciplines like yoga and Pilates such doing exercises that focus on isometric strength training (holding your body still while you contract a specific set of muscles) combined with high reps of small range-of-motion movements. Ever wondered why ballerinas are so trim? This is why. It takes a lot of WORK on your muscle to hold a pose for any given time. This is why Planks hurt sooooo good.

The wonderful thing about this total leg toning move is that you do not need a gym or weights for that matter and you can do it anywhere or at anytime. If you are folding laundry, hold this pose for a minute or two. It might not sound long to you, but just wait!

PARALELL CLASSIC BARRE THIGH MOVE

Bring legs hip distance apart and paralell.
Keep your ears over your shoulders and hips over heels-body straight.
Raise your heels up all the way and stand on your first two toes.
Bend knees and squat downward as low as you can do (without pain or discomfort).
Hold for 2 minutes.
Rest for 30 seconds and repeat 5 times total.
*To make this move harder, try pulsing up and downward for 2 minutes.

BONUS MOVE: CLASSIC BARRE WIDE LEG MOVE

Hold onto a bar or other support, if needed.
Turn your legs outward and make sure they are larger than shoulder-width apart.
Squat down as low as you can (without any pain or discomfort.
Raise your heels off of the floor, putting your weight in your first two toes making sure your ankles are aligned.
Hold this pose for 2 minutes.
Rest for 30 seconds and repeat for 5 rounds.
*To make it even harder, pulse upward and downward for 2 minutes.

Can we hold the poses for longer than 2 minutes?

Once you have gotten used to the poses and can do them for an extended period of time, try taking a balance by releasing your hands from the surface you are using to stabilize your body.

Why is my body shaking?

When your body shakes, it means your muscles are reaching the point of fatigue, which is a good thing! Your goal is to have the muscle group you are targeting during a specific section of class shake every time. After the shake, you will stretch, to elongate the muscles while they are warm and malleable. This leads to long, lean muscles!

Did you like these Barre-inspired moves and would like to see more? Comment and let me know below!