by Lindsey Trimmer

Created on: May 12, 2009   Last Updated: May 14, 2009

The best exercises to get a strong and firm lower body can be done in the comfort of your own home. There are three simple exercises that work all the major muscle groups: Squats, lunges, and dead lifts. These are easy to and will result in strong and toned legs.

When doing these exercises it's important to have the right form to prevent injury and assure effectiveness of the exercise. It's also important to have a recovery period in between workouts to allow lactic acid build ups to decrease. A recovery period should be 48 hours. The frequency of your lower body workout should be 3 days a week, and the duration should be at least 30 minutes. In order to achieve muscular toning and endurance you should be performing 15 repetitions for each exercise with two to three sets per workout.

When performing squats it is important to remember good form. Your feet should be shoulder width apart and when you sit back, you want to think about sitting into a chair while keeping most of your weight on your heels. Your knees should not travel past your toes during the lowering phase. It is also important to note that your glutes should not be lower than your knees. One more pointer, keep a neutral spine throughout the exercise. If you follow these pointers you will be doing squats with great form which will assure their effectiveness.

Lunges are great for all the major muscles groups in the legs and also the glutes. These are important to perform correctly. If these are done incorrectly they can easily lead to a pulled hamstring or strain on the knees. Start with your feet together. These can be done in many ways, but I am going to go over the basic stationary lunge where one leg is done at a time. Take a long step forward with one foot and flex the rear knee. Slowly lower the back knee towards the floor and then push back up to your starting position. Once through, switch and lead with the other leg. Make sure that when you are lunging, your front knee does not travel past your toes.

A dead lift is an exercise for the hamstrings. This can be done without dumbbells for beginners and then dumbbells can be added into the routine for extra resistance when needed. You should start standing upright with ankles, hips, and knees slightly flexed. Hold the dumbbells, one in each hand, in front of your body, letting them rest on your thighs. Then you begin the exercise by slowly lowering your upper body towards your thighs. It's important to remember to push the hips back while you lower your torso. You should lower until your hands are just above the knees. Pause and then slowly return to standing position. To make the exercise more challenging. Use a dumbbell in one hand. When lowering your body, let the opposite leg rise behind you.

Learn more about this author, Lindsey Trimmer.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.