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Incredible Ladies
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Legs - Exercise Guide for a Sublime Appearance!
Why Legs?Have you ever seen 'Some Like it Hot'? Marylin Monroe 'high heeling' down the platform with this unforgettable swing of the hips and the little skip when the steam comes out of the engine? Who wouldn't want to look like that! Whenever a woman makes an 'Entry' her legs are shown. Even in a long gown you can see a silhouette, or she is coming down the stairs where the legs look even longer. Strong legs give you a strong posture. I count the bum into the leg bit as it is trained in one go with the upper leg. And a strong rear defines the hip area and helps to keep the back in an upright position. If you have short big legs like me, all one can do for starters is to distract from them. Actually, given the shape of my legs, I shouldn't be the one giving the advice here. But I know that the stuff I'm presenting here is working. I know it because most the women who have the legs I want, do the same - well a few have 'LEGS' naturally - and I'm turning all yellow of envy only thinking of it, but all the others have to work hard for these important assets. And I know that it is working because three years ago it wouldn't have been possible to shoot the picture above. At least I got into a state now where I am able to lengthen my legs by wearing tight flared trousers and high heels. So I'm determined to make it throught the rest of the way as well. In 'How to Handle Weights' I explained that the upper body is only holding the weight. The actual lifting is all done with the legs. This applies for sport as well as for daily life. That means that strong legs will help you to keep the rest of the body healthy.
Apples and Pears again! As a pear I always had huge column like legs, including the fat ankles. For me, beautiful legs are a lifelong dream. My only advantage are my small hip bones and the round bum. Although the rear got rather huge at times I never had a flat arse - only a bit when I lost weight and the whole thing started sagging, but even then I could camouflage it with good trousers or skirts (long ones, obviously).
The difference between the two pictures above doesn't actually come from four years of exercise. Stupid me - would I have started working out straight away... For more than a year almost nothing happened, until in fall 2004 I started my Project Rika. As a consequence I lost some weight because I wanted to be able to wear all these nice clothes which I'd seen in the shops but which just wouldn't fit. That's when the bum started sagging, and from spring 2005 I went back to the gym regularly. I've put in the same effort into the upper and the lower body parts, but the legs just need a lot more time. I did very heavy leg exercises, but only since about 3 month I decided to change my training regime a bit and to do squats. And eventually the buttocks is starting to raise like a Phoenix from the ashes. Although I never will have those long gazelle like dream legs, athletic legs will look even better on me. And actually, if legs are too thin they loose their appeal. Round is sexy - bony is hurtful! Apples on the other hand usually have great legs. Due to the fact that they carry their weight high up, they are training their legs all day long just by walking. Their drawback usually are somewhat wider hips. The wider the hips the more difficult it is to get shape into the rear - it's just more area to cover. A flat rear makes the top bit look even wider and easily gives a 'No-waist' impression. A lot of African and Latin women have nice round bums, and even if they should be a bit on the heavy side in the upstairs as well they usually look shapely and sexy. So whether your main worry area is - the legs or something else - you won't get around a good leg workout as it builds big muscles which burn up a lot of calories, which will give you a good posture, a great shape and which will help you to achieve daily tasks much easier.
Exercise Guide for a Sublime Appearance!I like to split leg exercises into five groups:
Buttocks (Glutes) & Front Thigh (Quadriceps) Bottomline is: Whether you are a pear or an apple - You need a round bum to look good. That means squats are for you! The front thight is important as well and by doing squats you are covering the quadriceps as well. As I mentioned above: I only changed to squats about 3 month ago. I used leg press machines before and was able to do the whole pile of weights. I could press more weight than the average guy can lift - and look at the legs! They are all right, but they don't look like 'great legs' and the bum didn't change a bit during that time. So squat it is! There are more theories about how to do squats right than people doing them. You might hear a lot of controversial comments about deep squats like I am doing them. I never saw them taught to women by any of the gym instructors I observed, and they don't usually don't do them themselves - probably don't even know how to do them. There is one really good reason why I'm recommending them: This movement represents all the lifting movements in daily life. Every single tissue you pick up from the floor should be picked up in a proper squat. And to reach the floor you have to be able to go deep down. Deep Squats are the best way to keep your spine healthy and your bum and legs strong. If you are learning the correct technique you will automatically incorporate this posture into your daily life. I don't understand why women are so scared of them. This may be a bit sexist, but it is usually us ladies doing housework and shopping, don't we? That means lifting stuff all the time. For the upper bit of the rear end and the lower back there is a very technical but effective exercise called deadlift. I only started doing them since I am training together with Claire. We both need that bum-lift and it just didn't fit into my schedule with Detlef. But now we both feel it kicking in and love it. Some people are scared of them as a muscle ache in that area feels like back pain. However, it actually is an exercise that - if executed correctly - can help to heal back pain by strengthening the muscles which support the lower spine. Exercising the hamstring is very important as well. It is called 'hamstring curl'. It helps to keep the floppieness at bay and gives depth to the back of the thigh. The cross section of the upper leg has to be oval rather than round. The biggest muscles are in the front to stretch the leg (Quadriceps), and in the back to bend the leg (Hamstring). Smaller muscles are sitting high up close to the hips to adduct and abduct the legs. That means that the upper leg is mainly shaped by the big muscles in the front and the back. Ah well, and then there are the calves. They are nasty buggers - very hard to train and reluctant to respond. Nevertheless, the bottom bit of the leg is the fist thing that gets visible under a skirt - so a woman got to do what a woman got to do: Calf exercises are a must for shapeless or fat lower legs. I recently started an experiment on training the calves and with it the ankles because I felt they might need a bit of special convincing. Bits and Pieces There are smaller muscles attached to the pelvis on the inside and the outside of the leg called leg adductor and abductor muscles. They are responsible for the side movement of the leg. Squats cover those as well so guys usually don't do them - too girlie. Well, they usually don't have problems with wobbly bits between the legs and saddlebags. I won't have an exercise guide for those as the machines for those exercises are differing from gym to gym. If you want to incorporate them into your training plan, get an instructor to explain them to you and stick with the Three/12 Rule. I will cover them in the 'No Gym' section, though. As you won't be able to do heavy squats at home they are good additions to the leg training. Another exercise is called deadlift which helps for the upper bum, lower back and covers those bits mentioned above as well. It is coming from the weightlifting corner and needs quite a bit of technique, about which there are a lot of different opinions around. It basically is like a squat only that the weight is not on your shoulders but in your hands and hence in front of you. What needs a bit more bum s |
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