Lower Body Exercises for Beginners

If you are just beginning to exercise, you’ll want upper and lower body exercises for beginners. Starting off slow can help you progress and will help you stay on track with your goals as they won’t seem so difficult to reach!

Advice For Lower Body Exercises

• Exercises for the lower body will help you with your thighs, glutes, hips, and with your calves. Lower body exercises can help you burn fat all over, really. Some exercises are more effective than others but together with a sensible eating plan, you could get great results for your lower body. Make sure that you integrate healthy eating with an exercise plan for the best results possible.

• Always stretch before your workout. Think of your pre-workout stretch as warming up your muscles to make them work better. This will also give you more longevity and faster recovery time after your workout.

• Whichever lower body exercises you do, make sure that you start off with a low number of reps and take 1-2 minute rests between sets. This is especially important when you are a beginner. If you’re doing a circuit in the gym, gym workouts often start with just 5 reps for each exercise and then a rest. The next set might have 8-12 reps but start off slowly. You should also rest between days of strength training. Cardio can generally be done daily but strength training requires rest days for your muscles.

There are a few pieces of low-cost equipment you might want to invest in, including: a kettlebell, a stability ball, jump rope, and some resistance bands. If you can invest in a treadmill, stair climber, elliptical, or another piece of cardio equipment, great, but if not, don’t worry. You can do plenty of beginner lower body exercises and cardio without a lot of expensive equipment.

Here are some good beginner lower body exercises you might want to start doing in order to tone up your lower body.

Cardio

All cardio exercises can equate to working out your upper and lower body. Starting off with walking is good. You could work up to running over time, if wanted, but if you’re sedentary now you’ll want to work up to running gradually.

Inner Thigh Ball Squeeze

Using a stability ball or even a smaller beach ball, hold the ball between your thighs and squeeze repeatedly. This can help really tone your lower body. Exercises like this can be done sitting, standing, or lying down.

Standing Leg Lifts

Standing with resistance bands around your ankles, put your hand on your hips and lift one leg out as if your legs are scissors. The resistance will help build muscle tone from the hip straight down.

Hip Lifts

Use a stability ball and lay on the floor. Dig your heels into the top of the ball while raising your bottom and using your arms for support on the floor or exercise mat. Digging your feet in from a bending position, push out until they’re straight. Then dig and pull them back in. You’ll be rolling the ball along the floor and working out several muscle groups.

If you’re concerned about new and beginner lower body exercises, consider watching some online videos and talking to a trainer.