WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) -- In this Fit Minute, we focus on the thighs. If you want lean and sculpted thighs, you might want to do these next three moves.
Start with the basic squat.
"You keep the weight in your heels the entire time. If you put too much pressure into your toes, you're going to notice your knees come forward as you bend down. Every time you're in the bottom part of the squat, you should be able to look down and see your toes. If you can't do that, you've got to push back farther,” Brian Knox said.
Then, Knox recommends you do standard lunges.
"One of the best ways to do it is put one leg behind the other facing forward. Drop into a nice lunge, bending both knees. Your goal is to get both knees into 90-degree angles. Your front leg... You should keep your knee over your ankle the entire time. Back leg... You want your upper thigh to be right under your hips at the bottom of the lunge. Press right back up again with that leg above the heel and come up to the starting position,” Knox said.
After doing that move with the other leg in front, Knox suggests you try the warrior three cross crunch for both legs as well.
Get into a warrior three position with your back leg extended all the way back and up so your legs make a 90-degree angle with the floor. Then, move the extended leg in and up to crunch and then out again.
There are modifications to these moves you can do to make them easier.
When doing squats, if you are having trouble with knee pain, try angling your toes outward at 45-degree angles. Also, try sitting down in a chair with your feet flat on the floor. Then, keeping the weight in your heels, stand straight up. Repeat this over and over until your legs are strong enough to get rid of the chair.
To modify lunges, keep the same position but do not go as low into the lunge. If balance seems to be the issue, hold onto a chair or put your hand on a wall while doing the lunges.
Warrior three cross crunch is an extremely effective move but also an extremely difficult one. If you can’t maintain balance throughout the exercise, tap your foot at the bottom to keep proper form between the warrior three and the cross crunch. Also, try breaking the exercise into two separate exercises. Balance on one foot and just do the cross crunches or the warrior three until you feel strong enough to put them together.
