How to Use Squats and Lunges for Weight Loss

Key Takeaways

Prioritize your fitness this New Year.
Include squats and lunges in your fitness routine to strengthen your lower body.
These two exercises, when combined with weights, can target your glutes, quadriceps, hip flexors, adductors, and hamstrings.
You can even try the many variations of these two exercises, which can benefit your whole body.

With the year ending, acting on your New Year health resolutions a few weeks in advance is always a bonus. That way, you don’t go in with the overwhelming feeling of a new daunting activity on your list.

To make fitness your priority this New Year, you can begin your workout regime with squats and lunges, especially if you are targeting weight loss and fitness. Both these exercises are the cornerstone of lower body workout and help build the strength and flexibility of your body.

इनके बारे में जानें:

What are the benefits of squats and lunges?
Types of squats and lunges for your daily workout

What are the benefits of squats and lunges?

Squats and lunges are common exercises and valuable additions to your fitness regime. These exercises are easy to perform and necessary when trying to lose weight. Both these exercises target your glutes, quads, hamstring and core muscles. This makes them an effective workout for the entire body.

Benefits of squats

A squat involves bending the hips, knees, and ankles to lower the body and then standing back up. Repetitive sets of squats have multiple benefits:

Strengthens legs and core

Some of your biggest and strongest muscles are in your lower body and core. Your glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, adductors, hip flexors, and calves are involved in nearly every movement you make. Squats are one type of strength training exercise that can help tone and strengthen these muscles. Regular squats target these muscles and improve control to build strength.

Improves balance

Squats can help improve the range of motion in your hip, knee, and ankle joints. Maintaining this mobility boosts synovial fluid, lubricating your joints and lowering your risk of injury in everyday activities and sports.

Posture improvement

A strong core from squatting can make everyday motions like turning, bending, and even standing easier. This contributes to maintaining proper posture, reducing lower back pain, and a more toned body.

Benefits of lunges

How to do lunges- Activ Living

A lunge is a resistance exercise that involves stepping forward with one leg, bending the front knee, and keeping the torso upright before returning to the starting position. The exercise has benefits like:

Hip flexibility

Hip flexors can become tight and weak from long hours of sitting. Lunges stretch these muscles, keep them active and strengthen them to ensure hip flexibility.

May boost metabolism

Workouts like lunges stimulate hormone production like testosterone. Such anabolic hormones boost metabolism rates, leading to effective calorie burns after exercise.

Types of squats and lunges for your daily workout

Here are some muscle-strengthening variations of squats and lunges you can include in your daily workout anytime.

1 Wide squats

Stand with your feet wide apart and your toes facing outwards. Bend your knees and go down, but ensure that your knees don’t bend beyond the line of your toes. You may repeat this exercise 8 times.

2 Sumo squats

With a stance wider than a regular squat, sumo squats work your inner thighs and glutes more intensely. Point your toes outward and keep your chest lifted as you squat.

3 Cossack squats

Stand with your feet wide apart and shift your weight to one leg as you squat deeply. Keep the other leg straight. Repeat the process on each side, keeping your chest up and toes slightly pointed outwards.

4. लंज

With your feet shoulder-width apart, take a step back from your right leg and bend to do a lunge. Repeat the same for both legs about five times, then try to jump while staying in the lunge position. This adds more power to your workout and improves your balance.

5 Single-leg lunges

Use a bench, tool or step to elevate your rear foot while performing this lunge on your supporting leg. Single-leg lunges are a variation to emphasize balance and coordination.

6 Walking lunges

Walking lunges add cardio to your routine while targeting the legs and glutes. Step forward into a lunge, then repeat with the opposite leg as you move forward.

If you are ready to plunge into active living, enjoying the benefits of lunges and squats is the best way to start. Incorporating these variations into your daily routine allows you to enjoy a full-body workout that enhances fitness and functional mobility. Start small, stay consistent, and watch the transformation!

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