In this article I talk about what natural bodybuilding exercises women can do to shape up the legs & abs at home without equipment.

This week I answered the following natural bodybuilding question from a female client:

I don’t have time to go to the gym, and don’t really have any exercise equipment at home. What can I do to firm up my thighs, stomach. and love handles. Also can you recommend some warm ups as I hear they are actually important? Thanks!

Natural Bodybuilding Answer:

You can actually do a variety of body weight exercises from the comfort of your home. You can do:

For your thighs you can do:

Squats
Wide Stance Squats
Sissy Squats
Lunges

The lunges are the best in the list since you can do them in a variety of ways in order to target the front of the leg or the back. To emphasize the thighs press with the ball of the foot as you execute the movement. To emphasize the glutes and hamstrings simply press with the heels.

You can do lunges to the front alternating legs, or one leg at a time. You can do walking lunges or you can do lunges to side.

I suggest that in order to train your thighs you choose 3 thigh exercises and perform 3 sets of 15-25 reps resting 1 minute in between sets. That will give you a nice thigh workout. Below are a few examples:

Legs Workout (A)
Lunges (one leg at a time pressing with ball of foot) 3 sets of 15-25 reps (1 minute rest in between)
Wide Stance Stance Squats 3 sets of 15-25 reps (1 minute rest in between)
Lunges (alternating legs and pressing with the heel) 3 sets of 15-25 reps (1 minute rest in between)

Legs Workout (B)
Squats
Sissy Squats
Walking Lunges (pressing with heels)

Legs Workout (C)
Lunges to side
Wide Stance Squats
Lunges (one leg at a time pressing with heel)

Since you will not be using any weights you will be able to recover quickly and thus, you can perform these routines 3 times a week. If you want to, do Workout (A) on Monday, (B) on Wednesday and (C) on Friday.

For the abs, there are a variety of exercises that you can do in the comfort of your home. Since you did mention that you do not have a lot of time to workout, then do the ab workouts on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, Here is what I recommend you do:

Note: Focus on contracting the muscle and on the execution of the exercise. Perform each repetition slowly and deliberately.

Abdominals Workout (A) – Tuesday

Bicycle Crunches 3 sets to failure (30 second rest)
Crunches 3 sets to failure (30 second rest)
Lying Leg Raises 3 sets to failure (30 second rest)

Abdominals Workout (B) – Thursday

Knee-Ins 3 sets to failure (30 second rest)
V-Ups 3 sets to failure (30 second rest)
Crunches 3 sets to failure (30 second rest)

Abdominals Workout (C) – Saturday

Partial Sit-Ups 3 sets to failure (30 second rest)
Lying Knee-Ins 3 sets to failure (30 second rest)
Twisting Crunches 3 sets to failure (30 second rest)

As a warm-up you can do a light walk outside for 6 minutes and if you want to include some cardiovascular exercise, perform a quicker paced 15-20 minute walk that has your heart rate between 120-140 beats per minute after the workouts.

Also remember that in order to burn fat you need to follow the appropriate diet program. Thus, a sample diet is presented below:

Meal 1 (7 AM)
1/2 cup of dry oats mixed with water
1/2 cup of egg beaters

Meal 2 (9 AM)
Meal replacement packet like Labrada’s Lean Body for Her

or

1/2 cup of oats mixed with a protein powder like Lean Pro8

1/2 Tablespoon of Flaxseed Oil (Spectrum Brand is Best)

Meal 3 (12 Noon)
1/2 cup of brown rice, or medium sized baked potato, or 1 cup of oatmeal
2 cups of green beans, broccoli or any other desired vegetable
6 ounces of chicken, turkey, or lean fish

Meal 4 (3 PM)

Meal replacement packet like Labrada’s Lean Body for Her

or

1/2 cup of oats mixed with a protein powder like Lean Pro8

1/2 Tablespoon of Flaxseed Oil (Spectrum Brand is Best)

Meal 5 (6 PM)
1/2 cup of brown rice, or medium sized baked potato, or 1 cup of oatmeal
2 cups of green beans, broccoli or any other desired vegetable
6 ounces of chicken, turkey, or lean fish

Meal 6 (8 PM)

Meal replacement packet like Labrada’s Lean Body for Her

or

1/2 cup of oats mixed with a protein powder like Lean Pro8

1/2 Tablespoon of Flaxseed Oil (Spectrum Brand is Best)

Recommended Basic Bodybuilding Supplements For Women
(Essential to take)

Definitely make sure that you cover at least the basics of supplementation which are a Multiple Vitamin and Mineral formula, 3 grams of Vitamin C split in 3 equal servings throughout the day, extra Calcium (preferably calcium citrate for best absorption), 200mcg of Chromium Picolinate, and essential fatty acids coming from either fish oils, flaxseed oil, EFA Lean or extra virgin olive oil.

I’ll end by saying that as you get more advanced a pair of adjustable dumbbells will make a great investment as adding weight to these exercises will firm up these body parts much quicker. In addition, adjustable dumbbells will allow you to train all other areas of your body as well.

Best of luck!

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