Women who want to create a beautiful backside should focus on these four key exercises on a regular basis. The hamstrings cross and move around two joints - the hip and the knee. Hamstrings play an important role in many daily activities, such as, walking, running, jumping, and controlling some movement in the trunk. In walking, they are most important as an antagonist to the quadriceps in the deceleration of knee extension.

Four Top Exercises for Women for Hamstrings:

Not one muscle works on its own. The body cannot isolate a muscle. The body functions as one unit and there are no exercises for women that are solely using only one muscle. Whenever you are standing you are using a lot of muscles and when you transition to sitting down and you take a lot of muscles out of the equation such as your gluts.

Leg curl
Facing bench, stand between bench and lever pads. Lie parallel on the bench with knees just beyond edge of bench and lower legs under lever pads. Grasp handles. Raise lever pad to back of thighs by flexing knees. Lower lever pads until knees are straight. Repeat.

When doing leg curls in important to note that you will have to lift a lot lighter than you are used to by doing but the result will be 3x faster and better results. When performing this exercise you need to engage the abdomen which takes out the use of the lower back and will isolate the hamstrings more. Remember to keep your pelvis on the bench as soon as you are lifting in order to engage the lower back. Try to lift thighs right off the bench while engaging your abdomen and feel how much more work your hamstrings are doing. Make sure to flex your feet so you take out the calve muscle doing a lot of the work. Make sure to get a good range of motion, all the way to touch your butt and all the way back until straight.

Stiff Leg Deadlifts
Start with a shoulder-width stance and use an overhand grip set just outside the legs. Stick your chest out and retract the shoulder blades while maintaining natural curves in the spine. Initiate the movement by pushing the hips backward. The knees will naturally bend as you descend and the shins should remain vertical. Make sure to keep the bar close to the body and the back flat, which will minimize the risk of injury.

Keep the arms straight throughout the movement. If you're doing it right, you'll feel it in your hamstrings. For most people, the bar will just cross the knees before the back loses form. At this point, it's time to reverse the movement and come back up. Don't allow the back to round and don't hyperextend the spine at the top of the movement. In other words, stand tall at the top, but don't lean backwards, Use light loads, keep the bar close to your body, abs tight.

Wide-legged Squat
Position the bar in the squat rack about three inches below the upper shoulder area. Place hands evenly spaced on the bar and place bar comfortably across lower trapezius area.

Push weight up using legs, not back. Walk weight out. Place feet wide apart and point toes outward. Keep head up and chest out. Arch back. Slowly bend knees while keeping hips under the bar and torso erect (do not bend the back). Sit into position by pushing back with the glutes. Lower just below parallel, while controlling the weight and keeping tension on the leg muscles. At bottom of movement, push bar up with feet and hips while breathing out forcefully. Repeat.

Lunges
Stand with right foot forward, left foot back about 3 feet apart. Hold weights in each hand if desired and bend the knees to lower the body towards the floor. Keep the front knee behind the toes and be sure to lower straight down rather than forward. Keep the torso straight and abs in as you push through the front heel and back to starting position. Don't lock the knees at the top of the movement. Perform 1-3 sets of 8-16 reps according to your workout.

To emphasize your hamstrings and glutes, take wider steps. Push up through the heel and keep your chest up looking directly ahead at all times. Engage your abs and come as low in the lunge as is comfortable.

When choosing exercises for women, it is always best to choose ones that provide the best and faster results so you dont waste your time in your workouts. These four key back exercises for a beautiful back will prove the results you are looking for and in a timely manner.

If you are in recovery from some kind of illness, injury or even some form of psychological condition, then rehabilitation is incredibly important to ensure that you recover as quickly as possible and to ensure that you avoid further problems.

    In many cases people will view rehabilitation as something that is largely passive – it is common to view recovery as the lack of activity – such as sitting down for long periods of time and get ting rest. If you have an injury specific to a particular area, then recovery might mean avoiding putting pressure on that area or using it.

    This is all fine and well, and of course in many cases you certainly should avoid strenuous exercise or movement if you want to enjoy the speediest recovery possible. However this is at the same time certainly not the only form of recovery, and it is very important to recognize that there are many other ways you can help yourself to recover from injury or illness.

    For instance if you are recovering from an injury that is to do with your muscles, bones or joints – then Pilates may well offer you the help you need to recover.

    If you should injure your back or your leg for instance, and you aim to recover by simply resting your body and taking time out of your usual activities, then you may find that this doesn't help you to combat all of the potential problems. The worry here is that you will still exacerbate the issue by letting your muscles waste away. If you spend a lot time in recovery and don't get any kind of exercise during this time, then it will of course cause your muscles to deteriorate and that in turn will cause you to lose muscle mass and strength. Then, when you are recovered, you will find that you are unable to move properly and this can actually lead to further injury. Furthermore a muscle imbalance can cause unequal pressure to be exerted on the joints which can also cause injury and discomfort.

    At the same time if you injure any joint or muscle then you will risk overcompensating for this by altering your stance or your gait. For instance if you injure a leg or an ankle, then this can cause you to limp and to stand somewhat lop sided. This in turn can lead not only to joint and muscle problems directly, but also potentially again make you more prone to falling and injuring yourself further.

    As anyone who has ever been to a chiropractor or a osteopath will know – what affects one part of the body can have effects elsewhere in regions that are seemingly unconnected if you end up walking incorrectly or standing awkwardly.

    Pilates can prevent all these problems by ensuring that while you recover from your injury you still get some forms of light exercise to maintain muscle tone and balance. At the same time it can help to encourage a correct stance and gait and thereby avoid your doing harm to yourself accidentally.

Movement is very important to lead a normal life. Unfortunately, when back pain increases in magnitude, life becomes really gruesome. Back pain is a modern day epidemic which has already hit millions of people across the world. According to numerous surveys over 80% of the people suffer from back pain at one point in life. Back pain occurs as a result of poor posture, incorrect lifting as well as bending. Thus, to get rid of this problem, it is highly important to go to a chiropractic clinic and take the services of a professional. The chiropractor would help you undergo the back pain relief exercises.

Back pain is often combined with neck pain which must be treated on an emergency basis to prevent the occurrence of further problems. For Sciatica pain, spinal decompression therapy is helpful in providing relief to the body. Typically, the pain is felt from lower back to thighs as well as towards the knee. As the result, this pain makes life extremely difficult for the patient. It is a common practice that people suffering from sciatica, resort to Yoga exercises to strengthen the body and get relieved from pain. As a matter of fact, your chiropractor would help you learn a few exercises which are helpful in relieving the pain. Disc Herniation is also one of the problems associated with back pain as they put in a lot of force against the nerve root causing utter discomfort to the body. Exercise is a commonly sorted after method to treat the disc instead of surgery.

As per the clinical records, more than a million people in United States alone suffer from numerous kinds of pain like back pain, migraines, headaches and many others. Chiropractic care is also required in special conditions when a person is suffering from migraine. Migraine treatment includes exercise, health and life style coaching as well. In case, you too suffer from migraine pain, it is important to take the service of a chiropractor as soon as possible. One of the most important aspects of this therapy is that it poses no side effects at all. In addition, in case you are experiencing numbness, tingling, disc injury or sciatica, chiropractic help is advised. Many of the therapists also help in offering massage therapy, nutritional counseling and mire to its clienteles. With maximum benefits and high chances of recovery, it is surely a wise choice to opt for chiropractic help.

The back pain exercises suggested by chiropractor are also helpful in getting you out of the crippling lifestyle. In case you are already suffering from the pain, it is very important to take the necessary precautions and adopt a better lifestyle. The doctor would help a great deal in understanding the real cause of problem so that you could work on it. Changing the daily habits like choosing the way in which you pick heavy objects while sitting on the desk would be really helpful for you. So what are you waiting for? Start looking out for the best chiropractor as soon as possible.

Forty or Fifty years before, a many of people still didn't know the difference between Yoga and Yogurt. These days, Yoga is so widespread that it's basically a household word. Although it's very well famous these days, it doesn't mean that public in fact understands what Yoga is. There are many myths about Yoga that are told by people that do not have a nice belief about it. Yoga is so complex that it offers something for all that chooses to embrace it. It doesn't matter if you are young, old, fat, slim, flexible or inflexible, every person can gain from some form of Yoga. Yoga was originally shaped in India, but people worldwide enjoy the payback each day.

Many people try to classify Yoga as one specific thing, but that just simply isn't real. Its many distinctive things, depending on what you are doing. Yoga is not just gymnastics, or fitness training or even a way to control your weight. It's also not just a way to reduce your stress, meditate or be more spiritual. Yoga is all of these things and a good amount more that you are not aware of.

Yoga is a chain of exercises that look like gymnastics. It's true, Yoga can help you stay fit and slim, keep your weight under control and reduce the amount of stress that you have. There are types of Yoga that too offer a cycle of meditation exercises, which include breathing techniques that will help exercise your lungs and calm your full body. Many believe that when you meditate and breathe deeply that it will charge your body with energy, helping you get more done without being as tired.

Yoga has also been used as a type of health care. People with injuries have used Yoga to restore their bodies and keep up their fitness. It's quite amazing that more and more doctors around the country are prescribing Yoga as a way to reduce stress and as a type of physical therapy for different parts of the body, such as the back and knees. Yoga doesn't merely help you restore your body, but it also helps you keep your mind healthy.

The word Yoga is derived from an ancient Sanskrit language in India and it means "union" or "integration" and "discipline". Thousands of years before when Yoga was practiced by Indian religious elite, they used forms of Yoga to unite the body and the mind. They said that being aware of your body and your mind will help you survive with the daily stresses of life. Often people will not be aware of their bodies at all and hover around day to day without being in tune with their body. This leads to an overall unhealthy lifestyle.

Yoga is often used to rationalize people’s minds and their emotions. Many people keep their emotions bottled up inside and do no express their real feelings. Suppressing feelings and emotions and lead to serious health penalty. Yoga seeks to unite people’s minds and their feelings, so that they can stop the emotions from consuming them and help them live a healthier life.

Yoga is so wonderful for so many different reasons. Look at different types of Yoga and discover one that sounds like it will work for you. You will feel more relaxed and in tune with your body, like never before.

We all have regular activities and make repetitive movements in our daily lives. These movements can be fun activities like tennis, or a basic daily chore like squatting to pick up a book off the floor. Wouldn't it be fantastic if we could improve these movements and increase your performance?

What Is Functional Training?

Functional Training is training that helps the body perform regular daily activities. Physiotherapists originally developed this type of exercise for the purpose of rehab, and soon athletes discovered it could greatly improve their performance. But the rest of us can benefit from functional training too.

Performance: More Than Just Muscles

To understand what functional training is, we first need to understand what affects performance. Some factors that determine our performance are permanent, like genetics. And no matter what you do, or how hard you train, you'll never be able to improve them. That doesn't mean training is useless, however. It just means you need to set realistic goals and concentrate on improving the factors you can change.

Factors that determine performance include:

Power -- If you want to increase power, you need to build strength, increase your neuromuscular efficiency, and flexibility.

Agility -- Improving agility can really give your performance a boost, but the exercises you do to build your agility must be specific to your goal.

Cardio -- Performance relies heavily on your cardio and respiratory systems. But when you build these systems, do so by mimicking the activities you wish to improve.

Sport Skill -- Just because something is "similar", it doesn't mean it's the same or will have the same effect.

To improve your performance, you need to work on all four factors. And to do that, you'll need functional training. It replicates the movements made during the activity you're training for and improves the relationship between the nervous system and the muscles. In other words, functional training improves the entire movement and the specific neuromuscular paths involved, not just the muscles and joints like traditional exercises.

If you were to use functional training to make it easier to carry bags of groceries, for example, you would never exercise while sitting or lying down. Why? You would never carry a bag of groceries while sitting or lying down; both would be done while walking or standing.

Functional Training and Total Body Balance

Movements performed in functional training are the exact same movements and positions your body uses during normal daily activities. We also know that exercises that use the most muscles and joints, like lunges or standing dumbbell presses, will make us look the best. Put the two together and we can make some serious progress in a relatively short amount of time.

Functional movements improve your balance, stability, and coordination, while helping you perform better. The trick to functional exercise is to teach all of the muscles to work together effectively, rather than isolating them and forcing them to work on their own.

Static Training VS Functional Training

When deciding whether women's exercise programs should include functional training, you need to understand the difference between it and static training. As mentioned before, functional training greatly improves balance, stability, and coordination, which are all important for looking and performing at our best. Static, or machine training, is quite different.

Static training places your body under constant and variable tension and resistance, while tracking proper joint function. So, for example, when you perform a dumbbell bicep curl on a Swiss ball, the biceps have no tension in the top or bottom position, but are under maximum resistance when the dumbbell is perpendicular to the floor.

When you use a machine to perform bicep curls, your biceps endure tension throughout the movement. This tension varies throughout the exercise, depending on the muscle's strength curve. This might sound better at first, but the best women's exercise programs shouldn't be limited to one type of movement or exercise.

Getting the Best of Both Worlds

Some experts argue that functional training is the way to the perfect body. Others say the secret is isolated exercise and static training. In reality, both of sides of this argument are right.

True functional training means avoiding machines, split routines, single-joint exercise, and bodybuilding. Those who believe you should only use functional training feel other exercises have no real purpose, aside from aesthetic ones. Functional exercises, on the other hand, increase strength, muscle mass, sport performance, and work capacity, while improving the function and integrity of your joints.

Just because exercise is technically artificial doesn't mean it's useless. It just means you're improving your body on purpose. And this will greatly improve your performance, not to mention your body shape.

If you really want to look great, improve your performance, and have the most effective workout possible, you need to use a variety of the most effective exercises and movements. So, instead of looking at a movement as good or bad, choose exercises and equipment that will address your body's unique needs and give you the results you're looking for.

    Most people have heard of Pilates these days, but it's still an activity that many people haven't tried and that many people are unsure about. Many people have perceptions of Pilates that are not necessarily correct and without sampling it themselves they are unlikely to right these misconceptions any time soon.

    So what is Pilates? Is it essentially just yoga but in a different format? Is it just 'for women'? The answer to both these questions is a resounding 'no' – and Pilates is its own thing that can benefit anyone who cares to give it a go. Here we will look at precisely how it can do this and what it involves.

    If you ever witness a Pilates lesson then granted it will in all likelihood look a lot like yoga or Tai Chi. These are slow movements that a class carries out at the instruction of a teacher and that are designed to improve your fitness, strength and health. We'll look at how that works.

    First of all, there are a few objectives with Pilates. One is to help improve posture and the other is to create more 'body awareness'. This latter point means that you are more consciously moving each part of your body including all the small muscle groups and joints and even your breathing. Most people will move in a very natural way without consideration for what their body is doing as a whole at the time. This then means that they will not be moving in quite as elegant unison as they could be and they will be more likely to cause an injury.

    In Pilates you are taught to control all of these finer movements, and particularly around your 'core' stability muscles. This means for instance that when you do a sit up you aren't just doing a sit up – instead you focus on squeezing the core muscles at the time to increase the workout, you focus on breathing in concordance with the movement, and you think about how your spinal column is gradually opening and closing and essentially massaging itself against the mat. What this achieves is not only to greatly increase your core strength (by causing you to use it more), but also to avoid your chances of hurting your back via trapped nerve for instance, and improve your breathing. All of this then helps to improve your general strength and stability, but at the same time it means that you are more aware of your body in every movement that you make – being sure that you have good posture, that your spine is aligned and that you are moving in unison. All of this then means that you are less likely to injure yourself.

    Of course Pilates is also great exercise and the slow nature of the movements means that you will build your muscle even more through dynamic tension and static contraction. This is a great way to get those 'legs, bums and tums' and because the movement is slow and low impact it's healthy for anyone – even the elderly or the pregnant.

Do you see individuals possessing hard six pack abs and dreaming you also have it? There are folks would like to have got those kind of shape without spending a lot of their time hitting the gym. We're living in the fast lane. Could there be easy to have body you need?

Well, there are some simple ways and tips that would help you attain the 6-pack stomach that you dreaming of. Begin with proper diet. Dont watch and eat TV, you often eat a lot while in front of the tv set. Water will work for the body, so drink plenty of it to keep your body hydrated. This might control body metabolic process and fat reducing.

Milk is good, but you should have skim milk. You can find healthier ways; all that you should do is select the healthier alternative. Diet alone wont perform, so you need to put some action in your activities. Exercise is still the very best routine and doing a hundred sit ups a day is not enough. If you're shooting for that 6-pack abs, cardiovascular is vital which is done in 5 minutes a day it will burn fat in no time. You can even do weight lift.

Not all workouts can be accomplish during a workout session, do some of it outside. Go for a walk and there are a handful of exercises that can be done while your break like doing self lift in your chair.Besides having proper diet and workout, having those seven to eight hours of snooze every night is vital. So get that rest your body need. Getting to sleep, it conditions your muscles by lowering the stress amount.

Last but not least, you need to dedicate yourself in doing it. It is possible to plan your own plan, but without dedication thats not going to work. Thats why diet and exercise wont do. Six pack abs are not that hard to attain, as long as you put yourself involved with it.

A good workout makes you feel alive, energized, and content. But what you do after your workout can be just as important as the workout itself. You need to give your body time to recover, and this involves more than just a quick nap. Women's need for recovery after exercise runs much deeper than that. The Warning Signs of Overtraining It's normal to be a bit stiff or physically tired after a good work out, but if you've overdone it and are in need of some recovery time, there are warning signs to watch out for. How are your muscles and joints? If your legs are tender, you're experiencing muscle and joint pain, and you seem to ache all over, you could be experiencing the symptoms of overtraining. Feeling wiped out, tired, and generally have a lack of energy? If so, it might be time to take it easy. You might even notice you no longer have the same level of endurance you used to, and suddenly have a slower run time or need to run a shorter distance. More worrisome is the fact that you could suddenly have a weaker immune system, if you've overdone it. If so, you'll find you're more prone to illnesses, colds, and bugs that you would normally be able to fight off, or might not even notice. And don't make the mistake of thinking it'll be easy to rest up, either. Insomnia is a common sign that you've been doing too much lately. You can also suffer headaches, find it impossible to relax, be fidgety, twitchy, and can find yourself with dehydration and/or an insatiable thirst. It's important to note that overtraining isn't something that happens after a single workout. Overtraining occurs when you've trained to the point of fatigue multiple times, without including lower intensity days or allowing yourself enough time to recover. Therefore, it can take weeks or even months for overtraining to occur. Fatigue, Overtraining and Your Muscles Normally, when people think of fatigue, they think of feeling tired. In reality, it's much more than that. Fatigue can involve dehydration of up to 3% (dangerously close to requiring medical attention), an increase in body temperature, low glucose levels, and decreased central nervous function. This means women's need for recovery after exercise is about more than just feeling better. It can make the difference between being healthy and coming dangerously close to death and serious illness. If you've ever been stiff or tender after a workout (and who hasn't?), you know that overtraining and fatigue can affect your muscle tissue as well. And these symptoms don't necessarily show up right away, either. Many times, we don't realize we've overdone it until the next day. Intense, short-term exercise can significantly deplete the amount of muscle glycogen in your body, which is the fuel your muscles use for energy. So, you could have potentially 'starved' your muscles. Here is where post-workout nutrition is key. Lactic acid can be a problem. It will build up in your muscles, until your body can no longer metabolize it properly. It doesn't, however, cause the muscle soreness that we thought it did. After much testing and research, experts learned that muscles process lactic acid in a matter of minutes. Free radicals can also wreak havoc on our muscles. These unstable atoms are short one electron, and in an attempt to achieve stability, will take electrons from otherwise healthy cells. This spreads the chaos and the negative effects of the process. Originating in the adrenal gland, the hormone cortisol is responsible for helping your body deal with stresses such as exercise by breaking down protein. But when it does that, it sends the amino acids to your liver to be used for energy, instead of letting muscle cells absorb and use them for protein synthesis. This makes it impossible for your body to replenish its muscle protein levels, which can then decrease your muscle mass if you don't lower your stress. Food, the Secret to Your Recovery Women's need to recover after exercise involves more than just sleep or relaxation. Food can have a significant impact on your body's recovery, but you need to be careful: Food and daily rituals can have a positive or negative effect on the process, depending on which ones you have. Because overtraining has caused a lot of damage, and therefore inflammation, swelling and pain, you'll need to ensure your diet has a higher amount of antiinflammatory, carb, and protein-rich foods. Not sure which foods these are? Here are five of the best: - Salmon - Green Tea - Blueberries - Broccoli - Sweet Potato Recovery No-Nos The list of secrets involved in women's need to recover after exercise includes just as many "don'ts" as it does "do's". In fact, some foods and lifestyle habits can actually have a negative effect on your recovery. And you'd be surprised what can do the most damage. Even the most innocent food items or the simplest of habits can trigger an inflammatory reaction in the body. Full-fat dairy products, such as cheese, ice cream, and cream cheese, and meats (such as red meat, hot dogs, pork, and bacon) can all work against you and inhibit your body's ability to recover. Trans fatty acids, like those found in processed foods, packaged items, and margarine can also have significant negative effects on your body. Other culprits to avoid include deep fried foods and items containing sugar and white flour, such as pastries, cookies, and cake. What about your lifestyle and the many habits in your daily routine? If you smoke, drink a large amount of alcohol, or live a highly stressful life, you could be deliberately sabotaging your body's recovery. And let's face it; these habits aren't healthy for you at the best of times, so it's better to cut them out of your life anyway.

Sustaining a excellent physical fitness is essential part of a healthy living; being fit will aid you to have a longer life, look youthful, and feel better. Remembering long fitness books or following complex regimens can be intimidating, but the helpful information in this article will aid you to obtain and sustain fitness and good health

Do not weight train two days in a row. When exercising your muscles be careful about working a particular muscle group too often and too much. After weight training, allow your muscles at least 48 hours to recover. Anything more does more harm than good. You won't see any favorable results.

Take the stairs. If you use the steps instead of the elevator or escalator whenever you have the choice, you get a mini-workout. You burn 10 times as many calories when you climb the stairs as you do by just standing. Planning to take the stairs when you can mean committing to a fit lifestyle.

Take the stairs. If you use the steps instead of the elevator or escalator whenever you have the choice, you get a mini-workout. You burn 10 times as many calories when you climb the stairs as you do by just standing.

Preparing to take the actions when you can means consigning to a suitable lifestyle.

Keep a record of your respective training. This will not only help you to be accountable for the work you've done, but will also help you see what is working and not working in your fitness routine. You will be better able to target where results are coming from, too.

When you are working out you should try to always remember to keep your tongue at the roof of your mouth during sit-ups and crunches. This will keep your head in alignment and will keep your neck from getting hurt from having too much strain placed on it all at one time.

Be careful with the types of supplements that you decide to take. While many of them may help if you use them correctly, when you aren't sure about the proper usage you can cause yourself either real physical damage or even mess up your fitness progress by ingesting too many calories.

A fantastic way to create sure that you remain inspired is always to have your goals written down.

When you are working out you should try to always remember to keep your tongue at the roof of your mouth during sit-ups and crunches. This will keep your head in alignment and will keep your neck from getting hurt from having too much strain placed on it all at one time.

Be complete with these types of products that you choose to take. While many of them may help if you use them correctly, when you aren't sure about the proper usage you can cause yourself either real physical damage or even mess up your fitness progress by ingesting too many calories.

Beginning or staying with a physical fitness program can seem challenging, but keeping fit will help you not only to look your best, but to feel your best too. Following the fitness tips discussed above will help make it easier for you to meet your goals.

Whether we like it or not, women are genetically designed to be a bit bottom-heavy. And while there are rare times when this can be a good thing, normally these extra pounds are just one more thing we need to work on. But that's ok. Below, you'll find five of the best exercise for a hot lower body and all the information you'll need to get rid of that pear, apple, or other unpleasant fruit shape that's been preventing you from feeling your best. Squats Squats are great exercises for your lower body. They not only target your quadriceps, but they also get your glutes, hamstrings, and calves working, as well as your core. How to Do the Perfect Squat Standing straight, with your lower back naturally arched and your feet shoulder-width apart, hold your arms out at shoulder level, tighten your tummy, and hold it. Then, while continuing to hold your arms out and your tummy tight, push out your hips and bend your knees to lower your body as far as you can, until your hips are parallel with the floor. Hold it. Then, slowly return to the starting position. The beauty of squats is that they're not only great a great exercise for your lower body, but they're super easy to do and don't require any additional equipment. Just make sure you have good form. Want to burn fat while doing your squats? Add a jump at the end to increase your heart rate and start burning fat. By simply adding 10 squat jumps at the end of each circuit, you'll add 120 squat jumps into each workout. And when you're ready to turn up the heat, add weights to the routine and increase the reps you do each week. Lunges Lunges should definitely be next on your list of the 5 best exercises for a hot lower body. They focus on your quads, but lunges also work the other muscles involved in getting a smaller backside: your glutes, hamstrings, and calves. Your hamstrings are the three muscles that start just under the gluteus maximus on your pelvic bone and run to your tibia. Normally, we think of them as being responsible for moving your leg back and bringing your heel to your bum. However, their main job is to slow your shin during rapid movement. Step-Ups Step-ups look extremely basic, but they're actually great exercise for your glutes, quads, and hamstrings. And because you're strengthening your hamstrings, you'll increase the stability in your knees and greatly reduce your risk of injury. This is vital during normal movements, but it's especially important when you're working your legs and trying to melt the extra fat from your backside. Hip Raises Your glutes need loving, too. And some of us have glutes that demand a little more attention than others. So, if you haven't already, now is the time to get familiar with your glutes. Your glutes include a number of muscles: the gluteus maximus, which attaches to your femur and runs along the pelvic bone crests, the gluteus maximus, which start on the pelvic bone crests and run to the side of your femur, the gluteus medius and minimus, which run under the maximus, and the iliotibial band, which is connective tissue that moves force from the center of your body to your leg. This sounds like a lot of muscle, and it is! Your glutes are actually the largest muscle group, so you'll burn more calories than you will when working other muscles. They aso help you avoid getting a pooch by preventing your pelvis from tilting forward. This means you can burn more fat, but also minimize the look of the belly fat you already have. Toe Hops Made up of the gastrocnemius and the soleus muscles, your calves are mostly responsible for extending your ankle, or plantar function. The gastrocnemius is a proximal and a media section located on the anterior side of the soleus, in the back of your lower leg. These sections start just above the knee and meet at your Achilles tendon, and are responsible for handling the workload when your knee is straight. The soleus is located under the gastrocnemius and it runs to your Achilles tendon, as well. However, it starts just below your knee and is responsible for extending your ankle when your knee is bent. These five moves can make for an intense session, but they really are the best exercises for your lower body. Before you know it, you'll toss out the control top pantyhose, stiff underwear, and the other fancy fabric contraptions you've been using to minimize the look of your thighs, and be wearing heels, stockings, skirts, shorts, and other sexy little numbers with confidence.