Resize your thighs: try this great move for sleeker, firmer legs

Shape, April, 2005 by Linda Shelton

THE MOVE Skate lunge

THE PAYOFF The skating motion of this supereffective move adds shape and tone to your butt, hips and thighs. The challenge of balancing on one leg as your other leg presses out-ward strengthens in particular your upper hips and inner thighs, as well as all your other lower-body muscles at the same time. Your abs work hard here to maintain your upright position.

THE RIGHT WAY

* With hands on hips, stand with your weight on your right leg with only the toes of your left foot touching floor, close to your right foot, knee bent, hips square.

* Contract abdominals to maintain a neutral spine (meaning you maintain equal tension in muscles in front and back of your body), chest lifted, shoulders relaxed.

* Bend right knee as you press left foot out to side at a diagonal, reaching leg away from body, with just toes skimming the floor.

* Drag left foot in to starting position, creating a tension against the floor and using your inner thighs, straightening right knee. Complete reps, then switch legs to complete 1 set.

WHERE YOU FEEL IT

* In the quadriceps, hamstrings and buttocks of your standing leg; in the upper hip and inner thigh of your "skating" leg.

* You'll also feel your abs and back muscles contract to maintain the position.

WORKOUT GUIDELINES

Do this move 2-3 times a week as part of a regular strength program. Do 2-3 sets of 12-20 reps, resting 60 seconds between sets (completing reps on both legs equals 1 set). After 4-6 weeks, or when you feel ready, progress to the Advanced Tip.

ADVANCED TIP

Do the exercise holding 5- to 8-pound dumbbells at your shoulders. Or do the move with standing foot on a pillow or a balance tool such as an Xerdisc.

EXPERT ADVICE

"Keep your body weight pressed down through your heel as you bend and straighten the standing leg," says Andrea Bowman, a Virginia Beach, Va.-based certified personal trainer and owner of Fitness Formula. "This helps you control the movement to better press away and then drag in your skating leg."

RELATED ARTICLE: MUSCLES WORKED

1. gluteus maximus (bottocks)

2. hamstrings

3. gluteus medius

4. gluteus minimus

5. quadriceps

6. inner thighs

RELATED ARTICLE: MISTAKES TO AVOID

* Don't let the knee of your standing leg travel past toes or rotate; this stresses knee ligaments and tendons.

* Don't lean forward to lower into a deeper squat; this arches your back, which strains your spine.

* Don't lift skating leg off the floor so that you lean sideways on supporting leg; it makes the exercise ineffective because you're relying on momentum and not on upper-hip and inner-thigh muscles.