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Exercise your thighs hard to tone bottom half of the body, say experts
A FIRMER bottom and more slender legs are what many women, and some men, crave for.
For the ladies, the need is especially keen with hot shorts and mini-skirts being the rage now.
Some may be wondering why their thighs are less-than-shapely when their legs are constantly being exercised.
The sad truth is that walking to the bus stop, or even window shopping, does very little towards creating a svelte pair of legs.
While the thighs carry the whole body’s weight, they need to be worked harder before benefits can accrue.
“Walking is a light activity,” said Agnes Lee, a sports trainer in rehabilitative services in Changi General Hospital. “Judging from today’s lifestyle, where transportation is readily available everywhere, people tend to walk less.
“Furthermore, when you walk, the muscle contractions are lesser as compared with running or strengthening exercises.”
Cheryl Chow, a master fitness trainer at California Fitness Novena Club, said daily activities such as walking and running help to improve stamina and train the heart, but do not really tone up the thighs and calves, or do so to only a small extent.
In addition, slender legs are very much dependent on body types. So someone born with, say, an endomorphic body type – which tends to accumulate fat on the thighs – cannot achieve slim legs with frequent walking.
Exercise is the way to go, if you want to tone the bottom half of your body and have nicer legs to show off.
Different muscle groups are activated when walking and when exercising. Legs need to be exercised to help increase
muscular strength, and withstand any additional weight the body may need to carry.
Exercising also builds up muscular tissues and increases muscle mass. This is vital as the human body loses about 1.36kg of muscle a year in a natural degeneration process known as sarcopenia. This may be more pertinent in physically inactive people, but even fit athletes face this problem.
Muscles are also important as they act as a protective layer for the bones, and are closely linked with the building of strong bones.
They also keep your body moving, and are essential in having a good posture and in reducing aches and pains. Weightlifting can be very effective too, as it can target and tone precisely the muscle group to give it a firm and toned
appearance.
Besides, exercising your leg muscles burns more fat, meaning it is more effective in keeping your weight in check because they form a large muscle group.
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