Updated January 06, 2015.

This week, I'm highlighting three lower body exercises to help you prepare for the holidays and, hopefully, manage your weight while you enjoy the festivities. These are some of my favorite lower body moves for targeting the glutes, hips and thighs. Tack them on to your usual lower body workout or do them on their own, shooting for 1-3 sets of 10-16 reps. You can always add weights to the lunges and step ups for added intensity...just be sure to avoid these moves if they cause any pain or aggravate old injuries.

Step and Squat. This exercise is great because it targets all the muscles of the lower body. By using a resistance band, you can target the glutes and outer thighs. To do it, wrap a medium-heavy band under the feet and keep tension as you take a giant step to the right. Squat as low as you can while keeping the knees behind the toes and bring the feet back together. Continue stepping to the right for 8 or more steps then switch to the left.


Lunges. Most of us know that lunges are an excellent exercise for targeting just about every muscle in the lower body. What's nice about lunges (if one can find anything nice to say about them) is that there are a variety of ways to do them. You can try static lunges, stepping back into a lunge, stepping forward into a lunge, walking lunges or even elevating the back foot on a step (which is really tough!). The key to making these work is to take your feet far enough apart that the front knee stays behind the toe and to go straight down when you lunge (rather than forward).



Step Ups. Step ups are another great exercise for the glutes, but the key to making it work is to make sure the platform you're using is high enough to really get the buns involved (but not so high that you strain the knee). You also want to press into the heel on the step as you push up and really use the legs rather than the momentum of your body.


For more workout ideas, visit my Workout Center.