The No-Equipment Move That Tones Your Legs and Butt
Sculpt a lean, strong lower body with just one exercise!
SHUTTERSTOCK
This article was written by Linda Melone, and provided by our partners atPrevention.
Here's your fitness challenge of the day: the squat jump! It's an anti-aging power move that takes toning your lower body to a whole new level.
Any sort of explosive motion—like a squat jump—helps you maintain and build fast-twitch muscle fibers. And while you can't see them, you really need to keep these around. Fast twitch muscle fibers are what help you generate power, an ability people lose quickly—at twice the rate of muscle strength—as we age, says exercise physiologist Irv Rubenstein, Ph.D., president of S.T.E.P.S., Nashville.
While power can certainly improve your workout, you need these muscle fibers for everyday movements, too. Even something as simple as crossing a busy street before the light turns red requires your fast-twitch muscle fibers to spring into action.
And, as you probably already know, upping the intensity of your workout can do wonders for your metabolism by flipping the "on" switch to afterburn. So even if you're plunked down at your desk for a few hours after running through your workout, your body will still torch calories at a higher rate. How's that for more bang for your fitness buck?
Even if you have weak knees, you can still get some of the benefits with a simple modification. Instead of doing an all-out jump squat, move more quickly, and rise all the way up onto your toes, reaching your arms overhead, at the top of each rep. (So if you normally take two seconds to get up from a squat, do it in only half the time.) You'll still get your heart rate up, tone your entire body, and earn some stress-busting endorphins. Sounds like a win-win to us.
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