May 1, 2007

Two Great Thigh-Shaping Exercises that You Can Even Do at Home

Most women want toned, shapely legs, so it’s no surprise that I am often asked, What can I do for my legs? However, my answer sometimes surprises them.

Almost always, I recommend two great thigh-shaping exercises that few people have ever heard of, let alone do. But I recommend them because they can produce outstanding results for shape and definition. Furthermore, these exercises can be done without any equipment at all – you don’t even have to go to the gym to do them.

The two exercises are the sissy squat and frog squat, and despite their lack of popularity nowadays, both exercises have actually been around for decades and are used by those who know that traditional squats, lunges, and leg extensions simply aren’t enough for producing superior shape in the thighs.

I won’t go into much detail about how to perform the sissy squat, since I wrote an entire article about it in December 2004. However, I do want to mention that the exercise is much harder than the name implies. (Actually, I’ve never heard a convincing story about exactly how the name came about.) In fact, I’ve seen people who can do heavy squats fail miserably when they try the sissy squat with only their body’s weight. On the other hand, when I do see the exercise performed well, the person doing it always has well-developed thighs.

The hallmark of legs that have had the "sissy-squat touch" is complete development from the hipbone to the top of the knee – it attacks the entire front of the thigh, getting higher up than most other leg exercises. Furthermore, the sissy squat seems to enhance quad separation as well as improve the outer sweep of the thigh.

For the sissy squat, it’s important to keep perfect form and not worry about adding on extra weight unless you feel you have to. (It’s possible to do this exercise with extra resistance by holding a plate or barbell, or you can even do it using the Smith machine.) For most people, even advanced trainers, the weight of the body is enough, providing you’re doing it properly. As well, be careful with your knees. If you find yourself experiencing pain in the knees, it probably means that your form is not quite right or that, for some reason, your body isn’t well-suited to this exercise. As always, train with caution and don’t risk injury, no matter how effective an exercise might be.

While the sissy squat is a rather obscure exercise, the frog squat is even less well-known, although some may have heard of it by its other name – the ballet squat (then again, maybe not). However, just because it’s not a commonplace movement in the gyms today doesn’t mean it’s not worth discussing.

The reason it’s called either the frog squat or ballet squat has to do with the position of the feet throughout the movement – once you get into the starting position, you’ll see why. Here’s how you do it:

To get into the starting position, stand with your feet flat on the floor, heels together and toes pointed out to each side at about a 45-degree angle. From this position, rise up on your toes but still keep your heels touching (you may have to shuffle your feet a bit to keep the heels together). This on-your-toes, heels-in-the-air stance is your starting position – and you should know it because your thighs should already feel tense. From this point on, your heels won’t touch the floor again until you complete the exercise. For those starting out, I recommend simply hold the hands on the hips.

Now, simply lower yourself down as you would when squatting, but with your toes pointed out and you heels still up in the air and touching. After you descend to a low point, simply rise back up to the standing position again, heels still off the floor. If you do this exercise right, you should feel the tension on your thighs throughout the movement.

Like the sissy squat, the frog squat takes a certain degree of balance and coordination to perform correctly. So, if you can’t balance properly at first, trying holding onto a wall or a chair to stabilize yourself until you get it right. When you feel confident with the movement, try doing it without holding onto anything.

If you want, you can also use weight to increase the resistance. (As with the sissy squat, you can hold a plate or barbell, or it’s possible to do this using the Smith machine.) However, I caution against increasing the weight unless you’re very, very strong. Rather, instead of piling on the weight, first perfect your form and simply pump out lots of sets and reps – that alone can give your thighs a tremendous workout with just your body’s weight. You can also play with foot position a bit to vary where the exercise hits the thighs. For example, I’ve seen people do this exercise with their feet spaced wider (obviously, with the heels no longer touching, but still up in the air). Changing the foot position will affect how the thighs are worked – experiment to see how you feel it the most.

Unlike the sissy squat, the frog squat doesn’t attack the thighs from top to bottom. Rather, I find that most of the stress goes to the center portion of the thigh. However, that’s not a bad thing – frog squats tend to give the thighs even better sweep than sissy squats do.

As with the sissy squat, watch out for joint pain, particularly in the knees, hips, or ankles. Again, if you feel pain, it might be that your form is not right or your body isn’t well-suited for this movement.

While sissy squats and frog squats are not well-known, they are some of the most effective thigh-shaping exercises around. Furthermore, since you don’t need equipment, you can build some of the shapeliest legs around right at home!

...Doug Schneider
das@seriousaboutfitness.com

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