Building Muscle in all the right places

angelgutierrez

I have always been a curvy girl and love my curves. I naturally gain and lose weight pretty evenly, My overall goal weight is 130 pound, I am currently at 168. I do about an hour to an hour and a half of cardio 5x a week. I do some lower body weight training but Im not sure if im doing it right. I want to enhance the muscle in my legs and butt, i dont want to look to skinny. Does any one have any suggestions?

Rae6503

I always suggest "New Rules of Weight Lifting for Women" for newbies.

And I'd definitely suggest doing upper body as well as lower body.

In general for lower body do squats and step-ups one day, and dead-lifts and lunges the next time (resting at least a day in between).

oneIT

Squats and lunges!

AmoreCouture

Check out Bodybuilding.com and select "Find a plan" in the top left corner. It will give you a strength routine to follow. I think it's a good start for someone new to strength training.

Nopedotjpeg

I wouldn't only focus on one half of your body, but rather do compound lifts. Doing heavy lifts will help you keep your muscle mass while you lose fat (which is what it seems you want). Squats and Deadlifts are the #1 recommendation of most people. There's dozens of variations of Squats too (as well as some of Deadlifts, but people tend to stick with the Traditional Deadlift). Just make sure you're using the right weight.

Bench Press/Push-Up, Overhead Press, Pull-Ups/Chin-Ups, and a rowing variation are all good exercises to include as well.

darlilama

Oldies but goodies...Can't beat squats for the butt and thighs. Just be sure you are using proper form - the butt goes out and back, knees over your ankles, weight in your heels. If you're a he-woman , you can use weights on a barbell... a smith machine preferably for safety (if you go to a gym). Linear smiths are hard to maintain good form in a squat... we have one and I had to stop using it as it seemed to do more to compress my spine (as I increased weight) than help my squat. I just hold dumbbells in my hands, but this does limit the weight I can use since my lower body strength builds more quickly than my upper. If you're a real beginner, you don't need any extra weight at all

Calf raises for your lower leg. Again, you can do this using a barbell or smith machine, or you can hold dumbbells.

Best of luck!!

DixiedoesMFP

Do upper body as well! Love sexy shoulders and back and arms!

koolmum

Agree. Squats, Lunges, Deadlifts, Calf raises.

If you're going to have hot legs, you might as well have the back, shoulders, arms and abs to go along.

LeanMeanFitnessMachine

Cut your cardio in half and focus more of your time on weight training.