Exercises to Slim Down Legs

Javier Colomer 7 min. of reading Training Routines Leave a comment

If you’re looking for Exercises to Slim Down Legs, you’ve found your article!

Usually, when we talk about leg training, we aim for maximum volume.

That’s the goal for many gym regulars, but some are after other training benefits, and depending on their motivations, might want to slim down or reduce leg size. Not everyone has the same goal…

Index

1 Lean but Strong Legs
2 Calories
3 Exercises and Muscle Fiber Types
4 Plyometric Exercises
5 Top Exercises to Slim Down Legs and Burn Fat
6 Related Posts

Lean but Strong Legs

When we mention slimming down legs, don’t confuse it with a somewhat “scrawny” look; quite the opposite, reducing volume doesn’t mean looking worse.

What we can do, and will do, is improve our shape (“tone”) by focusing on reducing accumulated fat

However, it’s well known that fat loss happens overall, not spot reduction, but still, with certain exercises, we can get stronger legs!

Calories

Obviously, if your goal is to slim down legs, it’s important to keep calorie intake in check.

In this regard, the diet profile should be slightly hypocaloric (calorie deficit), but avoid prolonging this deficit by doing controlled periodic carb reloads

Slimming legs shouldn’t mean looking weak, quite the opposite: better muscle tone!

Keep protein above your normal level, reduce carbs, and slightly increase fats — a good call, but if you’re not sure, better have a pro guide you

Exercises and Muscle Fiber Types

Here, we’ll talk about the fiber type we want to activate to burn the most calories, and their origin. Each fiber type uses a different energy substrate depending on exercise intensity.

So, within the muscle fiber types, we find 3 types:

Fiber Type	Energy Metabolism	Characteristics
Type I or Oxidative Fibers	Fats	High Endurance (hours); Long Duration, Low Intensity Activities (walking, jogging, cycling at an easy pace…)
Type IIA or Oxidative Glycolytic Fibers	Fats and Glucose	Medium Endurance (minutes); Medium Duration and Intensity Activities (running at a moderate pace…)
Type IIB or Glycolytic Fibers	Phosphagens	Low Endurance (seconds); Explosive or Power Activities (sprints, Olympic lifts…)

Plyometric Exercises

These are very fast movements involving a quick stretch or loading of the muscle followed by a strong contraction. Examples: jump rope, vertical jump, burpee onto a box…

In other words, we train type IIB fibers.

The benefits of plyometric training are pretty impressive, like:

Burning calories: due to the oxygen debt they create, even after the session ends
Power and speed: transferable to any sport discipline
Fun: these exercises break away from conventional training and are usually very enjoyable, plus you get to feel like a pro athlete

We’ll do a combo of exercises keeping these physiological muscle behavior traits in mind, to maximize our goal. In this case, alternating fatigue exercises with explosive ones.

Top Exercises to Slim Down Legs and Burn Fat

Jump Rope

Who hasn’t jumped rope at least once, especially after watching Rocky…

Nowadays, jump ropes have evolved with terms like “ultra speed,” especially in CrossFit, where “Double Unders” are common — jumping rope passing the rope twice per jump.

Whichever you choose, jump rope is a complete exercise that boosts coordination, muscle work, and high calorie burn.

How and When: I like to use this as a warm-up before strength training, or to quickly raise heart rate before aerobic activity.

Alternatively, do 1-minute jump, 1-minute rest (simple jumps), or 30″ on – 30″ off for Double Unders, until you reach 15-20 minutes total. Another way is the TABATA method, meaning 8 rounds of 20″ work and 10″ rest.

Set a 20-minute countdown timer and start at 3, 2, 1…..

Jumping Lunge

Also called “Split Jump Lunge.” As speed increases, so does the fun… It’s super important to master technique here to avoid injury (twisting an ankle, bad knee movement), so start slow, there’ll be time to pick up pace. Definitely one of the exercises that will spike your bpm in seconds.

How and When: this leg work can complement strength training or be a powerful activation exercise, doing 3 sets of 15-20 jumps (alternating).

Another great use is in a metabolic circuit (or WOD in CrossFit lingo)

Box Jump

Box jumps are the clearest example of plyometric exercise: you have to overcome gravity to jump onto a platform (or obstacle), with no time to hesitate mid-air, so you gotta be committed.

One main downside is overestimating your ability, especially when fatigued or after many reps, or else your shins will pay the price ;(

How and When: include it at the end of your workout as part of a metabolic circuit. Avoid doing it right after lower body work.

Do 10-15 reps per round. Adjust box height to your level

Burpees Over the Bar

Seeing burpees in a workout usually gets a reaction. Add another element, and alarms might go off. If you don’t know them, I recommend practicing burpees alone until you “master” them (though in the end, they always master you…).

This exercise involves jumping over a bar or similar height object (kettlebell, cone… or even jumping over the rowing machine :O). You can jump over frontally or sideways (I prefer sideways from experience…).

How and When: at the end of strength training. Any object with a set height works, but for convenience, a bar with plates about the size used in weightlifting is enough.

Do 5 sets of 10 jumps with 60″ rest

Shuttle Run

Now a running exercise that probably reminds you of childhood (well, some of you played it…), basically sprint there, touch, sprint back. It’s also common in performance tests or job fitness tests.

Still, it’s an excellent high-intensity cardio exercise and fits our goal.

How and When: you can set any distance and even do it inside the gym (if you have a clear path), but I recommend outdoors. Mark distances at 5, 10, 15, and 20 meters.

The exercise is always from start (0 meters) to first mark (5 meters), touch the ground, sprint back to 0, touch ground, sprint to second mark (10 meters), touch, sprint back…

Do 10 rounds of this sequence (up to 20 meters) with 60-90″ rest

Combined Exercises for Explosion and Sprinting

These produce a strong post-exercise oxygen consumption effect (EPOC) because they pre-fatigue fibers to explode in a final sprint.

This is similar to high-intensity interval training (HIIT), and I assure you each set will leave you breathless, needing extra rest to tackle the next.

Here’s a list from easier to harder so you can pick your poison! (video refers to the first exercise since we all know what a sprint is…)

Walking Lunges + Sprint

How and When: perfect after a 20-30 min easy run, finishing with a system shock.

Do 5 sets of 10 lunges (alternating) followed by a 30 m sprint

Tuck Jumps + Sprint

How and When: part of a metabolic circuit in an outdoor workout. Do 3 blocks: each with 3 sets of 12 jumps followed by a 20″ sprint; walk back to start and repeat until 3 sets are done, then rest 3 minutes

Burpees + Sprint

How and When: part of a metabolic circuit in an outdoor workout. Burpees are both loved and hated, and if you want to test your reaction, I challenge you to do this workout tomorrow:

Use EMOMs (complete the work within the minute, rest for the remainder). Simple example: EMOM 5min 5x Burpees —> means 5 sets (5 min) each with 5 burpees. Start the timer, do 5 burpees, rest for the remaining time until the minute ends. Do EMOM 7 min of 7x Burpees + 15 m Sprint