5 Best Barre Exercises to Tone Your Butt and Thighs

Barre exercises offer amazing benefits. (Photo via Pexels/Polina Tankilevitch)
Barre exercises offer amazing benefits. (Photo via Pexels/Polina Tankilevitch)

Have you considered barre exercises to tone your butt and thighs? If not, you are missing out on an effective way to sculpt your lower body.

There are plenty of benefits to barre exercises. These workouts help tone, strengthen, and empower the muscles, and make everyday tasks easier by improving the functioning of the bones and joints. As they involve minimal space and tools, you can easily do them at home and make them a part of your everyday fitness routine.

Not only do barre exercises target major muscle groups, such as the glutes, butts and thighs, but they also scale up the intensity of your personal workout needs. Sure, they look interesting, but they are surprisingly difficult, and you eill definitely feel a serious burn.


Barre Exercises to Tone Butt and Thighs

To perform these exercises, you don’t really need a barre. Just hold a table or chair or any sturdy surface that you can rest your hands on for support, and a carpet or mat for comfort.

Get ready to experience serious burns in your muscles with these five barre exercises:

1) Second Position Plie

To do this exercise:

  • Stand behind a chair, and rest your fingers on top of it.
  • Position your feet wider than hip width, and keep your toes pointed outward. Your shoulders should be round and back, and your pelvis should be in a neutral position.
  • Go down into a low squat position so that your tailbone comes down to your heels till your hips get in line with your knees or your hips go beyond your knees.
  • Squeeze your glutes to stand back up, and move your feet to your right.
  • Open your right arm across and bring your hips down into a lunge position. As you do so, make sure your knees reach a 90-degree bend.
  • Stand up again, and pivot to the front to do another plie squat. Repeat the lunge on your left, and continue to alternate lunges with squats.
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2) Donkey Kick

To do this barre exercise:

  • Start on your arms and knees, hips over your knees, and shoulders in line with your elbows.
  • Press your left knee up with your toe pointed so that your thigh gets parallel to the floor, and knee gets in line with your butt.
  • Engage your abs; roll your shoulders back and down, and do not overarch your spine.
  • Keep your knee bent at 90 degreesc and push your foot towards the ceiling. Bring your left leg back to hover it off the floor, and repeat a full leg lift.
  • Once you are in the last rep, make sure you pulse at the top position.
  • Switch sides, and repeat.
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3) Bridge Abduction

To do this exercise:

  • Lie straight on your back on a mat or carpet, and place your feet on the mat with your heels close enough to your hips that you can easily touch them. Move your pelvis up, and squeeze your glutes.
  • Shift your weight on the heel of your right foot, and straighten and lift your left leg up towards the ceiling. Lower your leg back to the floor, and make sure to keep your knee straight as you do that.
  • Move your left leg out to your side at 45 degrees, and bring your left leg back out in the front.
  • Continue to lift ad extend your left leg to the side, and switch legs to repeat.
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4) Arabesque Lunge

To do this exercise:

  • Stand straight with your hands on the back of a chair with your right foot crossed in front of your left. Stand on your toes, and keep your thighs squeezed together.
  • Extend your left leg behind you, and bring your left leg down to the initial position.
  • Bend your right knee, and slide your left leg back into a lunge position.
  • Return to the start, and repeat.
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5) Back Attitude

To do this barre exercise:

  • Start the exercise by standing on your right leg. Bend your left knee, and rest your left foot against your right leg; keep your toe pointed.
  • Bring your left knee out to your left side, and with a bend in your standing right knee, move your left leg up and back just behind you.
  • Move your chest forward to take pressure off your spine, and push your toe up towards the ceiling.
  • Return your left toe to the floor with your knee bent, and repeat.
  • Pulse at the back on the last rep, and switch sides to repeat the exercise.
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Takeaway

Now that you know some great barre exercises to sculpt your butt and thighs, give them a try, and see the results for yourself. With each aforementioned exercise, go at your own pace, and focus on your posture.

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