Easy Yoga Moves To Tone Your Legs And Butt

One of the biggest misconceptions about yoga is that it’s “just a lot of stretching.” These challenging poses are great for building strength and tone (try holding chair pose and feel your muscles start to quiver), plus the lengthening effect of the stretches ensures muscles remain lithe, not tight and bulky. Practice this sequence to target the powerhouse lower body muscles.

Crescent Lunge

Keeping your feet hip-width apart, take a long step forward with your right foot. Bend your front knee, making sure it stays right on top of the ankle, and sink your hips towards the ground. Keep the left leg as straight as possible and engage your core to protect the lower back. Raise your arms alongside your ears.

Push through the front foot and straighten your leg to rise. Keep the up-down pulse going for one full minute, then switch to the other side. Complete three reps on either side.

Chair Pose (AKA fierce pose)

Begin standing with legs and feet together. Shift your weight into your heels and sink your hips back, as if you were hovering just above the seat of a chair. Raise your arms alongside your ears and internally rotate them from the shoulder joint, so the pinky fingers are moving towards one another. Try to arch your back from the upper spine rather than the lower, so your lumbar stays long and your core is working.

Hold for one minute, take a twenty second break, then repeat.

Bridge Pose

Lie down and place the soles of your feet on the floor, keeping the knees over the ankles. Peel your hips towards the sky, engaging your hamstrings and glutes. Keep your neck long and push the ground away using your triceps.

Hold for one minute, squeezing your glutes, then raise your left leg to the sky for another minute. Take a brief break if needed, before repeating on the opposite side. You can also lift and lower the hips while one leg is raised to increase the challenge.

Goddess Pose

Take a wide-legged stance and turn your feet out slightly. Sink your hips towards the ground, making sure your knees track over your toes. Don’t let your pelvis tilt—engage the core and think about keeping a neutral lower spine, as if you were sliding between two panes of glass.

Squat and rise for one minute, take a 20 second break then repeat for three reps total.

Reverse plank

Start seated with your legs out in front of you. Press through the palms of your hands and lift your seat off the ground. Supercharge your core, and the whole underside of your body to push your hips toward the sky. Point your toes until your feet find the floor.

Try to hold for 30 seconds. You can also pulse it—keeping the core tight as you lower the hips back to your starting position, then raising them and squeezing the glutes at the top.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.