Thigh and glute workout challenge

2.8K

Firm up the tops of your legs with this thigh and glute workout challenge. It starts off nice and gentle, with just 5 squats on day one. As the challenge progresses, lunges and wall sit holds are added in, to make sure all the thigh and glute muscles get worked.

How to do the thigh and glute workout challenge

The reps for each exercise each day are in the chart below.

You can also get a link to a printable version e-mailed to you by entering your e-mail address in the box below.

Before you do the challenge each day, do 5-10 warm up squats. For these, you should start by going halfway to parallel with the floor, going a bit lower each time until you are doing a full squat.

Please read these safety guidelines before you start. Please also note that, as the wall sit involves static contraction of the muscles, it isn’t suitable for anyone with high blood pressure.

Exercise instructions

#1 How to squat

Have your feet a little more than hip distance apart, parallel or slightly turned out.
Bend at your knees and hips as you lower into squat position. Aim to get your thighs parallel with the floor.
Make sure your knees don’t go any further forward than your toes.
Come back up gently, making sure you don’t jerk your knees backwards.

#2 How to lunge

Stand with your feet about hip distance apart
Make sure you keep your abdominal muscles, your shoulders relaxed down and your back straight throughout
Take one leg out behind you and touch your toes to the floor. Make sure you keep your feet hip width apart.
Now bend at both knees, so that you lower your body towards the floor. At the end of the movement, your thighs should be parallel with the floor, your front knee should be bent to 90 degrees and in line with your ankle, your back knee should be just above the floor.
Return to the starting position and repeat on your other leg.

#3 How to do a wall sit

Stand with your back to the wall, about 18-24 inches away from it, legs hip distance apart
Using your hands to help support you, bend your knees as you lean your back against the wall
When your back is fully in contact with the wall, start to slide down, until your thighs are parallel with the floor
Check that your knees are lined up above your ankles – adjust your foot position if not
The position shouldn’t be uncomfortable. If there is any discomfort in your back or knees, then check your position carefully.

Get the thigh and glute challenge PDF

After you sign up, you’ll get 2 e-mails, one will have a link to your printable download and the other will be a welcome e-mail.

If the e-mails haven’t turned up within a few minutes, please check your junk folder, as some service providers have very strict filters.

Related to thigh and glute challenge

Challenge FAQs

How do I find a challenge that’s the right level for me?

The first day of the challenge should feel like it needs a bit of effort, but not too much. If you really struggle with day 1, then you probably won’t get through the challenge. The idea with the challenges on this site is that the first few days get you used to the exercises and the daily habit. Usually about halfway through the challenge the effort levels start to increase more quickly.

Avoid challenges that increase effort levels very quickly – they’re simply not realistic. It’s unlikely that, for example, you would be able to increase how many squats you are able to do by 10 a day for 30 days, or increase your plank hold time by 10 seconds a day for 30 days.

Shouldn’t you have rest days between workouts?

In general, allowing muscles 48 hours between workouts is good because it gives our bodies time to recover and adapt. Challenges are generally short workouts and for a limited period of time (usually 30 days), so not having many rest days won’t be a problem. With challenges that alternate exercises each day, it’s not an issue, because you’re using different muscles.

What if the challenge gets too hard?

Fitness improvements don’t always happen in a predictable way. Sometimes we’re just not as strong or energetic for no apparent reason, or we hit a plateau. If you get to a point where you’re struggling to complete the day’s challenge, you can try one of the following:

Take a couple of days off and start again where you left off
Do the challenge on alternate days rather than every day
Instead of increasing the effort every day, stay at the same level for 2 or 3 days and then go onto the next day of the challenge

Obviously these solutions mean the challenge will last longer, but you’ll still benefit from doing it.