A good lower body workout needs more than series of squats and lunges to be effective. The good news is you don’t have to rely upon a personal trainer to walk you through the process of building an attractive lower body if you can’t afford too. The bad news is designing your own lower body workout is going to take a bit more work than you may realize at the start.

Step 1 - Determine your expectations and desires.

Before you even start designing your lower body workout you need a clear sense of what your goals are. What is it you want to achieve? What are your expectations for a workout program that is acceptable and effective?

Not all lower body exercises or routines will do the same things for your body, so it is very important to know what you want from your workout program and what you consider to be effective.

For instance, someone who wants to slim the thighs will probably not follow the same program as someone who wants to bulk up the thighs with muscle mass. The same goes for someone who may want to trim down their bottom compared to someone who wants a more pronounced bottom.

What is it that you don’t like about your lower body? The answer to this question should help identify what you want to get out of your lower body workout.

Step 2 - Schedule interval training cardio at least 3-4 days a week.

Cardio has to be an important element of any lower body workout. This is where you start to whittle away the excess fat stored in the lower body so the muscle tone will be more pronounced. Even those trying to bulk up with muscle should work on lowering their body fat percentage because it will allow the muscle they build to be seen and well defined.

Cardio sessions don’t have to be marathon long or boring. Find something that really gets your heart rate pumping and the sweat pouring and do it at least three or four times every week.

In fact, by using intervals in your cardio workouts you can reduce the time considerably and burn more fat too.

It is best to schedule cardio workouts at set times of the week and day. It’s like making an appointment with yourself so it becomes an ingrained part of your daily life.

Step 3 - Add in strength building workouts.

To sculpt your body so your upper and lower body are in proportion to each other it’s important to incorporate the rest of the body in your regular training routine as well. For instance, only training your lower body will leave your upper body lagging. And you won’t get the overall lean appearance you’re after.

Whether you carry extra weight during certain movements and how many reps and sets you perform should also be determined by your expectations and desires determined in step one.

Step 4 - Eat to support your lower body workout.

A good lower body workout must be supported with a reasonable diet. It doesn’t do any good to invest time in attempting to burn body fat if you are consuming lots of excess fat and junky carbs. Trim out the saturated fats, refined carbs, and sugars from your diet and you will see much better results from your lower body workout.