Workout plan, help/advice. Does anyone have any indoor workouts/exercises that work great for the lower half?

I am a full time student and live where it snows so running (which is prob. the best workout) outdoors or going to the gym is not an option at the time. I am trying to get in shape for the summer, mostly wanting to tone up my thighs/butt...whatever so if anyone has any advice on a good workout plan let me know! :)Workout plan, help/advice. Does anyone have any indoor workouts/exercises that work great for the lower half?
Good bodyweight exercises that you can do indoors for your lower half include:





stationary lunges


walking lunges


squatsWorkout plan, help/advice. Does anyone have any indoor workouts/exercises that work great for the lower half?
This is a specialty workout that you could do great with and its more then a lower body workout, your lungs will get stronger and your endurance will go through the roof. Heres an exercise called the Hindu Squat:





Feet shoulder-width apart, arms out infront of you. Bring them in towards the chest as you inhale, come down and touch the floor with your fingertips, exhale, swing your arms back up and repeat. Great exercise and do as many as you can.
Quite frankly Bonnie gave great advice! If you want specifics, there's a ton of great information on the web for free, or you can grab a book on weight training for women.





Here's some video suggestions. Find something you enjoy or you won't stick to it.


Pilates - usually requires no equipment and strengthens the whole body and adds nice tone. Very popular with celebrities and their whole income depends on their appearance.





My personal favorite are ';The Firm'; series which combine free weights with aerobics. I've never seen anything tone faster than these tapes.





I'm a huge long term fan of weights. You can purchase some cheap weights used but you need to learn how to use them. If space is hard to come by (yeah, I remember dorms..) then a few sets of dumbells and/or a weighted bar (these come in preset weights) are great, or again, The Firm uses mostly dumbells and some tapes use a step.





Books, magazines and websites abound that can help you learn technique. It's also likely your school offers classes. You can meet any PE requirement this way, and if your school has a gym, it's likely free.





Good luck. Establishing the exercise habit now will serve you well the rest of your life and maybe help prevent the ';Freshman 15'; that isn't limited just to Freshman (or to 15lbs for that matter!)