By If there was one exercise that shapes the most critical features on your body, this is it
Exercising regularly is one of the best ways to ensure longevity, health and leanness over the long term. The more muscle you have, the less body fat will have a chance to accumulate on your body — especially around the midsection. That doesn’t mean you should go out and aim to become a bodybuilder — that’s not necessary at all. Instead, what you should do is prioritise the training of your lower body. What, you might say, does that mean I should perform leg exercises just as much as my upper body? The answer to that is a huge YES! Leg day should always be the most important training day of the week. I know that many people avoid leg days like the plague. You feel sore, can’t sit or stand and possibly, can barely go to the bathroom. But that’s the natural beauty of it (in a weird way, of course) because you’ve awakened those sleep-induced muscles, and it only gets better after that threshold of pain.
Don’t be afraid of a little bit of uncomfortable soreness. It comes part and parcel of training. What are the best exercises for leg day? First, let’s look at the following:
Traditional
Barbell back squats
This is your usual, highly functional squat. It’s as easy as pushing your backside out, pausing at the bottom and coming back up to the top.
Fancy pants
Elevated heel squats
This is my favourite kind of squat. It’s intense and produces some highly shapely legs! Put a plate on the floor, under your heels. Squat as you would but with your heels on the plate. This activates your quads and helps with knee stability. Of course, if you do have a knee injury, it’s not ideal.
One and a quarter squats
This is a tough one but one of the best alternative squats. You go all the way down, then come up 20–30 degrees, pause, and then go back to the bottom position and come up as quickly as possible. Lower your weight for this one, as it can get tricky. Expect a bit of sweat and great looking legs.
Front foot elevated split squats
This requires a bit of balance, but it’s a great one to add for building your strength and conditioning your coordination. First, the front foot is elevated as you put your other leg behind you in a split leg position. You can use dumbbells or a cable attachment for this one. Next, slowly lower the elevated front leg so that your calf finishes touching your hamstring. See the image attached from Insider. 
Image is taken from Insider Article as a visual of the split squat exercise.
These leg variations are great alternatives that trigger different muscles on your legs and produce an effective fat-burning environment for weight loss. Change it up by adding deadlifts and some leg presses now and again. If you can consistently work for those larger muscle groups, eat well and keep stress to a minimum, belly fat will eventually disappear, as will your health challenges. Leading a healthy lifestyle requires you to work on those goals every day, step by step, to achieve the bigger picture.