GREAT LEGS Making the three diamonds

An expert offers three exercises to get those flabby legs in shape.
By WENDY NAVRATIL
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
CHICAGO -- Ask the connoisseurs of Chicago's North Avenue Beach what makes a great pair of legs and you'll get, mainly, three monosyllabic answers:
"Long."
"Toned."
"Tan."
Ask David Kirsch, however, and you'll get all that and a three-part fitness regimen.
"You want to see three diamonds -- one between your inner thighs, one just below your knees and one right above your ankles," he said.
Kirsch is a New York City gym owner who has trained celebrities such as models Heidi Klum and Naomi Campbell. He was a judge for the "Legs of a Goddess" contest, sponsored by Gillette Passion Venus razor, a couple of weeks ago at North Avenue Beach.
"I'm not looking for bodybuilders. Women can overdo it in their commitment to muscle development," he said before the contest.
What's required
That said, exercise and height -- natural or store-bought, in the form of heels -- don't hurt. Heather Gaus, 21, of Green Oaks, Ill., who is 5 foot 7 and said she runs two to three miles a day, won the top honor, $500 and a place in the national finals of the 10-city contest, with a chance to win a pink Cadillac.
Kirsch said there's no one-size-fits-all formula for nice legs. But rare is the pair that doesn't benefit from a little self-tanner. And rare is the pair that doesn't suffer from overfamiliarity with the ABCs: alcohol, bread and carbohydrates in general, he said.
"Cheese is the worst; you might as well just put it right here," he said, slapping one cheek of his southern hemisphere.
For all the emphasis that some women put on that area, one member of the live sandside audience looked deeper, in a manner of speaking.
"The toes," said Tannie Schnell, 30, referring to pedicures for polish.
THREE STEPS TO BETTER LEGS
David Kirsch, author of "Sound Mind, Sound Body" (Rodale, $27.95) and owner of the Madison Square Club in New York, offers three exercises, to be performed in a circuit of three sets, in this order:
UPli & eacute; toe squats: These work the inner thighs, buttocks and calves. Rise up on the balls of your feet simultaneously as you squat. Keep your buttocks out, with feet slightly wider than shoulder width. Do 15 to 20 repetitions in each set.
USumo lunges with side kicks: "This is for the part we all worry about," Kirsch said: "the stuff that hangs below the swimming suit." Stand with feet shoulder width apart. Start with right leg, lifting it at knee and then swinging it around to the side. Plant the foot in a squat, like a sumo wrestler. Straighten legs, then kick right leg out to the side, through the heel, parallel to the waist or slightly higher. Do 10 to 15 on the right, then 10 to 15 on the left.
UOne-legged dead lifts: Good for balance and for toning from knee all the way up, especially hamstrings. Start with all your weight on left foot. Lift right leg straight behind you with foot flexed, keeping back flat. Do five to warm up. Then add a bend in the left knee at the same time, for 10 to 15 repetitions. "As you straighten your back up, thrust your hips forward to give you that extra glute burn," Kirsch said. "These elongate the leg."