Latest from Coach in Leg-workouts

“My Absolute Favorite Thing That I Do With All Of My Athletes”—Finish Your Next Workout With This NASM Trainer’s Leg Circuit

Harry Bullmore — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 05:27:21 +0000

Burpees aren’t the be-all and end-all of conditioning moves. There are plenty of ways to test your muscular endurance and cardio capacity without repeatedly dropping your chest to the floor.

“My absolute favorite thing that I do with all of my athletes is something called a leg circuit,” says Wendy Batts, a National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) master instructor and assistant professor in exercise science at PennWest California.

It’s a combination of four different leg exercises performed as a circuit without any rest.

“It will increase your heart rate, it will make your legs burn, and if you can do it without any rest it will absolutely crush you. You can thank me for that later.”

How To Do This Leg Circuit

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Three rounds of:

Prisoner squat x20
Alternating lunge x10 on each leg
Power step-up x10 on each leg
Tuck jump x10

Perform the exercises above as a circuit as quickly as you can without sacrificing good form.

If you’re new to Batts’ variation of prisoner squats, it’s worth noting that you need to keep your hands on your head throughout and come up on to your toes at the top of each rep to activate your calf muscles.

As demonstrated in the video above, you can also vary each exercise in this workout to train different planes of motion: sagittal (moving up, down, forward and backward), frontal (moving from side to side) and transverse (rotational movements). This will more accurately mirror both everyday and sporting movements, helping you develop functional strength and athleticism.

To prioritize the frontal plane, keep the rep scheme the same and perform side-to-side squats, lateral lunges, sideways box step-overs and skater jumps. For a transverse plane workout, add a rotational element at the top of each movement.

Tips For Tackling This Workout

This workout is a race against the clock. It challenges you to complete a high volume of work with minimal rest, putting your heart and lungs to work while testing the muscular endurance of your legs. But you should never sacrifice technique for speed.

“You’re doing it as fast as you can control, not as fast as you can,” says Batts. “I think that’s super important, because anybody can do something, but are you doing it correctly? You need to be very intentional with your movement patterns.”

Batts also advises ensuring you can perform each of the individual components of this routine with perfect form before bringing them together for an added challenge.

“It’s definitely a more advanced workout,” says Batts. “You want to make sure you can go piece by piece first. This is a very advanced leg circuit that you can do at home, but even advanced athletes need to be prepared for being a little sore the next day.”

This Three-Move Finisher Will Maximize Your Leg Day Gains

Alice Porter — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 15:00:45 +0000

You go to the gym for a reason, and if that reason is to build muscle we’re sorry to say you’re going to have to push yourself. If it’s not challenging, there’s no reason for your muscles to adapt.

If you finish your next leg workout with more to give, wrap things up with this finisher from personal trainer Alex Rice, which is made up of three dumbbell leg exercises. It perhaps has more in common with a short strength training routine than a workout finisher, which tends to include a conditioning component, but the addition of isometric holds is a surefire way to finish your legs off.

Take a look at Rice’s Instagram Reel to see what’s in store.

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The routine consists of goblet squats, followed by single-leg hip thrusts and conventional hip thrusts. Performing an exercise with proper form is always important to gain the most from the movement and avoid injury, but it’s always harder at the end of a workout when you’re fatigued, so here are some helpful cues to keep in mind if you try this session.

In our guide to goblet squat form, functional fitness and nutritional coach Karl Bratland shares a helpful technique tip: “Hold the dumbbell by one end as close to your chest as you can,” he says. “If you hold it away from the body you won’t be able to support as much weight, so keep it close to the chest under your chin.”

Bratland also advises keeping your chest facing forward and your heels flat on the floor so your weight is evenly distributed.

This routine also involves single-leg hip thrusts and regular hip thrusts. For more form tips, you can take a look at our guide on how to do the hip thrust, where strength and conditioning coach Andrew Reay shares some expert advice.

One of Reay's top tips helps you avoid putting too much pressure on the lower back, which is common if you overextend at the top of the lift. “Tuck your chin down to your chest. This keeps you in a position where you can’t overextend,” says Reay.

This Physio’s Glute Band Workout For Runners Can Help Prevent Knee Pain

Alice Porter — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 16:00:38 +0000

Running is a high-impact sport and if you’re not careful your body won’t be able to handle the demands running places on it, which can lead to injury. Following a progressive running training plan is a smart way to let your body adjust gradually to more running, but you can also strengthen your muscles to better cope with running.

Physiotherapists Davis Hallberg and Cate Rudnicki recently shared a workout on their Instagram page @thatdptcouple specifically for runners.

“This workout is beneficial for runners because it incorporates single-leg glute strengthening, which can help with pelvic stability when running,” says Hallberg. “Proximal [hip and pelvic] strengthening can also help with injury prevention, especially in regards to knee pain.”

All you need is a short-looped resistance band. Watch the Instagram Reel where Hallberg demonstrates each of the exercises.

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I spoke to Hallberg to find out more about the moves and tips for doing them effectively.

The first exercise is a standing fire hydrant. “This exercise activates the extensor and rotational fibers of the glute max by pressing the back heel into the wall as the leg rotates,” says Hallberg.

Follow this with two rounds of standing clams for 60 seconds on each side. “Maintain a slight bend at the hips and knees, and keep tension in the band the entire time,” says Hallberg.

The next move is a plyometric exercise, which is designed to increase your ability to produce power. “With the lateral hops, focus on sticking the landing. Avoid excessive trunk lean and knee rotation,” says Hallberg.

Finally, complete 20 reps of a side plank leg raise on each leg, which targets the gluteus medius. “Keep your shoulders in line and try to maintain a neutral pelvis,” says Hallberg. If you struggle to maintain the side plank position for 20 lifts, drop onto your knee.

Once you’ve mastered this routine, continue making good use of your glute band with these three glute activation exercises for runners and this resistance band glute workout.

Four Exercises From A Certified Running Coach To Help You Run Faster

Alice Porter — Sat, 10 Feb 2024 17:15:26 +0000

The most effective way of becoming a better runner is, of course, to run regularly—that’s what we learned when we asked elite runner Mara Yamauchi how to run faster—but supplementing your running with strength training can also help.

“Doing low rep but challenging running-specific strength exercises can improve your running performance by up to five percent,” says certified running coach Richelle Weeks.

Weeks recently shared a workout on Instagram featuring four exercises that are designed to help you speed up.

You’ll get the most out of this workout if you perform it regularly. Weeks recommends doing it twice a week if you have time, increasing the weight over time.

“The weight should be challenging which means you have two to three reps left in you when you complete your last rep, but no more than that,” Weeks says. “If you can do another 10 or more repetitions, you need to add weight or resistance. If you can barely finish the last rep you might want to ease back a bit."

Complete three sets of 8 reps of each exercise (8 reps on each side where applicable. Take a look at Weeks’ Instagram Reel where she demonstrates the moves.

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For this routine, you’ll need free-weights (kettlebells and/or dumbbells), a skipping rope and a bench (or couch—as long as it’s solid and stable).

The first exercise is a single-leg bent knee calf raise. “These are excellent for runners because they target the soleus,” Weeks says. The soleus is part of the calf muscle which plays an outsize role in running.

“Almost 50% of your forward momentum when running comes from below the knee so calf strength work is key,” says Weeks. “Keep the knee flexed and make sure you’re not straightening your knee at the top which uses your quads.”

Then move on to Bulgarian split squats, which are great for building strength in the quads and glutes, as well as single-leg balance and hip flexor mobility. “If you lean your trunk forwards you’ll target your glutes more and if you stay upright you’ll target your quads,” says Weeks.

The single-leg hip thrust also targets the glutes, as well as the hamstrings. Weeks’ number one form tip is to avoid arching your lower back during this exercise: “There should be a straight line between your tailbone and your head,” she says.

Finally, the routine finishes with skipping. “Skipping is a great way to build calf power and work on ground reaction time,” says Weeks. “Try to focus on leaving the ground as quickly as possible once you land.”

Weeks isn’t the only one to recommend skipping, WeRun running coach Chris Betteridge also includes skipping (albeit without the rope) in his selection of the best leg exercises for runners. And once you’ve mastered the routine above, try these exercises to run faster.

Build Lower-Body Strength With This Heavyweight Leg Session From Krissy Cela’s New Program

Alice Porter — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 17:15:20 +0000

It used to be that gym-goers gave weights machines a wide berth in the gym, with the functional fitness crowd preferring free-weight exercises instead. However, a gym’s weights machines can be very useful when you want to challenge large muscle groups, like those in your legs, with lots of weight, and they can also effectively isolate muscles. That’s why you’ll find machines used in many of the best leg workouts, including this one from Krissy Cela.

It’s the week one leg session from the new program on Cela’s EvolveYou fitness app for women. It combines compound exercises—including the Romanian deadlift and leg press—as well as leg extension and leg curl isolation exercises that target individual muscles.

Take a look at Cela's Instagram Reel to see the workout.

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Cela recommends doing four sets of 10 reps of each exercise, apart from the Bulgarian split squat where it’s three sets of eight reps.

The first move in this routine is the Romanian deadlift, a variation of the conventional deadlift where the movement begins with the barbell off the floor. In our guide to Romanian deadlift form, strength coach Jeff Hoobler explains that the key to perfecting this move is in the hips: “The hips need to unlock before the knees. This means sending the hips backward first, then unlocking [or slightly softening] the knees as you lower the weight.”

Weights machines can vary, so make sure to check the written instructions printed on the machines you’re using for the next three moves.

The Bulgarian split squat is a tricky move that challenges your balance. If you haven’t attempted it before, starting with the split squat, where your rear foot stays on the floor, may be wise. To get the correct set-up for the Bulgarian split squat, sit on the platform with your rear foot under your glutes, then extend your other leg forward, locking your knee and placing your heel on the floor. Stand and rock your foot forward so it’s flat on the floor and adjust the placement of your rear foot. There are more tips in our Bulgarian split squat form guide.

We have more Krissy Cela workouts for you to try too. If you don’t have access to a gym, you can try this glutes workout at home, or for a gym workout with lighter weights, start with Krissy Cela’s bum workout.

Expert Trainer Says You Need These Six Dumbbell Moves To Build A Stronger Lower-Body At Home

Harry Bullmore — Thu, 18 Jan 2024 17:38:28 +0000

When you hit the gym, typical leg workouts revolve around barbell exercises and weights machines, but you can still train your legs if you’re at home with a couple of dumbbells

Try these six dumbbell leg exercises, recommended by fitness trainer James Stirling, better known as the London Fitness Guy, which hit your hamstrings, quads, glutes and more.

Combine these exercises for a workout sure to help you build strength and muscle in your lower body.

To do the workout, perform 10-15-reps of each move for three to four sets, resting for 60-90 seconds between sets. This should take about 40 minutes, including a quick warm-up.

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Every one of Stirling’s choices is a compound exercise—moves that put multiple muscle groups and joints to work at the same time. This typically means you can use heavier weights compared with isolation moves which target one muscle at a time.

Most of the exercises recruit your quadriceps and hamstrings in your thighs, as well as your glutes, the muscles in your backside, but several like the Romanian deadlift and the squat variations also activate your core.

Another feature of Stirling’s workout is the use of unilateral exercises; namely, the static lunge (which we know as the split squat), Bulgarian split squat and lateral squat (or lateral lunge).

This means targeting one side of your body at a time. By doing this you can develop your co-ordination, improve your balance, and even out muscular imbalances, reducing your risk of injury.

I also like the inclusion of the lateral lunge because very few strength exercises require you to move side to side.

If you don’t have any dumbbells, you can still train your lower body with this home leg workout, or try this full-body circuit workout at home session Stirling shared exclusively with Coach.

See our picks of the best dumbbells for home.

Gabby Dawn Allen’s Kettlebell Leg Workout Builds Strength And Boosts Fitness

Nick Harris-Fry — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 06:00:34 +0000

You know a kettlebell workout is tough when you can easily split it up into two workouts that would both be challenging in their own right. That’s what you have with this kettlebell leg workout created by fitness coach and PhD nutrition ambassador Gabby Dawn Allen.

You only need one kettlebell for the session, which starts with a sets and reps section to build muscle, before going into a circuit to develop your muscular endurance, boost your cardio fitness and burn fat. As mentioned, you could do each section as a workout by itself, or power through both for an epic legs workout, although unless you never skip leg day or are happy to deal with DOMS, you may wish to start with fewer sets, and add reps and sets gradually when you repeat the workout.

Kettlebell Leg Workout Overview

Section One

Two-handed clean and paused squat 4 x 8
B-stance Romanian deadlift into reverse lunge 4 x 8 each side
Single-leg hip thrust 4 x 8 each side
Lunge 1 x 12 each side

Section Two

Complete four rounds of the following.

Kettlebell swing x 12
Reverse lunge x 10 each side
Thruster x 8

Kettlebell Leg Workout Warm-up

Allen has suggested this warm-up for the workout, which involves doing each of the following for 20 seconds. This gym warm-up routine will also get you ready for the workout.

Kettlebell Leg Workout Section One Form Guides

1 Two-handed kettlebell clean and paused squat

Sets 4 Reps 8 Rest 60sec

“This should be one fluid motion,” says Allen. “The kettlebell does not need to return to the floor for every rep but must come to a dead stop before performing each clean. Keep the bell close to you and it should move up and down in a vertical pattern. The power comes from your core, your hamstrings and your glutes.

“Holding the bell in both hands with a slight bend in your knees, hinge forwards from your hips. Drive through your glutes to stand up straight, creating the power to shift the weight up to your chest as your hands slide down the horns of the bell. Do not lean back—brace your core and you will stand tall—and don't lock your knees.

“Keep the bell close to your chest and keeping the chest up, lower into your squat. Hold at the bottom of the squat for a second if you can! Focus on your weight going through the middle to back of your foot—you should be able to wiggle your toes without losing balance. Push the floor away and drive up to standing, lower the weight and repeat.”

2 B-stance Romanian deadlift into reverse lunge

[The video above demonstrates the B-stance Romanian deadlift portion of the exercise.]

Sets 4 Reps 8 each side Rest 60sec

“Hold the kettlebell in one hand,” says Allen. “Step the opposite foot to the hand holding the bell back to around half the distance of your lunge. Practice without the bell first if you’re unsure of foot placement.

“Bend your front knee a little, and roll your shoulders down and engage your lats. Your weight should mostly be in your front heel—you’re using the back foot for stability. You can rest your other hand on a wall if you need some extra assistance. Keeping the bell close to your shin, hinge forwards, sending your butt backward. You will feel your glutes elongate. Once you’ve reached your full hinge, drive through your glutes to standing. Do a big squeeze at the top without pushing your hips forward. Then step your rear foot back into a reverse lunge, letting the bell come to the outside of the front leg. Keep your core strong so you don’t lean! Push through your front foot and bring the rear foot back to the B-stance.”

3 Single-leg hip thrust

Sets 4 Reps 8 each side Rest 60sec

“Sit on the floor and rest your back, just below your shoulder blades, on a bench, chair or something stable,” says Allen. “Lift the kettlebell onto your hips, raise your hips so your body is in a straight line from knees to shoulders, and slowly walk your feet out to your starting position. Your foot placement dictates the focus of the exercise. If your shins are vertical when your hips are lifted, it will be glute-focused, if your feet are further away it will be more hamstring-focused. Too close will rely on the quads. I always aim for a vertical shin.

“Lift one foot off the floor. The kettlebell should be on the hip of the foot that’s down. Slowly lower your hips towards the floor. Your hips should remain square as if you still had both feet down—if it's too much just put the foot down. When your butt is just above the floor, drive through your heel back up to the starting position. Squeeze your glutes throughout the exercise and even harder at the top! Lower over the count of two, take a count of one to get back to the top and hold for a count of one at the top.”

4 Lunge

Sets 1 Reps 12 each side

“Hold the bell by the horns and keep it close to you,” says Allen. “Tuck your elbows in and brace our core. Step one foot forward into your lunge, aiming for the knee to stay in line with the foot and over the ankle—try not to push too far forward over the foot. If you can, tap your back knee down to the mat. Drive through the front foot to stand tall and then go on the other side. The more you focus on holding your core, the better this will be for you. Try it with just bodyweight if you need to.”

Kettlebell Leg Workout Section Two Form Guides

Complete four rounds of the following, resting for 45 seconds between rounds.

1 Kettlebell swing

Reps 12

“Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart,” says Allen. “Hinge forward, push your hips back and slightly bend your knees as the bell moves between your legs.” Push your hips forward to stand up and swing the bell up. “The power to bring the bell back up in front of you comes from your glutes—not the shoulders! Tuck your elbows in so the weight is likely to come only up to belly button height. Keep your core braced, don’t lean back as the kettlebell comes up, and squeeze your butt cheeks.”

2 Reverse lunge

Reps 10 each side

“On your last kettlebell swing, catch the bell and step one foot backward into a reverse lunge,” says Allen. “Protect your lower back by hugging that bell in tight! Drive through the front heel and push off through the back foot to come back to standing and switch legs.”

3 Thruster

Reps 8

“This begins with exactly the same motion as your squat earlier, but this time with no pause at the bottom,” says Allen. As you rise from the squat use the momentum to press the kettlebell straight up. “Think about pushing the floor away and exploding upwards, which will give you the force needed to push the weight up above your head.”

If you need help choosing, our guide to the best kettlebells for home training can help. And once it’s delivered, you can get stuck into this full-body kettlebell workout, kettlebell abs workout and kettlebell HIIT workout.

I Sit All Day, So I Tried This Routine To Mobilize And Strengthen My Hips

Alice Porter — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 06:43:15 +0000

I spend a lot of time sitting down, especially at my desk, and as the end of the working day approaches, my hips often begin to ache. Since working from home full-time, I’ve noticed that my hips are a lot tighter during exercise, too.

For these reasons, I’m trying to incorporate more hip stretches, hip mobility exercises and strength exercises into my routine. This routine from personal trainer Milad Ebadat, co-founder of Tailored Fit PT, is a fairly short sequence that focuses on increasing hip flexibility, as well as strengthening the muscles responsible for hip flexion and hip extension.

I decided to try it on my lunch break to incorporate some movement into my day and take a break from sitting at my desk. Take a look at Edabat’s Instagram Reel below where he demonstrates each of the movements.

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The routine starts with two dynamic stretches to warm up: hip swivels, which I often do before leg workouts, and hip CARs which take the hip through its entire range of motion. Edabat explains in the video that it’s important to keep your spine stable throughout the hip CARs, ensuring all of the movement comes from the hips.

Next come two strength exercises you may well be familiar with—the hip thrust and Bulgarian split squat. I often do hip thrusts to build muscle in the glutes but Edabat explains that it’s also a great way to improve hip extension too. If you’re not familiar with this exercise, take a look at our hip thrusts exercise guide, where personal trainer Andrew Reay shares some form tips, such as tucking your chin down to your chest which “keeps you in a position where you can’t overextend.”

Coach also has a Bulgarian split squat exercise guide, which features a good trick for getting into the starting position with less hopping around.

I performed 12 reps of each of these exercises for 3 sets with a 10kg weight. I focused on moving with control rather than rushing through each rep. How many reps you decide to do should depend on your experience with each movement. Start conservatively and aim for the final few reps of each set to pose a challenge, but not be a struggle to complete.

The routine ends with the couch stretch. I held this position for a minute on each leg and felt a deep stretch in both of my hips.

I felt far more comfortable sitting back down at my desk after this routine, but I know I need to incorporate exercises like these into my routine to make a permanent improvement to my hip strength and mobility. But everyone starts somewhere.

This Beginner-Friendly Leg Workout Is Just Three Moves And Doesn’t Require Any Equipment

Lois Mackenzie — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 06:00:05 +0000

Look at any list of the best leg exercises and I can guarantee you will find the squat, lunge and glute bridge. These moves are a great place to start for anyone beginning to train their lower body and I’ve found a simple routine that incorporates all three.

It’s from one of my favorite coaching duos, Vivienne and Mike Addo, two level 3 PTs who go by Mr and Mrs Muscle. I think it’s a great beginner routine because you can start with the modifications provided—reverse lunge, squat and single-leg bridge—then as your fitness builds, progress to the harder versions and add weights.

Flick through Mr And Mrs Muscle’s Instagram post to watch them demonstrate the moves.

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The format is simple. Perform each move for 30 seconds, rest as needed, then move on to the next exercise. Repeat the circuit three or four times for a short sweat which will take less than 20 minutes, although do factor in time for a warm-up before starting.

If you like the look of this workout, but would prefer a follow-along version, you’ll find it in the MrandMrsMuscle app (App Store and Google Play; and it’s lower-body workout 17). There’s a seven-day trial, and $9.99 a month after that.

You can also try Vivienne Addo’s exercises for weak knees, this nine-move leg workout at home, or if you have the equipment, this resistance band glute workout.

Coach has plenty more great options for beginners too, including a home workout for beginners, a beginner upper-body workout and a beginner dumbbell workout.

Strengthen Your Glutes Without A Single Squat Or Lunge

Lois Mackenzie — Sat, 07 Oct 2023 05:00:00 +0000

If you’ve just come off the back of a heavy leg day or you’re looking for a knee-friendly workout for your glutes, then this one’s for you.

This 20-minute kettlebell workout comes from Roxanne Russell, a personal trainer with a BSc in exercise, physical activity and health. It uses 15 exercises—including the single-leg Romanian deadlift, conventional deadlift, Romanian deadlift, clamshell and a host of glute bridge variations—to work all three of your glute muscles. It will also work your posterior chain (the muscles on the back of your body), and challenge your balance and coordination, too.

To do this workout, you’ll need light and medium heavy kettlebells and an exercise mat. A small looped resistance band is an optional extra for the finisher. Once you have your equipment ready, press play on Roxanne Russell’s follow-along YouTube video.

Russell stresses that to make gains in your glutes, whether that be for strength or size, you need to choose the weights you use carefully. “Use a weight that challenges the muscles so that you almost reach failure,” she says. You may not get this just right the first time you do the workout, but make a mental note and adjust the next time you try the workout.

Keep repeating this workout, gradually increasing the weight each time, and you’ll develop stronger glutes and a robust posterior chain, which can lead to better posture and even reduce your chances of developing lower-back pain.

If you’re working at home and can’t increase the weights without buying a new kettlebell every week, you can increase the work periods, decrease the rest periods, or add more sets of each exercise.

If you don’t have kettlebells or weights at home, try this bodyweight glutes workout, which uses Pilates techniques to strengthen your muscles, or this beginner-friendly no squat leg workout.

Need help deciding which kettlebell is right for you? Our guide to the best kettlebells can help.

You Don’t Need Weights For This Beginner-Friendly No Squat Leg Workout

Lou Mudge — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 05:00:00 +0000

While we have called squats the exercise everyone should be doing, we also know there are plenty of individuals who have perfectly good reasons for giving them a miss. And that’s fine—always listen to your body over anyone else.

If you’re one of those people or are just looking for a leg workout that doesn’t include some type of squat, we have a straightforward five-move routine from level 3 PT Jo Burland, who also works for fitness nutrition brand Bio-Synergy as a DNA coach, helping people act on the results of a DNA test.

“Low-impact exercises are great for those with joint issues or who want to reduce the risk of injury, but they can still be very effective for targeting and strengthening the glutes,” says Burland. “Focus on performing these exercises with proper form and start with a few repetitions. Gradually increase the reps as you become more comfortable.” You can also add resistance using weights and resistance bands.

Or for a more advanced glute session that skips squats, try Krissy Cela’s bum workout.

No Squat Leg Workout

1 Glute bridge

(Image credit: Bio-Synergy)

Reps 12 Rest 60sec

Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Lift your hips off the ground by squeezing your glutes and pushing through your heels until your body forms a straight line from your shoulders to your knees. Pause for a few seconds, then lower your hips under control. You can make this more challenging by lifting one foot off the floor and doing single-leg glute bridges.

2 Clamshell

(Image credit: Bio-Synergy)

Reps 12 each side Rest 60sec

Lie on your side with your knees bent at 90° and your knees and feet together. Keeping your feet together, lift your top knee as high as you can. Lower under control. Do all your reps on one side then switch.

3 Fire hydrant

(Image credit: Bio-Synergy)

Reps 12 each side Rest 60sec

Get on your hands and knees with your shoulders directly above your hands and your hips directly above your knees. Lift one leg out to the side while keeping your knee bent at 90°. Lower under control. Do all your reps on one side then switch.

4 Standing leg abduction

(Image credit: Bio-Synergy)

Reps 12 each side Rest 60sec

Stand side-on to a wall or chair, using it for support. Lift the leg furthest away from the wall out to the side, keeping it as straight as possible. Lower it under control. Do all your reps on one side then switch.

5 Step-up

(Image credit: Bio-Synergy)

Reps 12 each side Rest 60sec

Find a sturdy platform at knee height. Step onto the platform one foot at a time, then step back down one foot at a time.

I Tried This Low-Impact Lower-Body Workout To Strengthen My Legs Without Any Weights

Lois Mackenzie — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 05:00:00 +0000

While training for my first marathon I included at least one leg workout every week to help keep injury at bay. The gym sessions have included all of the standard leg exercises for runners—squats, lunges and deadlifts.

As I recover from the marathon (your tendons can take up to 12 weeks to recover) I’ve been on the lookout for lower-intensity exercises. That’s how I came across this lower-body routine from coaching duo Vivienne and Mike Addo, known online as MrandMrMuscle.

The workout doesn’t require any equipment, but an exercise mat will make the donkey kick and hip raise exercises more comfortable.

Watch MrandMrsMuscle’s Low-Impact Workout

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The workout gives a range for each variable—sets, reps (or time in the case of wall sits) and rest—so you can tailor it to your current level and gradually increase the challenge every time you perform the session. I performed three sets of each exercise but kept the rest periods short at 30 seconds.

With no equipment needed, I was able to do this workout from home and the lack of jumping meant I didn’t have to worry about disturbing my downstairs neighbors. None of the movements are too complicated either, so it’s ideal for beginners.

I asked Vivienne to tell me more about the workout. “Our lower-body muscles are some of the biggest in our body,” she says. “They help us to create a strong and stable foundation and we use them for nearly every single movement.

“Using low-impact exercises to help strengthen your lower-body muscles allows us to build endurance and remain active while keeping the risk of injury and stress to your joints low. They are also a great way to stay motivated as you are more likely to complete your workouts and stay consistent.”

Coach has plenty of low-impact sessions to try next. There’s this low-impact strength workout, low-impact cardio workout and low-impact HIIT workout.

Seven Moves To Strengthen Your Legs And Improve Your Balance

Lois Mackenzie — Sat, 16 Sep 2023 06:21:13 +0000

Many of us train our legs to increase muscle tone, but if you pick your legs workout wisely can gain even more benefits from the time you spend exercising. So pick this session from PT Rachael Sacerdoti who offers personal coaching through her It’s So Simple programme.

“Whether you're aiming to increase strength, enhance balance, or improve overall lower-body power, this routine covers it all,” Sacerdoti told Coach. Sacerdoti walked us through each move explaining the benefits of each individual leg exercise.

To do the workout you’ll need some dumbbells and an exercise mat. “It is essential to maintain proper form and gradually increase intensity as you progress,” says Sacerdoti. Watch Sacerdoti demonstrate each move below.

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Perform all of the exercises in order, rest for 30 seconds, then repeat the circuit a total of three times. That’s a lot of work with little rest so pick your weight of dumbbell wisely.

“I always advise you to adjust the workout to your fitness level and goals,” says Sacerdoti. “If you’re new to exercise or have any concerns, consider seeking guidance from a fitness professional beforehand.”

Here’s Sacerdoti’s rundown of the muscles targeted and the benefits of each move.

1 Staggered-stance Romanian deadlift

Targets hamstrings, glutes and lower back.
Enhances lower body strength, balance, and flexibility.

2 Dumbbell front squat

Engages quadriceps, glutes and core.
Increases lower-body strength and refines squat mechanics.

3 Single-leg kneeling thrust

Focuses on hip stability, balance and glutes.
Improves single-leg strength and helps muscle balance.

4 Back-and-forth goblet lunge

Works quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and core.
Enhances lower-body strength, balance and coordination.

5 Elevated clamshell

Targets hip abductors.
Improves hip stability and refines movement patterns.

6 Calf raise

Strengthens the calf muscles.
Enhances lower-limb stability and helps boost performance.

7 Jump squat

Improves explosive lower-body power.
Enhances agility, and cardiovascular fitness.

For more ways to train your legs with dumbbells, look no further than these six dumbbell leg exercises, this 500-rep dumbbell leg workout, and this dumbbell legs and core workout.

Use This HYROX-Inspired Bodyweight Leg Workout To Build Strength And Boost Endurance

Alice Porter — Thu, 07 Sep 2023 05:48:54 +0000

You don’t always need weights or complicated training equipment to strengthen your leg muscles. In fact simply running, combined with a variety of bodyweight leg exercises, can boost your lower-body strength.

This routine, created by HYROX master trainer Jade Skillen, includes several of the movements synonymous with the popular fitness competition and will target a wide range of lower-body muscles while simultaneously boosting your fitness.

“By performing bodyweight exercises under fatigue and then running after the AMRAP section of this routine, you’ll improve your lower-body strength, muscle endurance and aerobic capacity at once,” Skillen explains.

If you currently weight-train a few times a week, she adds, this is a great session to add into your routine to build strength and muscular endurance, all while challenging your lower-body and cardiovascular system in new and varied ways.

How To Do This Bodyweight Leg Workout

For the running section of this workout, you’ll need some outdoor space, or you can use a treadmill set at a 1% incline to replicate the feel of running outside.

“Just don’t go out too hot or you’ll burn yourself out and compromise your technique for the AMRAP,” says Skillen. “Instead, find a pace that pushes you, but that you can hold for the full 1km. Take a quick breather post-run, then get into the AMRAP ASAP.”

AMRAP means “as many rounds as possible”. With this 20-minute AMRAP, the objective is to complete all the stipulated reps of each exercise in order; once you complete one round, return to the first exercise and repeat, taking note of how many rounds and reps you manage in the given time period.

Speed is of the essence, but try to move as efficiently and proficiently as possible to minimize any risk of injury. “This section is all about strength endurance, so find a pace that you’re comfortable holding for the full 20 minutes,” Skillen says.

The final run is when you can push yourself. Try to increase the pace compared with the first run. “Push yourself—just don’t compromise your lower back when your legs get tired,” says Skillen. “Focus on keeping your form tight, even if it means slowing yourself down.”

Workout Overview

1km run
20 min AMRAP
– 10 burpee broad jumps
– 15 jump squats
– 20 sit-ups
– 20 https://youtu.be/sP_UcL8oH58?si=7GRnVDNLTJtvi8At&t=45
1km run

Form Guides

Burpee broad jump

Reps 10

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and a slight bend in your knees. Engage your core, hinge at your hips, and place your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart on the floor. Jump your feet back so that you’re in a push-up position and bend your elbows to drop your chest to the floor. Push yourself back up, jump your feet forward again to land next to your hands and stand up straight. As you stand, swing your arms from behind you to high in front of your body as you explosively jump forward. Land with bent knees to soften the impact, then repeat into the next rep.

Skillen says: “Burpee broad jumps will test your leg strength, explosive power and lower-body stability all in one.”

Jump squat

Reps 15

Stand with your feet slightly further than shoulder-width apart. Bend your knees and push your hips back to squat down until your hips are lower than your knees, keeping your chest up. Push through your feet to jump straight up as high as you can. Land with soft knees and continue into the next rep.

Skillen says: “Again, the squat jumps will test your explosive power, as well as your strength endurance in the quads and glutes throughout the workout.”

Sit-up

Reps 20

Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet on the floor, or with the soles of your feet together. Extend your arms behind your head, then engage your core by pressing your lower back into the floor. Squeeze your abs to sit up and bring your hands forward to touch the floor by your feet. Reverse the move under control and repeat.

Skillen says: “Sit-ups, though they are abdominal-focused, also strengthen your hip flexors and quads which are engaged every time you perform the movement.”

Split squat

Reps 20 each side

Stand with one foot in front of you and the other behind you (a split stance). Keeping your chest facing forward and your core braced, bend both knees to lower until both are bent to a 90° angle. Push through the heel of your front foot to stand. Do all your reps on one side, then swap the position of your feet.

Skillen says: “Static lunges target the quads, hamstrings, glutes and hip flexors.”

If you enjoyed this session, see if you can complete this HYROX workout in under 30 minutes. Or if you are keen to compete, find out how to train for HYROX and consider joining your local HYROX gym.

What You Can Learn From How This Coach Trains His Legs

Alice Porter — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 11:29:08 +0000

Your legs have some big muscles in them, which is why most gym leg workouts are designed around moves that let you train with heavy loads: exercises using barbells like the back squat or deadlift, or weights machines such as the leg press, hamstring curl and leg extension machines.

You might think that dumbbells have no place in challenging leg workouts, then, but you’d be wrong. Coach Anthony Carlo posted one of his dumbbell leg sessions on Instagram and explained that “every session isn’t about maxing out”. To complement heavy leg days, Carlo includes a session on single-leg stability in his week, then another on plyometrics and movement.

We asked Carlo to tell us more about the workout. “The single-leg exercises help with muscle imbalances,” says Carlo. “Using a dumbbell helps with muscle recruitment and body awareness.”

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Carlo uses a weight plate when doing the goblet squat to raise his heels and increase the involvement of his quads in the move, and he keeps the weight plate in play for the reverse lunges, adding a deficit to increase the range of motion. Carlo uses a staggered stance for the single-leg Romanian deadlift, rather than leaning forward and letting his rear leg lift, which allows him to use a heavier dumbbell. The workout is rounded out with a single-leg hip thrust.

Complete three sets of 12 reps of each exercise (12 reps each side for the single-leg moves), choosing a weight that is challenging but manageable for that number of reps. If you make it to the final rep and feel like you could easily carry on, your dumbbell is probably too light. However, always prioritize good form over lifting heavy, and ensure your core is engaged and that there’s no pressure on your lower back during this workout.

It’s important not to rush through the exercises. That's partly because it will ensure you move with correct form, but slowing the speed of the movements also increases the difficulty. “Hold the midway position for a second or two, and keep movements slow and controlled,” says Carlo.

As well as being a good choice of free weight to train your legs unilaterally, dumbbells are useful if you’re looking to develop power and muscular endurance. For instance, this dumbbell legs workout is a 500-rep lower-body blaze.

I Tried This Five-Move Leg Day Warm-Up And My Workout Felt 10 Times Better

Lois Mackenzie — Sat, 08 Jul 2023 06:38:22 +0000

I have a confession. Although fitness is my day job, I don’t always start my training with a set of warm-up exercises. I know, I know—it’s important to warm up, it readies the body for activity and lessens the chance of injury. I know all this and my running warm-up routine is non-negotiable (even if it’s just a couple of lunges here and there), but when I’m about to start a strength session, I kind of forget.

I dedicate one day a week to leg workouts and normally tell myself that my 15-minute walk to the gym has done the trick, but when I stumbled across Krissy Cela’s leg day warm-up, I promised myself I would start my next session with it. Cela is the lead trainer and co-founder of fitness app EvolveYou, and has contributed plenty of sessions to Coach such as a lower-body gym workout and an abs workout for women.

Cela calls the warm-up simple—just what I was after—and you don’t need any equipment, although since you’re sitting on the floor it’s worth getting hold of an exercise mat.

Watch Krissy Cela’s Leg Day Warm-Up

@krissycela
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♬ 4 Me (feat. Kali Uchis) - Don Toliver

Reps for each exercise range from 12-20, and Cela recommends that you perform two sets of each move for an effective warm-up. And I found it highly effective. With each move, I felt the muscles in my lower body loosen and it helped my body wake up (it was 6am). The dynamic stretches also weren’t especially challenging or time-consuming. My warm-up was complete in under 10 minutes so I didn’t have to rush through my main workout to get back home in time to start work.

Would I do this warm-up again? Yes. I realise I’ve been selling myself short and a 15-minute walk will no longer cut it. I may even add these glute activation exercises to my pre-run lunges.

If I’ve convinced you of the merits of warming up but you’re after a full-body routine, this is Coach’s go-to gym warm-up.

And just as important as a warm-up is a warm-down, which can be as simple as continuing to move, winding down the intensity and letting your heart rate fall gradually.

Build Strong Glutes With This Seven-Move Lower-Body Pump

Lucy Gornall — Wed, 05 Jul 2023 08:45:47 +0000

Squats will always have their place in a lower-body strength workout, but they aren’t the be-all and end-all of glutes exercises. For a well-rounded legs day session, and well-rounded glutes generally, you need to look beyond the squat and harness the muscle-building potential of hip thrusts, deadlifts, lunges and banded walks.

Ollie Campbell, certified personal trainer and founder of Priority 6 in Oxfordshire, England, has done just that to deliver a comprehensive glute-building workout that will light up the muscles of your posterior chain. The seven-move session combines a tri-set, a superset and a spicy pulse-raising finisher that will target your glutes from every conceivable angle.

How To Perform This Glute-Focused Workout

This workout is made up of seven exercises in total, split into three phases. The first phase is made up of a tri-set of exercises, meaning you’re required to complete a set of all three moves without resting before you take a breather for 90 seconds.

Once you complete three rounds of this tri-set, move on to the second phase—a challenging superset. Here you have two exercises that you need to complete back to back before you rest for another 90 seconds. Repeat this superset four times.

Last but not least Campbell has included a seven-minute AMRAP finisher. For this, the challenge is to complete as many rounds as possible of two moves. Keep a running total of the rounds and reps you complete so you have a target to beat next time.

Got it? Good. Time to get stuck in.

1A Kas barbell hip thrust

Sets 3 Reps 10 Rest 0sec

Named after fitness coach Kassem Hanson, this variation of a hip thrust focuses on the glute muscles. The main point of difference is a reduced range of motion to keep the muscles under tension for longer.

Sit against a bench with a loaded barbell over your hip crease and feet flat on the floor. Hook your shoulder blades over the bench and drive your hips up to lift the weight until your shoulders, hips and knees are in line and your torso and thighs are parallel to the floor.

Here’s where the move differs. The aim is to keep your knees over your ankles throughout the move. Lower your butt only as far as you can without your knees traveling back, then drive your hips high to engage your glutes. Perform all reps with a powerful squeeze at the top.

1B Barbell hip thrust

(Image credit: Hirurg / Getty Images)

Sets 3 Reps 10 Rest 0sec

Following the Kas hip thrust, perform the traditional movement. It’s the same set-up, but this time you want to lower your butt all the way to the floor, allowing your knees to travel back slightly, then drive your hips up powerfully to complete one rep. Lower the weight slowly, and thrust up powerfully, with a one-second pause at the top of each rep.

1C Dumbbell sumo squat pulse

(Image credit: Sarah McEwan / iStock / Getty Images Plus)

Sets 3 Reps 20 Rest 90sec

For the third move in this tri-set, hold one end of a heavy dumbbell in both hands against your chest and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Keeping your chest facing forward, push your hips back and bend at the knees to lower into a squat as far as you can. From here, gently pulse up and down, a quarter rep at a time. Each quarter rep counts as a full rep here. Keep your heels glued to the floor as you work through all 20 reps.

2A Staggered-stance dumbbell Romanian deadlift

(Image credit: Fotostorm / Getty Images)

Sets 4 Reps 10 each side Rest 0sec

Stand with your feet hip-width apart and line up the toes of your back foot with the heel of your front foot, holding dumbbells. Retract your shoulder blades and engage your core, then hinge forward at your hips to lower the weights to around mid-shin height. You should feel a greater strain in the hamstrings of your front leg. Drive up powerfully, squeezing your glutes hard at the top of the move, then continue into the next rep. Perform all the reps on one side, then switch sides.

2B Cossack squat

(Image credit: Fly View Productions / Getty Images)

Sets 4 Reps 10 each side Rest 90sec

Stand with feet wide apart, toes pointing out slightly. Hold a light dumbbell in each hand at shoulder height, elbows high to help keep your torso upright. Bend one knee and move your torso to that side to lower into a lateral lunge, making sure your knee tracks over your foot to protect the joints. Keep your other leg straight as you lower. Straighten the leg to return to the center position, then continue into a lateral lunge on the other side. If you have the flexibility, you can swivel on the heel of the straight leg as you descend into each rep, pointing your toes up, to get even lower. Just go easy, because this puts a great deal of strain on the adductor muscles on the inside of the thighs that are commonly overlooked.

Seven-Minute AMRAP

Complete as many rounds as possible of the following two moves, paying attention to the required reps for each. Rest as little as possible and keep a running count of the rounds and reps you tick off so you have a score to beat next time.

3A Lateral banded walks

(Image credit: Puhimec / iStock / Getty Images Plus)

Reps 30 each side

Loop a mini resistance band around your legs, just above your knees. Lower into a half squat, keeping your knees wide apart and chest facing forward. Staying low, side-step for 30 reps, ensuring you keep maximum tension in the band throughout, then switch sides. If space is limited, alternate steps left and right. If you’re doing this right, your glutes should be on fire toward the end of each set.

3B Kettlebell swing

(Image credit: Hirurg / Getty Images)

Reps 20

Hold a kettlebell handle in both hands with your arms extended and your feet just wider than hip-width apart. Keeping your back flat and shoulder blades retracted throughout, hinge forward at the hips to let the kettlebell swing back between your legs, then drive your hips forward to power the weight up to eye level. Squeeze your glutes hard at the top of the move, then allow the weight to swing down between your legs, hinging at the hips, and go straight into the next rep.

I Tried This 15-Minute Knee-Friendly Workout To Strengthen My Legs

Lois Mackenzie — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 05:48:20 +0000

My weekly workout routine is as regular as clockwork. I run at set times, I always do lower-body strength workouts on Tuesdays and I always rest on Saturdays. This routine keeps me focused, but to keep things interesting I like to try new leg workouts on gym days.

Last week I had experienced a couple of days of niggly knee pain, and while the last thing I wanted to do was aggravate it further, I also didn’t want to break my routine unless I absolutely had to.

Roxanne Russell’s 15-minute kettlebell routine came to the rescue. I find Russell’s YouTube workout videos easy to follow and this lower-body session is described as “knee friendly” because it avoids squats and lunges. It meant I could stick to my schedule and give my knees a break. I paired this video with a short abs workout.

Watch Roxanne Russell’s Knee-Friendly Lower-Body Workout

Russell uses a range of kettlebell weights, including a lighter kettlebell with a small handle which can be used for lying leg curls. I followed this workout while at the gym, so I was able to change weights for different exercises, but if you have an adjustable kettlebell at home (of the sort you’ll find in our guide to the best kettlebells) you’ll be able to follow this workout, although the size of the handle will mean you’ll need to skip the leg curl. You could always sub in another hamstring exercise, like the kettlebell swing.

The workout takes 15 minutes, but give yourself more time because it doesn’t include a warm-up or warm-down (which we don’t skip, right?).

Once my knee niggle resolves itself, I’ll be spending my Tuesdays protecting my knees by strengthening the muscles around them using this runner’s knee workout, these knee-strengthening exercises and this low-impact knee-strengthening workout.

Target All Three Glute Muscles With This Six-Move Workout

Lucy Gornall — Wed, 21 Jun 2023 05:00:00 +0000

The glutes are among the biggest and most important muscle groups in the human body—but how often do you actually train yours?

“They are literally involved in every physical step we take,” says Evie Cant, a personal trainer at F45 Camden in London, who we asked to design the ultimate glute workout. “Whether you’re an athlete or not, it’s vital to incorporate plenty of glute-strengthening exercises in your regular fitness routine.”

The glutes are made up of three individual muscles—including the large and powerful gluteus maximus—and therefore require an array of exercises that target them from varying angles to develop well-rounded strength and stability.

“Primarily, your glutes help keep you upright by stabilizing your upper body,” says Cant. “The gluteus maximus, medius and minimus work together to maintain the right pelvic alignment, so we can do things like push our feet off the ground when running or keep our balance when standing on one leg.”

Here Cant has combined six multi-joint, compound exercises into a full-blooded glute workout. Ready to put your back into it? Let’s go.

How To Do This Six-Move Glute Workout

“This workout is best done at the gym, where equipment is plentiful,” says Cant. However, you can also practice the moves at home with just your bodyweight—especially if you’re relatively new to weightlifting.

Perform four sets of each exercise before moving on to the next. Rest one minute between sets. Once you’re confident with each lift, you can add load with dumbbells or a barbell. Start light and build gradually.

1 Step-up

(Image credit: Ildar Abulkhanov / iStock / Getty Images Plus)

Sets 4 Reps 10 each side Rest 1min

Place a box against a wall. Hold a dumbbell in one hand and step onto the box, leading with the opposite foot. Drive up to stand tall on the box, then reverse the movement to return to the floor. Complete all reps leading with one foot, then switch the dumbbell over to your other hand and repeat with the other foot. Use the wall for balance, should you need to.

Cant says: “Lean into the move slightly by hinging your hips back and keep the leg that touches the ground far from the box. This will help target the glutes.”

2 Hip thrust

(Image credit: Hirurg / Getty Images)

Sets 4 Reps 10-15 Rest 1min

Sit on the floor with a barbell across your lap and lean back against a weight bench. Press your shoulders into the bench and drive through your feet to raise your hips, keeping your hands on the barbell to keep it steady. Lift until your thighs are in line with your torso. Keep your chin tucked into your chest and squeeze your glutes hard at the top of the move, then slowly lower to tap the floor with your bum and repeat.

Cant says: “Externally rotate your feet slightly and tuck your chin into your chest to ensure you don’t arch your back as you lower.”

3 Staggered deadlift

(Image credit: iStock / Getty Images Plus)

Sets 4 Reps 10 each side Rest 1min

Stand in front of a barbell with your feet staggered, so one foot is slightly behind the other with the heel of the back foot lifted. This will help target the glutes on the same side as your front foot. Keeping your back flat, hinge at your hips to grasp the bar. Drive the weight through your front foot to raise the bar until standing, then lower slowly. Repeat all reps on one side, then switch feet.

Cant says: “This is a deadlift, not a lunge, so keep your feet close together and focus on hinging at your hips rather than bending your knees.”

4 Bulgarian split squat

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Sets 4 Reps 10 each side Rest 1min

Stand facing away from a box or weight bench with a dumbbell in each hand and position the top of one foot on the box or bench behind you. Bend your front leg to lower into a deep lunge, keeping your chest upright. Aim to lower until you can tap your back knee to the ground, then drive up until your front knee is straight. Complete all reps on one side, then switch legs.

Cant says: “Lean forward slightly and think about moving your bum towards your back heel to make this move more glute-focused.”

5 Bent-leg lying hip abduction

Sets 4 Reps 10 each side Rest 1min

Lie on your side with knees slightly bent and one leg stacked on top of the other. Hold a weight plate on top of your thigh to add resistance, and stretch your other arm in front of you to provide balance. Now raise the top leg to target your glutes on one side, then lower under control. Repeat all reps on one side, then switch.

Cant says: “Positioning the weight plate closer to your knee will make it harder. Closer to your hip will make it easier.”

6 Deficit sumo squat

Sets 4 Reps 10-15 Rest 1min

You’ll need two small boxes for this exercise and two kettlebells. Position the boxes slightly wider than shoulder-width apart so there is a large gap between them. Stand on the boxes, holding a kettlebell in each hand, with arms straight. Externally rotate your feet slightly and lean forward, hinging at the hips to lower the weights between the boxes. Lower as far as you can while keeping your back flat. Drive your hips forward to return to standing.

Cant says: “The boxes provide a deficit that allows you to deepen this movement and target the glutes more than with a conventional sumo squat.”

Eight Supersets To Build Core And Glute Strength

Lois Mackenzie — Sat, 17 Jun 2023 05:00:00 +0000

We’re all busy, right? So having a strength workout you can turn to when you want to get results but don’t want to spend a minute or more resting between sets is handy. This workout from Heather Robertson, a certified personal trainer and nutrition coach, fits the bill perfectly.

The workout uses supersets, an efficient but challenging format that combines exercises into one longer set, keeping periods of rest to a minimum.

You’ll need a range of dumbbell weights to complete the workout, making it ideal for people who own a selectorized set—the best type of dumbbells for training at home in our opinion. Robertson uses a light dumbbell to add resistance to some of the abs and obliques exercises, then uses two heavier dumbbells for the deadlift and glute bridge, and an even heavier single dumbbell for the sumo squat.

Robertson also uses a mini resistance band to increase the challenge for other leg exercises.

Get your equipment ready and then press play on this follow-along video. If you have a particular taste in workout music, cue up your preferred playlist too—Robertson doesn’t speak while performing the workout so you can mute the sound and not miss anything.

This is a challenging routine, but the beauty of choosing time over reps is that you can stop early if you reach failure and can’t perform another rep with good form. As you fatigue towards the end of the workout, remind yourself to brace your core before beginning the set.

Although Robertson includes a warm-up in the video (kudos), you may also want to pause the video and add these glute activation exercises.

To keep your home leg workouts fresh, add these dumbbell legs exercises to your workout schedule, and when you want to develop your muscular endurance, challenge yourself to complete this 500-rep dumbbell legs workout.

You Only Need One Dumbbell And A Bench For A Great Glutes Workout

Lois Mackenzie — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 05:00:00 +0000

It’s a great idea to train your glutes regularly, and not just for aesthetic reasons (although those reasons never hurt when finding the motivation to head to the gym). The glutes are technically part of your core so stronger glutes can help ward off lower-back pain and contribute to good posture, which is especially important if your job or lifestyle means you sit for long periods.

And you don’t need to know how to load a barbell in a squat rack to build muscle mass in your glutes either. This workout from Natalie Wilson, an ACE-certified personal trainer, requires only a dumbbell and a weight bench, and favours unilateral exercises which work one leg at a time. You can use a small looped resistance band for the final exercise, but it can be done without.

Watch Wilson demonstrate the routine, and if you’re unsure of the correct form for the dumbbell exercises, use the links we’ve added under the video to read our form guides.

A post shared by Natalie Wilson • Home & Gym Workouts (@natwilsonfitness)
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Wilson also demonstrates a smart way to get the correct distance away from the bench for the Bulgarian split squat. Sit on the bench and extend your leg with your heel on the floor, then rock forward on to the sole of your foot and place the top of the other foot on the bench.

Wilson recommends performing 10-12 reps of each exercise (on each leg for the first four moves) for three or four sets. Having a rep and set range is useful because you’ll get more out of the workout if you repeat it and increase the challenge over time—a highly effective muscle-building technique known as progressive overload. Start with three sets of 10, and pick a weight that makes the last few reps of every set a challenge. The second time you do the workout try 11 reps, and 12 reps the third. On the fourth try increase the sets from three to four and go back to 10 reps.

Wilson doesn’t provide a warm-up, but you shouldn’t take that as an indication you don’t need to do one. This warm-up routine is a great place to start, but when you’re preparing to do a glutes workout it’s smart to perform a round of glute activation exercises.

You’ll Need Explosive Power And An Impressive Engine To Complete This 15-Minute Workout

Alice Porter — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 05:56:59 +0000

Adding a finisher to your workout is a great way to develop your body’s ability to perform when fatigued and to accelerate fat loss. It will also challenge your mental resolve, testing your strength and fitness after you’ve already done the bulk of your workout.

This 15-minute AMRAP (which stands for “as many rounds as possible”) created by personal trainer Ali Kabba is an ideal finisher on leg day. The plyometric exercises also lend a conditioning element, which means it will improve your cardiovascular capability.

All you need is a box and one weight plate. Watch Kabba demonstrate the four moves.

A post shared by Ali Kabba - Personal Trainer (@amt.fitness)
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The aim is to complete as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes, so although you want to tick off the reps quickly, make sure you pace yourself so your form doesn’t suffer. As well as avoiding injury, using the correct form means you’re relying on your leg muscles to do the work rather than leaning on weaker muscles, which will inevitably tire quicker.

For example, during the weight plate ground to overheads, think about generating momentum moving from your hip hinge rather than pulling the weight overhead with your arms, to save energy.

If you find this workout too difficult and tap out before the 15 minutes end, there are plenty of ways to modify it. Remove the jump and/or step your feet forward and backward for the burpee, and change the box jump to a step-up, and the jump lunge to a regular lunge.

If you breeze through it, pit yourself against none other than The Rock’s leg finisher. This five-minute leg workout challenge is another way to test your lower body.

You can also try Kabba’s 20-minute functional training workout, which will challenge your fitness as well as your strength.

Five Exercises To Fire Up Your Glutes

Lucy Gornall — Sun, 28 May 2023 06:43:58 +0000

Many of us are sitting more than ever, so our glutes—the muscles in the butt—can be forgiven for giving up and switching off. But active, strong glutes make running and walking easier, as well as helping maintain good posture.

Wake your glutes up with this killer workout from Cat Kom, founder and head trainer of Studio SWEAT onDemand. It contains just five exercises, but they’re combined into a tri-set and superset, where exercises are performed back to back.

It can be done using just your bodyweight or with added resistance, such as a dumbbell or kettlebell. Adding resistance is the best way to strengthen and grow your glute muscles, but it’s wise to master the form using just your bodyweight before adding weights.

Kom has given two ways to do this workout: “Either do each exercise for 30 seconds or opt for 10 to 15 reps of each exercise.” The 30-second option is a useful option for beginners because you do what you can in the time allowed, rather than having to force your body to perform a set number of reps, which can often lead to compromised form and, potentially, injury.

Ready to shock your glutes into life? Here’s their wake-up call.

1A Plié squat

(Image credit: rbkomar / Getty Images)

Sets 3 Time/Reps 30sec/10-15 Rest 0sec

Stand with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart, with each foot pointed out at 45°. Keeping your knees directly above your toes, bend your knees and push your hips back to lower until your thighs are parallel with the floor. Keep your weight in your heels. Extend your legs to return to the start.

1B Donkey kick

(Image credit: Prostock Studio / iStock / Getty Images Plus)

Sets 3 Time/Reps 30sec/10-15 each side Rest 0sec

On your hands and knees, with your knees directly below your hips and hands directly under your shoulders, lift one heel until your thigh is parallel with the floor, keeping your knee bent at 90°. Do all your reps on one side, then switch sides. If performing the movement for time, switch sides halfway through. Add ankle weights if you want to add resistance.

1C Glute bridge

(Image credit: Westend61 / Getty Images)

Sets 3 Time/Reps 30sec/10-15 Rest 60sec

Lie on your back with your knees bent and your arms and feet flat on the floor. Engage your core and lift your hips to create a straight line from your knees to your shoulders. Squeeze your glutes, then slowly return to the start position.

2A Bulgarian split squat

(Image credit: miljko / Getty Images)

Sets 3 Time/Reps 30sec/10-15 each side Rest 0sec

Face away from a sturdy surface at knee height, and place the top of one foot on it. Bend your knees to lower, keeping the knee over the toes of your standing foot until your rear knee is just above the floor. Push through your front heel to return to the start.

2B Side lunge

(Image credit: microgen / iStock / Getty Images Plus)

Sets 3 Time/Reps 30sec/10-15 each side Rest 60sec

Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Step to the right side and lower, keeping your left leg straight, pushing your hips back and bending your back knee. Keep your right knee and toes aligned. Push off through your right foot to return to the starting position.

You Don’t Need Weights To Develop Powerful Legs—Just This Three-Move Plyometrics Workout

Alice Porter — Thu, 18 May 2023 06:25:35 +0000

Some expect all leg workouts to involve heavy weights, and it’s true that big moves like the leg press, back squat and deadlift should be the cornerstones of leg day if you want to build muscle. But if you want to build power too, it’s well worth adding plyometric training to your routine.

You can’t continue doing these explosive movements over long periods of time, so it’s an ideal approach if you’re short on time but still want to fire up your legs. Next time you’re in that position, try this quick session from WeGlow workout app founder Stef Williams. It’s a three-move circuit, followed by an optional 10-minute incline treadmill walk.

Perform each exercise for 40 seconds, followed by 20 seconds of rest, and repeat the circuit for a total of three rounds.

Watch Williams’s video for a demonstration of each of the exercises, then lace up your gym trainers and get to work.

A post shared by Stef Williams | Stef Fit (@stef.williams)
A photo posted by on

This is a short session designed to spike your heart rate, build power and test your muscular endurance, so make your movements fast and explosive to get the most out of it.

However, never speed through reps to the point that you’re compromising on form. Make sure you complete a full range of motion for each movement, dropping your rear knee as close to the floor as possible during the lunge and split squats, and trying to get your hips below your knees when squatting.

A treadmill walk might seem like a simple (dare we say, easy) way to finish, but not when it follows nine minutes of plyometric exercises.

If you find this session a bit too intense and don’t have access to weights, try this leg workout at home instead.

All You Need Are Two Dumbbells And This Smart Workout To Build Leg Muscle

Alice Porter — Fri, 12 May 2023 05:03:43 +0000

Do you feel as if the gains from your strength training have stalled? First of all you should make sure you’re following a progressive workout for muscle gain, but if you’ve ticked that box and still find yourself stuck on a plateau it’s worth looking for a new way to challenge your body.

Drop sets are a great way to do this. This method means performing an exercise until you can’t complete another rep, reducing the weight, then going to failure again. And then doing that one more time with a weight that's lighter still. As you may have guessed, it’s a technique not to be trifled with, but you can try this cut-back version from certified personal trainer Mary Yankovich.

Yankovich takes a weighted exercise, then follows it with the same or similar bodyweight move. The pairing of exercises is designed to target a specific muscle or muscle group in the lower body.

Watch Mary Yankovich’s Drop-Set Workout

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There are four supersets to perform. The session starts with front-rack dumbbell squats, followed by unweighted squats, and moves on to Bulgarian split squats, with and then without a pair of dumbbells.

Next are reverse lunges, while holding a pair of dumbbells at your sides, and then single-leg raised glute bridges. The workout finishes with goblet squats and jump squats.

Use a pair of heavy dumbbells, so the final reps of every set are challenging. The unweighted set that follows then allows you to keep pushing the muscle.

You can do this workout as a leg day session, completing three sets of each pairing, or add it to the end of a gym workout as a finisher.

If you’re completing this workout at home using a pair of dumbbells, you may like to include these dumbbell leg exercises and this dumbbell leg workout in your training as well.

Build Leg Muscle With This Four-Move Gym Workout And Finisher

Alice Porter — Fri, 05 May 2023 05:41:06 +0000

Leg workouts have a fearsome reputation in the fitness world. This session, which promises to “murder” your legs, will make you realize why.

Designed by trainer Ella-Mae Rayner, the workout combines four exercises with a fiery finisher. It includes traditional hypertrophy training moves like the barbell back squat, as well as a plyometric exercise to help you develop explosive power.

You’ll need a barbell, kettlebell, dumbbells and weights machines to complete this workout so grab your kit bag and head to the gym.

Complete the first four exercises—the barbell back squat, leg press, leg extension and split squat—for the number of sets and reps specified in Rayner’s video below, resting for 60-90 seconds between sets.

For the finisher, perform 15 goblet squats and 15 squat jumps as a superset, rest for a minute, then repeat two more times.

A post shared by Ella-Mae (@ellamaerayner)
A photo posted by on

If you want to stimulate muscle growth, the last few reps of each set should feel challenging. If they don’t, you need to increase the weight.

To get the most out of this workout, try to use a full range of motion during each of the exercises, ensuring your thighs are at least parallel with the floor at the bottom of each squat and lowering your rear knee to just above the floor while completing the split squats. Moving slowly through the moves enables you to maximize your muscles’ time under tension and focus on using good form.

You’ll move faster during the finisher as you test your muscular endurance, but that doesn’t mean you should let your technique slip. Keep your chest up during the squats and avoid rounding your back.

Looking for more leg day inspiration? Step right this way for a hamstring workout, quad workout, dumbbell legs workout or five-minute leg workout challenge.

Add This Low-Impact Knee-Strength Workout To Your Routine

Lucy Gornall — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 06:17:16 +0000

Knee pain is incredibly frustrating, leaving you sore and potentially out of action for days, weeks or even months. While there’s no surefire way to prevent knee issues from happening at all, you can avoid some conditions by focusing on knee-strengthening exercises—developing the surrounding muscles to support the knee joint.

Sam Shaw, who is a level 3 personal trainer, level 4 lower-back specialist and founder of Lemon Studios, has put together a selection of low-impact leg-strengthening exercises for Coach. Not only will these help build muscle in your lower body, but they will also help to support your knees, reducing the chance of injuries in your knees and hips.

“When trying to build a strong, balanced physique, I would normally recommend training your lower body twice a week, using a wide array of different movement patterns—for example, vertical movements like a squat or a lunge and then complementing it with lateral movements such as glute walks,” says Shaw. He adds that this encourages growth in your glutes, hamstrings and the muscles around your knees.

Below are 10 exercises to run through, some of which require a resistance band, but all are suitable for home.

1 Unweighted squat

(Image credit: Lemon Studios)

Sets 3 Reps 15

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Keeping your weight over your heels, chest up and back straight, sit your hips back and bend your knees to 90°. Push through your heels to stand, squeezing your glutes at the top of the movement.

2 Glute bridge

(Image credit: Lemon Studios)

Sets 3 Reps 15

Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Tuck your tailbone under, then push through your heels to raise your hips until your body is in a straight line from shoulders to knees. Lower slowly, keeping tension in your glutes.

3 Banded walk forward

(Image credit: Lemon Studios)

Sets 3 Time 1min

Take a small looped resistance band and place it around your legs just above your ankles. Stand with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart and hinge forward at your hips. Engage your glutes, pushing against the tension of the band. Take eight small steps forward, keeping the band as tight as possible, then take eight steps backward. Continue until the time is up.

4 Wall sit

(Image credit: Lemon Studios)

Sets 3 Time 1min

Rest your back against a wall. Walk your feet away from the wall, slidinge your back down, until your knees are bent at 90°. Your feet and knees should be shoulder-width apart. Keep your shoulder blades back and your hands by your sides. Hold this position.

5 Step-up

(Image credit: Lemon Studios)

Sets 3 Reps 12 each side

Place your left foot on a bench. Keeping your chest up, push through your left heel to stand on the box and raise your right knee until it’s bent to 90°. Squeeze your glutes, then slowly lower in the same movement pattern. Focus on keeping the glutes activated and your knees in line with your foot. Perform all the reps on one side then switch.

6 Hamstring walk-in

(Image credit: Lemon Studios)

Sets 3 Reps 6

Lie on your back with your legs extended and heels on the floor, toes pointing up. Raise your hips and slowly walk your heels toward your glutes, keeping your hips up and using your hamstrings to keep you stable. Slowly walk your feet back out, making sure you are pushing through your heels.

7 Single-leg glute bridge hold

(Image credit: Lemon Studios)

Sets 6 Time 30sec each leg

Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Tuck your tailbone under, extend your right leg, then push through your left heel to raise your hips until your body is in a straight line from shoulders to knees. Hold for 30 seconds, then repeat on the other side.

8 Banded walk sideways

(Image credit: Lemon Studios)

Sets 3 Time 1min

Take a small looped resistance band and place it around your legs, just above your ankles. Stand with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart and hinge forward at your hips. Engage your glutes, pushing against the tension of the band. Take eight small steps to the side, keeping the band as tight as possible then take eight steps back to the start. Continue until the time is up.

9 Bulgarian split squat

(Image credit: Lemon Studios)

Sets 3 Reps 12 each side

Stand facing away from a bench that’s at knee height. Place the top of one foot on the bench behind you. Lean forward slightly and keep your weight in your front heel. Lower, bending your front knee to 90°, then push through your front heel, squeezing your glutes, to stand back up. Perform all the reps on one side, then switch sides.

10 Single-leg bent hamstring drive

(Image credit: Lemon Studios)

Sets 3 Reps 8 each side

Lie on your back with a slight bend in your knees, your heels on the floor, toes pointing up. Raise one leg, then push through the other heel until your back is an inch off the floor. Pause, then slowly lower to the floor.

This Five-Move Workout Builds Stronger Legs Without Machines Or Barbells

Alice Porter — Wed, 12 Apr 2023 05:28:09 +0000

Going to the gym at peak times can be a nightmare, especially if everyone has scheduled leg day for the same time, with a high demand for barbells and weights machines. To avoid waiting in line for the squat rack you wanted to use, it pays to have a plan B.

This workout from Berenice Salazar, better known to her 380,000 Instagram followers as LadyFit, will help you to develop strong legs using only a pair of dumbbells and a gym ball—and it’ll enable you to tackle her challenging leg workout in a quiet corner of the gym.

Watch Salazar demonstrates each of the moves with the correct form in the Instagram Reel below.

A post shared by Personal trainer & Fitness Online Coach (@ladyfit)
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There are five moves in this session and you’ll be completing four rounds of each at a rep range of 10-12, which is ideal for hypertrophy training. Pick a weight that feels manageable but challenging for this amount of reps, ensuring it’s not so heavy that your form is compromised. For example, if you’re unable to reach full depth during the squats, or you can’t maintain a neutral spine during the Romanian deadlifts, reduce the weight slightly.

The final two exercises use a gym ball and are programmed as a superset, meaning you’ll complete one set of 10 reps of the single-leg glute bridge immediately followed by one set of 10 reps of the gym ball hamstring curl. Repeat this sequence until all the reps are complete.

Supersets commonly keep the rest between exercises to a minimum, although Salazar doesn’t specify rest terms. Tailor the workout to your level. Shorter rest periods are, of course, harder, and you should aim to keep the rest periods consistent.

If you can’t find a gym ball in the gym, or are at home with a solitary pair of dumbbells, try this dumbbell leg workout instead. Or if all the gym’s dumbbells are spoken for, try this gym ball workout.

Blitz Your Quads With This Simple Adjustment To A Squat

Alice Porter — Wed, 05 Apr 2023 05:32:26 +0000

Love them or hate them, leg workouts are an essential part of any training routine, but you don’t have to restrict yourself to the formula of four sets of eight to 12 reps. And taking a new approach can unlock strength gains galore.

Try tagging this two-move finisher on the end of your next leg session. Devised by certified personal trainer Jocelyn Podolski, it uses just one dumbbell, one weight plate and one exercise to challenge your quads, boost your muscular endurance and stimulate muscle growth.

Podolski uses the weight plate to elevate your heels during a squat to place more emphasis on your quads than the conventional movement, which means you put greater demands on the muscles in your posterior chain (the back of your body) like the glutes and hamstrings.

The general rules of squatting still apply though: Make sure your hips are in line with or below your knees at the bottom of each rep and keep your chest up throughout.

Watch Podolski’s video below to see her demonstrate the two moves, then prepare to feel a lower-body burn like never before.

A post shared by Jocelyn Podolski (@jocelyn.podolski)
A photo posted by on

Why This Workout Is So Effective

Workout finishers are short add-ons designed to squeeze every last ounce of energy out of your muscles at the end of a session. They’re usually intense and follow formats with short rest times like circuits and supersets.

Podolski’s routine falls into the latter camp, challenging you to complete 10 to 12 heavy heel-elevated goblet squats immediately followed by 10 to 12 heel-elevated unweighted squats. Rest for 60 seconds, then repeat a total of four times.

Performing a set with a weight, then immediately performing the same exercise with a lighter, or no weight, is reminiscent of a drop set. This hypertrophy training technique aims to fully fatigue the muscles, which research suggests can lead to enhanced muscle growth.

If you’re looking for more lower-body finishers to spice up your gym sessions, try The Rock’s leg day finisher. Or if you want to put in more work on the front of your legs, try this quad workout.

Develop Your Glutes At Home With This Short Kettlebell And Resistance Band Session

Lois Mackenzie — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 06:38:53 +0000

There are plenty of reasons to train your glutes. As well as aesthetic ones, it’s well worth strengthening your glutes to combat the damage done by sitting for long periods.

If you’re in need of a quick, effective glute workout you’ve come to the right place, and better yet, you don’t need to trek to the gym to do this routine. All you need is a kettlebell (or other weight – a dumbbell will also work) and a small looped resistance band. That said, an exercise mat will also be helpful since you’re on your back for the entire workout.

This routine comes from Roxanne Russell, a personal trainer who has a BSc in exercise, physical activity and health, and shares workouts on her YouTube channel Workout With Roxanne.

Watch Russell’s glute-building follow-along workout video and take note of her form for each movement.

Russell’s routine moves between 45 seconds of work and 15 seconds of rest, using the kettlebell to add resistance.

The workout runs through variations of the glute bridge, one of the first glute exercises most people learn but one that remains a challenge if you add weight and maintain tension as Russell does. Bridges also recruit your core muscles which, in partnership with strong glutes, can help people who experience lower-back pain.

If you don’t have any equipment at home, you can still get a good session in with this bodyweight glutes workout which uses Pilates techniques. It’s well worth adding free weights to your home set-up if you want to train your glutes without maintaining an expensive gym membership, because the glutes are large and respond well to heavy loads. Our selections of the best kettlebells and best dumbbells have recommendations for all budgets and training styles. At the very least it’s worth browsing our picks of the best resistance bands since it’s such an affordable piece of equipment, and you can add this resistance band glutes workout and home glutes workout to your regime.

Strength Train To Avoid Running Injuries, Starting With These Three Simple Moves For Your Calves

Alice Porter — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 07:00:04 +0000

Runners ask a lot of their legs. If you can find the time to strengthen the muscles in your lower body (and be sensible with your training volume by following a running training plan), you have a much better chance of avoiding injury.

And the best way to deal with injury is always to do what you can to avoid it in the first place. Prehab not rehab. That’s why we’re always on the lookout for running-specific exercises like these shared by run coach Emma Kirk-Odunubi, who’s worked with Coach before on a strength workout for runners and a guide to how to look after your running shoes.

The routine pulls together three calf exercises, and all you need is one kettlebell or a dumbbell for one of the moves. Watch Kirk-Odunubi demonstrate each of the exercises in the Instagram Reel below.

A post shared by Emma Kirk-Odunubi 🙋🏽‍♀️ (@emmakirkyo)
A photo posted by on

When completing these movements, focus on fully flexing your toes to engage your calf muscles. For the plyometric pogo jumps, you should also think about landing on the balls of your feet rather than subjecting your shins to a flat-footed landing, because this will recruit your calves to absorb the impact.

This move was also recommended by running coach Chris Betteridge when he shared his picks of the best leg exercises for runners. “It’s a great plyometric workout for the calf, achilles and plantar fascia, and amazing for foot and ankle strength,” says Betteridge.

Doing these exercises frequently will build up your calf strength, which can help keep common running injuries at bay. When we spoke to expert Seth O’Neill, associate professor of physiotherapy at the University of Leicester, about how to prevent achilles tendon pain, he highlighted calf raises as especially important.

Of course, there’s more to train than just your lower legs, and we have plenty of other sessions that will help support your running. This home workout for runners is popular because it requires no equipment, and while few people enjoy core work, these core workouts for runners are absolutely essential.

Can You Keep Up With This Workout From The UK’s Fittest Man?

Lucy Gornall — Mon, 13 Mar 2023 07:00:09 +0000

You can’t push yourself hard in the gym all the time, but when you are ready to test your limits, line up this sweat session designed exclusively for Coach by Reggie Fasa, who is currently ranked top of the 2023 CrossFit Open in Europe and ninth worldwide. The workout tests your endurance and strength with just two exercises – dumbbell walking lunges and the assault bike.

“This workout is fantastic for building leg strength and endurance by pre-fatiguing your legs with lunges before jumping on the bike to finish them off,” says Fasa.

“Going fast on the assault bike will help develop your fast-twitch muscle fibres, which are essential for lots of different functional movements.”

He adds that lunges not only build legs but develop core and hip stability too, and have cross-over benefits for squatting as well as running.

For the walking lunges, Fasa recommends that women use two 15kg dumbbells and men use two 22.5kg dumbbells. He also suggests that women aim for 15 calories on the assault bike and men aim for 18.

However, this will all vary depending on your fitness levels, and in true CrossFit fashion Fasa has provided ways to scale the workout to your ability. “There are two options for scaling,” says Fasa. “The first is to lower the dumbbell weights so you can perform the reps unbroken. Secondly, you can scale the calories on the bike to something you are able to complete by the two-minute mark.”

How To Do This Workout

Complete the two exercises below within four minutes. Repeat for a total of six rounds.

“You should have a minimum of two minutes’ rest each round which should be used to recover from each effort efficiently,” says Fasa. “Don’t lie on the ground because that will make lactic acid build up. Try walking around slowly.”

1 Dumbbell walking lunge

Reps 16

Stand holding dumbbells by your sides. Step forwards and lower, bending your knees to 90°. Once your back knee has touched the floor, drive through your front heel to come back up to standing. Either bring your feet back together before going into the next rep leading with your other leg, or, for a more advanced version, step through and go straight into the next rep.

“Start your lunges next to the bike and perform eight, then turn around and finish the final eight heading towards the bike so you can jump straight on,” says Fasa.

2 Assault bike

Calories 15 / 18

Pedal on the assault bike as close to max power as possible. Most of your power should come from your legs, but use your arms to pull the handles too at the same time.

“Keep your chest up and avoid leaning forwards because that will make it harder to breathe,” says Fasa.

If you’re a fan of this style of CrossFit workout, we have plenty more options for you to try, from UK CrossFit champ Zack George’s AMRAP workout to Aimee Cringle’s core workout. We also have a great selection of air bike workouts. On the other hand, if you need to dial it down – way down – try this genuine beginner’s CrossFit workout.

Use Pilates To Get An Effective Home Glutes Workout With No Equipment

Lucy Gornall — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 07:15:15 +0000

Many of the best glutes exercises require a cable machine or barbell, which isn’t that surprising considering the gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in your body. But you can still get an effective glutes workout at home using just your own bodyweight and this six-exercise session is proof.

It’s been put together by Sabrina Ovadya-Lenson, a Pilates teacher, level 3 personal trainer and founder of Urwell, an at-home holistic health club.

“The beauty of these exercises is that they are all performed lying down,” says Ovadya-Lenson. That’s a blessing for anyone who’s got on the wrong side of their neighbours performing home HIIT workouts.

“Beginners may want to do one round only, but I would recommend two to three rounds as a great workout for a firm butt.”

If you fancy adding resistance to these exercises to make them a little harder, use ankle weights, or place a mini resistance band on the thighs above the knees. This type of band is cheap and readily available. You’ll find a range of options on our round-up of the best resistance bands; once you have a set, you can add this home glutes workout from Krissy Cela and resistance band glute workout to your routine.

Home Glutes Workout

1 Donkey kick

Get on your hands and knees with your wrists under your shoulders and knees under your hips. Tuck your pelvis under – keeping your hips still and back straight, move your tailbone down and in – and keep it tucked throughout; this will limit your range of movement but ensure you really target the intended glute muscles.

Lift your right leg behind you, keeping the 90° bend in your knee. Make 10 small pulse movements with your heel flexed, then 10 pulses with your toes flexed. Repeat on the other side.

2 Leg lift and leg circle

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Get on your hands and knees with your wrists under your shoulders and knees under your hips. Extend one leg behind you, tap your foot on the floor, then lift your leg to hip height, keeping your spine neutral throughout. Perform 15 reps.

Perform 15 more reps of the movement, but tapping your foot twice before lifting. Then, keeping your leg in line with your spine, perform 15 pulses.

Finally, keeping your leg elevated in the same position, make 10 tennis ball-sized circles with your foot. Ensure the movement comes from the hip rather than your knee or ankle.

Repeat all of the above on the other side.

3 Side-lying donkey kick

Lie on your side, supporting your head with your bottom hand. Relax your top shoulder and bend your knees. Move your top knee and tap the floor in front of you, then extend your leg diagonally up. Bend at your knee again and tap the floor. Perform the move 10 times in total, then swap sides.

4 Clamshell

Lie on your side, supporting your head with your bottom hand. Bend both legs and keep your heels in line with your spine. Keeping your feet together, lift your top knee as far as you can and then lower it, keeping the rest of your body still. For a more challenging option, raise your feet off the floor and then perform the movement. Just make sure your heels remain in line with your spine.

5 Side-lying knee taps

Lie on your side, supporting your head with your bottom hand. Bend both legs and keep your heels in line with your spine. Keeping your bottom leg still, lift the top foot and rotate your leg so your knee faces down. Your top foot should be higher than the knee. Tap the floor in front of you with your knee, then externally rotate your leg so your knee points up and you can tap the floor with your foot behind the bottom leg. Perform the full movement 10 times, then switch sides.

6 Glute bridge with leg extension

Lie on your back with your legs bent and feet hip-width apart on the floor. Push your arms into the floor. Take a deep breath, then as you exhale, tuck your pelvis under and peel your spine off the ground slowly, raising your hips until your body is in a straight line from your shoulders to your knees. Keeping your hips square, lift your right leg, extend it, then reverse the entire movement, bending your right leg, returning it to the floor. Then lower your hips to the floor, rolling your spine back onto the floor one vertebrae at a time with your pelvis being the last part of your body to touch the mat. Repeat on the left side, and continue alternating sides to perform 10 reps on each side.

This Little-Known Technique Shocks Your Legs Into Building Muscle

Nick Harris-Fry — Mon, 27 Feb 2023 07:18:51 +0000

We recently spoke to Emily Servante, global trainer education manager at Ultimate Performance, to get some advice on how often you should perform leg workouts for the best results, and what the best way to structure your leg workouts is.

One thing that stood out to us from Servante’s advice is that you should try mixing up your rep counts.

“The great thing about leg day is that it really lends itself to experimenting and running wild with different programming variables,” says Servante. “From giant sets to high-intensity techniques, there are countless ways we can shock the legs into hypertrophy.

“My number one ‘secret’ tip for people to incorporate into their next leg workout is to use a mix of high (15-50) and low (five to eight) reps. Start the workout with relatively heavy squats for example, and finish on 20-plus-rep leg extensions or even 100-rep leg presses. Don’t leave any stone unturned, or get pigeonholed into any one way of training.”

To help you give this style of training a try, Servante provided this workout. Try it on your next leg day.

Mixed-Rep Leg Workout

Work through the following exercises, sticking to the tempo prescribed for best results (our guide to tempo training with weights explains all if you need a primer). The workout starts with a superset, continues with a tri-set, then finishes with two exercises performed as straight sets.

1A Lying leg curl

(Image credit: iStock / Getty Images Plus)

Sets 4 Reps 8 Tempo 30X1 Rest 90sec

Lie on the leg curl machine, with the lever sitting just below your calf muscles when your legs are straight. Curl the lever up as far as possible without lifting your thighs off the pad, then lower it.

1B Front squat

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Sets 4 Reps 6 Tempo 31X1 Rest 90sec

Unrack the barbell, holding it in front of the top of your chest with your palms up. Lower into a squat until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor, then drive back up to standing explosively.

2A Walking lunge

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Sets 4 Distance 20m Tempo 2010 Rest 10sec

“Walking lunges are a really underrated, and underused, leg exercise,” says Servante. “They trash everything: quads, hams and glutes. Just keep an eye on form – don’t let your torso fall forwards.”

You can use any kind of free weight for this move, either two dumbbells or kettlebells held by your sides or a barbell across the back of your shoulders. Step forwards into a lunge and lower until both knees are bent at 90°, then step forwards on the other leg and lower. Complete 20m, turn around while resting and go again.

2B Pendulum squat

Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 3010 Rest 10sec

This squat variation uses a particular machine, so if your gym doesn’t have one you can do a back squat instead. Stand on the machine with your shoulders against the pads and your hands on the bar in front of you. Lower into a deep squat, then drive back up.

2C Leg extension

(Image credit: iStock / Getty Images Plus)

Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 2012 Rest 2min

Set up on the leg extension machine so the pad on the lever sits on your shins just above your feet. Extend your legs to lift the weight, then lower them.

3 Dumbbell Romanian deadlift

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 3010 Rest 90sec

Stand holding dumbbells in front of your thighs. Hinge at your hips to send the weights down your legs until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings, then drive your hips forwards to come back up to standing.

4 45° leg press

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Sets 1 Reps 50 Tempo 2010

Finish the workout with this monster set on the 45° leg press machine. There are two types of leg press machines, so follow the instructions on the machine in front of you.

Five Exercises To Strengthen Your Glutes And Quads

Alice Porter — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 06:32:56 +0000

You can never have enough leg workouts in your locker. Especially because to really challenge your legs, you’re going to need access to a gym’s heavy weights and you may find the weights machine, squat rack or deadlift platform you were planning on using already occupied.

That’s where this routine from PT Alex Rice can come in handy. It combines a handful of barbell moves with dumbbell leg exercises for an effective way to target two of the major muscle groups in the legs – the glutes and the quads. And if all the squat racks are taken, heavy dumbbells will suffice with the barbell exercises.

Watch Rice demonstrate each of the movements in the below Instagram post, taking note of her form. Complete each of the exercises in sets of three or four, depending on the movement, then move on to the next section of the workout.

A post shared by Alex Rice | Workouts (@alexricee)
A photo posted by on

For the stationary lunge (or split squat as we call them), single-leg Romanian deadlift and Bulgarian split squat, Rice suggests rep ranges of either 6-8 or 8-10. If you’re hitting the top of the rep range easily in every set, you probably need to increase the weight, but if you struggle to meet the minimum, it’s a good idea to choose a lighter weight until you can confidently reach the middle to higher rep range. These are all single-leg exercises so you may be surprised by how much lighter you need to go.

This workout also incorporates a pyramid set for the back squat. This means you gradually lower the reps you’re doing each round, while increasing the weight. Pyramid sets are a great way to improve muscular endurance and strength. If you have a limited range of weights, Rice added a comment to say you can modify this set to the standard 8-10 reps.

We have plenty more options to suit whatever equipment you’re working with, from a leg day workout that requires free weights and a cable machine to this bodyweight home legs workout, by way of this dumbbell legs workout.

The Workout That Tested My Leg Endurance Like Nothing Else

Lucy Gornall — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 07:50:25 +0000

I’m an absolute sucker for an intense workout. One that challenges my muscles while also giving my cardiovascular system a good seeing-to. In fact, that “gassed” feeling is something I relish. So when I put together workouts, I often go a little extreme. Even so, the workout below left my legs shaking at times.

I am trying to train my legs so that they still work well when fatigued, so I combined cardio with two leg exercises, alternating between the two. The aim is to rest only when you absolutely need to. It’s better to slow down than to stop altogether because you want to push your body so that it gets used to the fatigue feeling.

Over time, this workout will become easier (I promise!). Warm up before you begin, make sure you’ve got a sweat towel ready, and get to work.

The Exercises

Treadmill run

The distance changes each round. Aim for a fast pace that you can sustain for the distance.

Weighted walking lunge

Place a mid-weight barbell on your shoulders behind your neck, or hold mid-weight dumbbells by your sides. Step forwards with one foot, bend both knees until they’re at 90°, then push up through your front foot and step through with your opposite foot. Go straight into another lunge. Repeat, continuing to move forwards.

Dumbbell squat

Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding dumbbells by your shoulders with your elbows pointing forwards. Bend your knees and push your bum back to lower until your thighs are horizontal, then push through your heels to rise.

The Leg Endurance Workout

Round	Treadmill	Walking Lunge	Squat
1	500m	50	50
2	600m	40	40
3	700m	30	30
4	800m	20	20
5	900m	10	10
6	1km	0	0
7	900m	10	10
8	800m	20	20
9	700m	30	30
10	600m	40	40
11	500m	50	50

You Only Need Five Moves And 45 Minutes To Build Serious Lower-Body Strength

Alice Porter — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 06:35:24 +0000

Barbell squats and deadlifts are leg workout staples, but they shouldn’t be the only way you train your lower body. This five-move workout created by fitness influencer and trainer Meggan Grubb uses the barbell lunge as the taxing compound lift to kick things off, then follows it up with four more challenging moves to hit your pins from a range of angles – promising strength gains galore.

Fans of the squat won’t be left disappointed either, because Grubb has programmed two variations including the single-leg Bulgarian split squat to improve power and promote growth. You’ll need a barbell and landmine attachment for the other variation, as well as leg press and cable machines to perform the workout.

Watch Grubb’s video below, in which she takes you through each of the five exercises.

A post shared by Meggan Kirkland (@meggangrubb)
A photo posted by on

This is a workout you can come back to week after week, gradually increasing the weight to grow stronger – a process otherwise known as the strength-building progressive overload principle.

If you’re looking to focus on growing a specific muscle, like your glutes, hamstrings or quads, it’s a good idea to focus on mind-muscle connection during this workout. This means thinking about squeezing the muscle you want to grow during each movement. Research published in the European Journal Of Applied Physiology showed this can increase muscle activity when lifting loads that are between 20-60% of your one-rep max.

Training more than three times a week and looking to dedicate another day to strengthening your legs? Try this leg-day workout for maximum gains.

Strengthen Your Lower Body With Krissy Cela’s Six-Move Workout For The Gym

Lucy Gornall — Mon, 02 Jan 2023 07:38:55 +0000

Krissy Cela one of our go-to trainers for leg workouts. A level 3 personal trainer and founder of health and fitness app EvolveYou, she has already supplied Coach readers with this excellent butt workout and this glutes workout for home (as well as this abs workout for women). So we just had to ask her for a contribution to our 12 days of Christmas workouts series, and Cela happily obliged by creating a workout that targets the glutes and hamstrings.

“Your glutes and hamstrings play a fundamental role in how well your body operates as a whole,” says Cela. “It’s vital that we keep them mobile, active and strong for optimum health and for injury prevention.”

She adds that when you sit for extended periods of time, your glute muscles become weak from inactivity. “This has a knock-on effect,” says Cela, “It pushes other muscles out of balance and it can knock your pelvis out of alignment.

“Ensuring your hamstrings are strong and supple plays a pivotal role in stabilising your knee joints. When our hamstrings are weak, it usually means we are more prone to not only knee injuries, but also hamstring injuries too.”

Glutes And Hamstring Workout

Cela’s workout requires a set of dumbbells, a small looped resistance band and a weights bench.

The workout uses supersets, a format in which some exercises are paired. Do a set of exercise A immediately followed by a set of exercise B. Rest, then return to exercise A, repeating that pattern until all the sets are completed. Removing the rest period after exercise A increases the challenge.

Before you start, Cela recommends warming up and activating the muscles in your lower body. If you don’t have a set routine, use our gym warm-up.

1 Dumbbell Romanian deadlift

Sets 4 Reps 10 Rest 1min

Stand with your feet hip-width apart and knees slightly bent, holding dumbbells in front of you with your palms facing you. Keeping your back flat, push your hips back to lower the dumbbells to your shins. Push through your heels to return to the start.

2A Dumbbell hip thrust

Sets 4 Reps 10 Rest 0min

Find a bench or box and sit on the floor facing away from it, resting your back against it. It should sit slightly below your shoulder blades. Your knees should be bent and feet flat on the floor. Rest a dumbbell across your hips. Engage your core and, keeping your chin tucked in, drive through the heels to push your hips up so your thighs are parallel to the floor. Your knees should not go beyond your toes at any point. Pause, then lower back to the start under control.

2B Banded glute bridge

(Image credit: iStock / Getty Images Plus)

Sets 4 Reps 10 Rest 1min

Place a thick resistance band just above your knees. Lie on your back on the floor, with feet flat on the floor and knees bent. Press your knees out to keep the band taut, and press through your heels to lift your hips off the floor until your knees, hips and shoulders form a straight line. Squeeze your glutes at the top, then lower back to the start.

3 Dumbbell split squat

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Sets 3 Reps 10 each side Rest 1min

Hold dumbbells by your sides. Adopt a split stance with one leg in front of the other. Bend both knees to 90°. Push up through the front heel to come back to standing. Do all your reps on one side before switching.

4A Dumbbell sumo squat

(Image credit: iStock / Getty Images Plus)

Sets 3 Reps 10 Rest 0min

Stand with your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart with your toes pointing out slightly. Hold a dumbbell to your chest with both hands or a dumbbell on each shoulder. Push your hips back and bend your knees to lower, maintaining a flat back, then push up through your heels to rise. Keep your knees over your toes at all times.

4B Banded clamshell

(Image credit: iStock / Getty Images Plus)

Sets 3 Reps 10 each side Rest 1min

Place a wide resistance band around your thighs. Lie on your side with your knees bent, and one leg on top of the other. Keeping your feet together, lift your top knee against the resistance of the band. Lower under control. Do all your reps on one side, then switch.

Do This Leg Workout At Home To Strengthen Your Lower Body

Nick Harris-Fry — Mon, 31 Oct 2022 15:48:10 +0000

We’re confident that Coach has workouts that will suit everyone. Whatever your fitness goals are, whatever your current level of fitness and experience is, and whatever equipment and space you have available, there’s a workout for you on this website. Legs workouts, home workouts, bodyweight workouts… we’ve got it all.

However, it’s rare that we come across a single session that suits just about everyone. So when the team at activewear brand Sundried shared this home leg workout, we were all too happy to pass it on to you.

You’ll work through three sets of each exercise in the workout, hitting your legs and glutes particularly hard, but also working your core. It can be done just about anywhere, since all but one of the exercises are bodyweight moves, and the odd one out can be done with any DIY weight (we’ve taken to using a couple of bricks that were lying about the garden).

If you have some free weights hanging around, it’s easy to incorporate them to make the workout harder. Other ways of making the workout harder include slowing the movements down so your muscles spend more time under tension, and limiting the amount of rest you give yourself between sets.

You’ll find full descriptions of all the exercises and details on sets, reps and rest below, but Sundried has also put together this handy infographic to show the workout, so if you know how to do the moves already you can start rattling them off.

(Image credit: Sundried)

Nine-Move Leg Workout At Home

1 Squat

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Sets 3 Reps 10

Targets Quads, hamstrings and glutes

Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Keeping your chest up and back straight throughout, bend your knees and lower, pushing your hips back until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Then drive through your heels to return to standing.

2 Lunge

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Sets 3 Reps 10 each side

Targets Quads, hamstrings and glutes

From standing, take a big step forwards with your right foot and lower until both your knees are bent at 90°. Push back up through your right foot to standing. Do all your reps on one leg, then switch to the other.

3 Pistol squat (or single-leg box squat)

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Sets 3 Reps 10 each side

Targets Quads, hamstrings and glutes

The pistol squat is perhaps the toughest bodyweight variation of the squat. Stand on one leg and drop into a deep squat, pointing the raised leg out straight out in front of you.

If you can’t do this, don’t worry – it’s really tough. Instead do a single-leg box squat. Stand close to but facing away from a box or any surface that’s around 40cm off the ground and can take your weight. Lift one leg in front of you and slowly sit back into a squat until you’re sitting on the box, then stand back up. Do all your reps on one leg, then switch to the other.

4 Good morning

(Image credit: iStock / Getty Images Plus)

Sets 3 Reps 10

Targets Hamstrings and glutes

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your hands behind your head. Bend forwards, hinging at the hips, until you feel a slight stretch in your hamstrings, then reverse the movement to stand back up.

5 Donkey kick

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Sets 3 Reps 10 each side

Targets Hamstrings and glutes

Get on all fours with your hands under your shoulders and your knees on the floor under your hips. Engage your core and lift one leg behind you, keeping your knee bent so the sole of your foot ends up facing the ceiling. Bring your leg back down slowly. Do all your reps on one leg, then switch.

6 Side lunge

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Sets 3 Reps 10 each side

Targets Abductors

From standing take a big step to one side and lower until the knee on your leading leg is bent at 90°, keeping your trailing leg straight. Push back up to standing. Do all your reps on one side, then switch.

7 Calf raise

(Image credit: iStock / Getty Images Plus)

Sets 3 Reps 10

Targets Hamstrings and glutes

From standing, raise your heels off the ground until you are standing on your toes, then lower under control.

8 Glute bridge

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Sets 3 Reps 10

Targets Hamstrings and glutes

Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet planted close to your glutes. Raise your hips until you form a straight line with your body from your knees to your neck, pause for a moment, then lower back to the start.

9 Stiff-leg deadlift

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Sets 3 Reps 10

Targets Hamstrings and glutes

You’ll need some kind of weight for this one, whether that’s a set of dumbbells or a DIY alternative. Stand holding a weight in each hand with your knees slightly bent. Keep this slight bend in your knees throughout. Bend at the hips to lower the weights, keeping them close to your legs and your back straight. When you feel a stretch in your hamstrings, slowly straighten back up.

More Leg Workouts For Home

The home workout above is a great way to get acquainted with most of the best leg exercises and start strengthening your lower body. Once you’ve mastered the moves involved, we have a wide variety of other leg workouts for you to try.

This leg workout for women comes from female-focused app Shreddy and it’s a single-leg session that will benefit men too.

If you’re a dedicated gym-goer who camps out in the squat rack, don’t think there are no home leg workouts worth your time. This home workout to improve your back squat will develop your mobility, movement, strength and co-ordination. All you need is a tea towel, a water bottle and a smooth floor.

If you have small looped resistance bands, try this resistance band glutes workout. If you don’t have that type of band, pick up a set ASAP – our selection of the best resistance bands has options for all budgets.

Anyone who plays sport will know the value of a strong lower body, and we have some dedicated leg workouts designed to help support your training. This leg workout for runners uses unilateral moves to help both sides of your lower body grow stronger evenly.

We also have leg workouts for football players, one of which builds strength using heavy weights, while the other develops your speed using a large looped resistance band and a TRX, both of which are worthwhile additions to your home gym. Browse our top picks of the best suspension trainers if you don’t have one already.

Finally, our leg workout for tennis players is made up of bodyweight exercises and has six levels of difficulty so it can be matched to most abilities.

Burn Fat And Build Muscle With Just Four Moves

Lucy Gornall — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 19:51:37 +0000

The jury is still out as to whether you can burn fat and build muscle at the same time, but someone who firmly believes you can is Ollie Campbell, PT and founder of Priority6, a fat loss and CrossFit facility in Oxfordshire.

“Many people who want to achieve fat loss find the right method is presented as strength vs cardio,” says Campbell. “But some people don’t like the feeling of just doing weight training as it doesn’t get them out of breath, while others don’t like the thought of endless cardio and fear the loss of muscle mass. Somewhere in the middle lies a combination of the two that ticks all the boxes.”

Campbell’s approach combines higher-rep strength exercises with power-based movements and some cardiovascular movement thrown in for good measure. “There’s the potential to build muscle tissue via an increase in load and time under tension, athletic development from the power movements, targeted isolation movements for more volume in areas we want to build extra muscle in, and then the cardio to blast the lungs and increase the EPOC [excess post-exercise oxygen consumption] of the session,” he says.

Here, Campbell has used his formula to devise an exclusive four-move fat loss leg workout for Coach. It’s a session for the gym unless your home set-up features a leg extension machine and a cardio machine.

Fat-Loss Leg Workout

Campbell recommends spending 15 minutes warming up with light sets of squats and on the leg extension machine, building up to a weight that makes it hard to complete 20 reps.

Start with three rounds of the below in week one, progress to four rounds in week two and finish with five rounds in week three.

1 Barbell squat / dumbbell squat

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Reps 20

Either hold dumbbells by your shoulders or place a barbell across your back. Stand with your feet just wider than hip-width apart, keep your core engaged and back flat, and push your hips back to lower into a squat. Drive up through your heels.

2 Broad jump

Reps 6

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, maintaining a slight bend in your knees. Keep your arms by your sides with your chin tucked in. Engage your core and, keeping a flat back, lower into a quarter squat. Push through your heels and explode forwards, swinging your arms forwards to generate momentum. Land as softly as you can on both feet, bending your knees and finishing in a squat.

3 Leg extension

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Reps 20

Leg extension machines can differ so be sure to read the instructions on the model in your gym. Once seated in the machine with the weight selected, extend your legs using your quads, stopping just before you lock your knee out. Slowly lower the weight back to the start.

4 BikeErg

(Image credit: Getty Images / iStock / Getty Images Plus)

Time 60sec

You can use a BikeErg or your cardio machine of choice. Work flat-out for the duration.

More Workouts

Fat-loss workouts: five circuits to build muscle
The leg workout to build bigger legs fast

This Home Ballet Workout Strengthens Your Inner Thighs

Lucy Gornall — Tue, 16 Aug 2022 17:51:18 +0000

Most home legs workouts use a combination of squats and lunges, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but a good home legs workout routine will throw in a fresh challenge every once in a while to stop your exercise becoming one-dimensional. For instance, you could swap squats for pliés, the movement that features in this ballet workout from Sarah Aspinall, ballet teacher and founder of Breaking Ballet.

A plié is similar to a squat, but your legs are turned out at the hip. That way it targets muscles in your legs and glutes that aren’t worked as hard in regular squats, especially your inner thighs (although the sumo squat variation is one of our favourite inner thigh exercises).

“Pliés also offer the added bonus of opening up your hips and helping to improve your range of movement,” says Aspinall. “It’s a beginner-friendly exercise that also improves core stability, posture and flexibility. The turned-out position from the hip also creates an imbalance that forces you to adapt your position in order to not fall over, which helps to improve balance.”

And as Aspinall pointed out to us, working on range of motion and flexibility are things men are often guilty of neglecting.

For this ballet-inspired workout, Aspinall has programmed a series of floor-based and standing movements. “Focus on engaging your inner thighs throughout this workout,” says Aspinall, “and especially before you stand up and complete your plié workout – you are going to find your ballet muscles on the mat.”

To help you get to grips with the plié, watch this plié workout from Aspinall’s YouTube channel, then read on for an exclusive session Aspinall shared with Coach.

Home Ballet Workout Section 1: Floor Movements

Complete the first four moves lying on your right side, then return to the start and complete them all on your left side.

1 Leg lift

Reps 16

Lie on your right side with your elbow under your shoulder, ensuring you don’t let your shoulder slouch. Bend your left leg and place your foot on the floor behind your right leg so your knee is pointing at the ceiling. Your right leg should be extended. Lift and lower your right leg, leading the movement with your heel. Concentrate on using your inner thigh to move your leg.

2 L-shape

Reps 16

Staying in the same position, repeat the lift and lower with your right leg, but between lifts, move your leg forwards as though you are drawing an L with your big toe. Each L-shape is one rep.

3 Leg lift pulse

Reps 16

The final exercise in this position is a pulse at the top of the leg lift. Try to pulse your leg as high as you can without sitting back on your bottom.

4 Leg squeeze

Reps 16

Lie on your right side with your right arm extended and on the floor, resting your head on your arm. You can place your left hand on the floor in front of you for balance. Lift your left leg as high as you can, then lift your right leg to meet the left. Engage your inner thigh muscles to draw the lower leg towards the top leg. Focus on keeping your top leg in a raised position to get the most out of this exercise.

Remember to return to the start and repeat these four movements on the other side.

5 Lying plié

Reps 16

Lie on your back with your legs extended and pointing at the ceiling. Flex your feet and then rotate your legs out at the hip so your heels are together and your toes are pointing to the sides. Keeping your legs extended, lower them until they’re at 45°; if you feel the small of your back lifting off the floor, lift your legs a little higher. Keeping your heels together, bend your knees to create a diamond shape between your legs. As you straighten your legs, squeeze your inner thighs together.

Home Ballet Workout Section 2: Standing Movements

Remember to use your inner thighs throughout this workout and keep your tailbone pointing down towards your heels for the standing pliés.

“If you experience any discomfort in your knees, check you are tracking your knees over your middle toes and take a shallower bend in your knees if necessary,” says Aspinall. “This isn’t cheating – it’s working out smarter.”

6 Standing plié pulse

Reps 16

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Point your toes around 45° (if you can go wider that’s great, but be careful). Hold your arms out to the sides at shoulder height (this is called second position) and engage your core. Bend your knees, ensuring your knees are tracking over your second and third toes, and keep your back straight. Staying down in your plié, pulse up and down just one inch. Each pulse is one rep. The smaller you keep this movement, the bigger the burn!

7 Plié pulse with heel lift

Reps 16 each side

Staying down in your plié, raise your right heel and continue to pulse up and down. Try to stay as low as you can in your plié without sticking your bottom out. Keep your tailbone pointing down between your heels.

8 Plié pulse with alternating heel lift

Reps 8 each side

Staying down in your plié, raise your right heel and as you pulse up and down, and alternate from one heel to the other. Your weight should remain in the centre (don’t transfer your weight over one leg or the other) and your plié should be as deep as you can take it while maintaining good posture.

9 Plié hold with heel lift

Time 16sec

Time to test your balance. Stay in your plié and raise your heels off the floor so you are balancing on the balls of your feet and remain there for a count of 16. Keep your knees pointing over your middle toes and engage your core. Don’t forget to breathe!

10 Plié pulse with heel lift

Reps 16

Remain in the same position with your heels off the floor and very carefully pulse your knees as you did in the second exercise. This is quite challenging now you have your heels off the floor so, if necessary, hold the back of a chair to begin with while you are improving your balance. Remember, keep your core pulled in tight and focus your eyeline to help with your balance.

This 10-Minute Legs Workout Is The Ultimate Burn Out

Lucy Gornall — Tue, 22 Mar 2022 06:46:06 +0000

You may think 10 minutes isn’t long enough for a session that hits your legs hard enough to leave you wobbling like Bambi. For that, you need this kind of legs workout which requires a gym’s weights machines – right? Not necessarily so, as this deceptively tough routine shows. It’s been programmed by personal trainer Jacqui Ward, who has more than 15 years of experience, and it shows in this innovative format.

“The idea is you ‘layer’ the exercises up,” says Ward. “This requires your muscles to work in an endurance training zone. Your heart rate will spike and your legs will burn out.” Sounds ideal!

All you need are some weights – a pair of dumbbells are perfect – and you’re good to go. We’ll start with the sequence of moves and rest, then detail the form for each exercise further down. If it gives you a taste for short, sharp sessions, try these 10-minute workouts next.

10-Minute Legs Workout

In this format, you do each exercise in a round for 30 seconds, and another exercise is added each round. Rest for 30 seconds at the end of each round.

Round 1

(Image credit: Getty Images / FG Trade)

Jump squat – 30sec
Rest – 30sec

Round 2

Jump squat – 30sec
Dumbbell squat – 30sec
Rest – 30sec

Round 3

Jump squat – 30sec
Dumbbell squat – 30sec
Dumbbell reverse lunge – 30sec
Rest – 30sec

Round 4

Jump squat – 30sec
Dumbbell squat – 30sec
Dumbbell reverse lunge – 30sec
Jump lunge – 30sec
Rest – 30sec

Round 5

Jump squat – 30sec
Dumbbell squat – 30sec
Dumbbell reverse lunge – 30sec
Glute bridge – 30sec
Rest – 30sec

Form Guides

Jump squat

Stand upright with your feet hip-width apart. Keeping your back flat throughout, engage your core, then push your hips back and bend your knees to lower into a squat. Once your thighs are parallel to the floor, or as close as you can get to that position, push up through your heels explosively to jump straight up. Land softly and go straight into the next rep.

Dumbbell squat

(Image credit: Getty Images / danchooalex)

Stand with your feet hip-width apart, resting dumbbells on your shoulders with your elbows pointing forwards. Keep your chest up and back flat as you push your hips back and bend your knees to lower until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Push through your heels to rise.

Dumbbell reverse lunge

Stand tall, resting dumbbells on your shoulders. Step back with your left foot and bend your knees to lower until your front thigh is parallel to the floor and your back knee is hovering just above the floor. Push through your front heel to return to standing. Alternate legs each rep.

Jump lunge

Stand in a split stance, with one foot and the opposite arm in front of your body and the other foot and arm behind. Bend your elbows to 90° and engage your core. Bend your knees to lower into a lunge, ensuring your front knee stays directly above your ankle, then drive up explosively to jump. Switch the position of your legs and arms in mid-air so what was the rear foot lands in front of you and vice versa. Alternate sides with each jump.

Glute bridge

(Image credit: iStock / Getty Images Plus / Aleksandr Kondratov)

Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Keeping your back flat, squeeze your glutes and raise your hips until your thighs and torso form a straight line. Lower under control.

Use This Lower-Body Strength Workout To Minimise Injury

Sam Rider — Tue, 08 Mar 2022 07:11:33 +0000

Gus Morrison prefers to keep patients off his rehab table. The London-based physiotherapist and strength and conditioning coach of Technique Health and Fitness specialises in using benchmark testing to get his clients back to full fitness – and staying in that state.

Here, he’s picked out three lower-body exercises that test the hips, knees and ankles – along with a number of reps to target for each – and he urges everyone to incorporate them into their regular workouts to stay injury-free.

“These three exercises target triple extension through the hips, knees and ankles,” Morrison explains to Coach. “Almost every sport movement, whether running, jumping or turning, and a lot of day-to-day tasks, such as walking, getting out of a chair and ascending or descending stairs, requires adequate levels of strength in these movements.”

Insufficient levels of such strength, he says, is a common cause of injury, but one that can be easily avoided. Morrison suggests including these exercises in your regular workouts to gradually build up your strength, then once a month performing the specific tests outlined below.

If you don’t have a set routine at the moment, explore a range of leg workouts, including a leg-day workout for the gym, a home legs workout and knee-strengthening exercises.

Lower-Body Strength Workout

Try these tests to gauge your lower-body strength. Aim to perform as many reps as possible for each one, stopping when you can’t do any more or your technique breaks down. Record the number of reps you achieved for each as your baseline score. To improve your score, Morrison suggests adding these exercises to your regular workouts.

“To start with, break up each target number of reps across three to four sets,” he says. “For example, the target reps for the single-leg hamstring bridge is 25, so begin with four sets of six single-leg hamstring bridges on each side. Next week, progress this to three sets of eight, then two sets of 12 and eventually shoot for one full set of 25.”

Morrison has based the target number on various studies which showed they helped reduce injury risk, but ultimately your unique baseline score is a better sign of progress. Set your score, build up your strength, then repeat the test. As long as those numbers are going up, your risk of injury will be going down.

1 Single-leg calf raise

Target reps 25 each side Tempo 1sec up, 1sec down

Use a wall or chair for balance and stand on one leg with your knee straight. Slowly rise onto your toes as far as you can, engaging the muscles in your calf, then slowly lower back to the start. Complete as many reps as you can on one leg, then on the other leg to give you a baseline score for each side.

Morrison says: “Research by Australian Ballet found dancers who could not do 25 calf raises reported ankle pain in the previous six months. Since introducing calf-strengthening exercises, they observed a significant decrease in all types of foot and ankle injuries ranging from sprains to fractures.”

2 Single-leg hamstring bridge

Target reps 25 each side Tempo 1sec up, 1sec down

Lie face up on the floor, with your feet elevated on a chair or bench and knees bent slightly more than 90°. Keep one leg raised and the heel of the other foot pressed down as you drive your hips up to full extension so that shoulders, hips and knees are in alignment. Lower under control, keeping the other leg raised, and repeat. Again, perform all reps on one side, then switch.

Morrison says: “A 2013 study on Australian Rules football players found that those who couldn’t do more than 20 reps per side were more likely to sustain a future injury than those who could do 25 reps or more.”

3 Single-leg sit-to-stand

Target reps 22 each side Tempo 1sec up, 1sec down

Stand in front of a chair or bench with one leg raised off the floor. Sit your hips back as you lower your bum to gently tap the chair, then drive back up to stand. Try to maintain your balance throughout but don’t worry if you need to stabilise occasionally with the other foot. Perform all reps on one side, then the other, to give you your baseline scores.

Morrison says: “In a study of patients rehabilitating after knee-ligament reconstruction, those who could do at least 22 single-leg sit-to-stand reps recorded far better knee-related quality of life at one and three years post-op.”

This Dumbbell Legs Workout Is A 500 Rep Lower-Body Blaze

Lucy Gornall — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 07:14:16 +0000

Never skip leg day, they say, but it’s ever so easy to – especially if your legs workout involves lots of equipment and you can only get to the gym when it’s too busy to guarantee you’ll get hold of the kit you need. In that event, just secure a set of dumbbells and sub in this spicy session. It will work every muscle in your lower body, while also developing power and muscular endurance.

The workout is simple: do 100 reps of five lower-body moves.

How you split this is up to you, but we recommend doing 20 reps of each move, back to back, and repeating that sequence five times in total.

Aim to rest as little as possible. You want to keep your lower-body muscles under tension for as sustained a period as possible.

As to how heavy a dumbbell you should choose, feel free to mix up the weights if you have a well-stocked dumbbell rack to yourself. However, if your gym (or home dumbbell selection) lacks choice, pick one that offers resistance without causing you to move at a snail’s pace.

1 Dumbbell squat

(Image credit: Getty Images / danchooalex)

Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding dumbbells by your shoulders. Keep your gaze forwards, chest up and back flat as you push your hips back and bend your knees to lower until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Push through your heels to rise.

2 Dumbbell reverse lunge

Stand holding dumbbells, either by your sides or by your shoulders – whichever you find more comfortable while performing the following. Step back with your left foot and bend your knees to lower until your front thigh is parallel to the floor and your back knee is hovering above the floor. Then push through your front heel to return to standing. Alternate legs with each rep.

3 Dumbbell deadlift

Stand with your feet hip-width apart and a slight bend in your knees, holding dumbbells with an overhand grip in front of your thighs. Engage your core and push your hips back, lowering your torso so the dumbbells travel down the front of your body. When the weights reach the middle of your shins, pause, then push through your heels to rise. Squeeze your glutes at the top of the move.

4 Dumbbell lunge

(Image credit: Getty Images / Jackyenjoyphotography)

Repeat the movement detailed above, but take a step forwards instead of back. The forward lunge places a little more emphasis on your quads, while the reverse asks more of your hamstrings and glutes.

5 Dumbbell swing

Stand upright holding a dumbbell in both hands, hands together and feet shoulder-width apart. With a flat back and soft knees, using a thrusting movement from the hips, swing the dumbbell up to eye level, then lower back to the start. Push your hips back again as you do, then thrust them forwards again to swing the dumbbell back up. If you find it too easy with one dumbbell, you can use two.

The Leg Workout To Build Bigger Legs Fast

Joe Warner — Tue, 11 Jan 2022 04:41:09 +0000

Leg day is approached with trepidation by many gym-goers and with good reason. Not only is a leg workout itself one of the toughest you’ll tackle in any given week, but the days afterwards tend to be a struggle as well, as you stagger around in the grip of DOMS.

However, leg exercises are an essential part of any good gym routine. Compound exercises like squats, lunges and deadlifts are the key moves for building the functional strength that’s fit to excel in the gym, when playing sports and in everyday life. They also get the heart pumping and burn boatloads of calories, increasing your cardiovascular fitness as well as your strength.

For your next leg workout try this six-move workout. It focuses on the quads, hamstrings, glutes and core to help you build useful muscle mass in your lower body. The workout is made up of two straight sets followed by two supersets, where you do the exercises back to back with hardly any rest.

The two supersets in this leg workout bring different benefits to the table. In the first you complete a pair of isolation moves, the first hitting your hamstrings and the second your quads. Pairing moves that work opposing muscles like this is called an antagonistic superset and allows you to work with little rest while giving one set of muscles a break, increasing the cardio benefits of the session. The second superset – two compound exercises done with very little rest in between – is all about hitting as many muscles as possible and ramping up your heart rate for a brutal finish to the workout.

Follow the sets, reps and rest instructions below to the letter for a terrific leg workout. Then have yourself a nice sit-down.

How To Do This Leg Workout

This six-move session is made up of two straight sets and two supersets. Do exercise 1, sticking to the sets, reps and rest shown, then do all reps of exercise 2. After resting, do moves 3A and 3B as a superset: so 10 reps of the seated hamstring curl, rest for 30 seconds, 10 reps of the seated leg extension, rest for 60 seconds, then repeat that sequence a total of four times. Take the same superset approach for 4A and 4B to shock your legs into growing bigger and stronger.

Warm-up

The workout below is made up of taxing compound lifts which should be done using challenging weights if you want to get the most out of the session, so taking the time to warm up thoroughly is vital. Not only will this reduce your risk of injury and ensure you start the first working set ready to perform at your best, it might also lessen your post-leg day DOMS. Now there’s an incentive.

Start with some dynamic stretches to get your muscles moving – here’s a great warm-up routine that will get your whole body primed for action. From there you need to do some workout-specific movements, which will target the muscles you’re about to use. The easiest way to do this is to run through a few sets of the exercise you will be doing, using light weights or no weights at all.

For this leg workout, it’s worth devoting some time to light deadlifts as you warm up since that’s the first move you will be doing. You don’t want to go in cold to a proper set of deadlifts. Do several sets, gradually increasing the weight of each warm-up set and reducing the reps, doing mobility work in the rest periods between sets. Build up until the next increase takes you to your working weight – then hit the workout proper.

1 Deadlift

(Image credit: Photograph: Glen Burrows. Model: Olly Foster)

Sets 5 Reps 8 Rest 60sec

Why It’s the classic big lift for all-over muscle

How Stand tall with the barbell in front of you, then squat down and grasp it with an overhand grip. Keeping your chest up and core braced, press down through your heels to stand up. Push your hips forwards at the top, then lower.

2 Leg press

(Image credit: Photograph: Glen Burrows. Model: Olly Foster)

Sets 5 Reps 8 Rest 60sec

Why Work your quads and hamstrings hard and safely

How Sit in the leg press machine positioned correctly according to the instructions. Place your feet lower and closer together to work your quads more, or higher and wider to hit your hamstrings and glutes more directly. Bend your knees to bring them towards your chest, then press back to the start.

Superset 1

This first superset will hit your hamstrings and quads hard. Because these two major muscles will be thoroughly warmed up from the first two straight sets, try to go as heavy as you can while maintaining correct form and completing all the reps. Go slow on the eccentric part of the move, where you return to the start, to work your muscles even harder.

3A Seated hamstring curl

(Image credit: Photograph: Glen Burrows. Model: Olly Foster)

Sets 4 Reps 10 Rest 30sec

Why It isolates the backs of your thighs to fatigue more muscle fibres

How Position yourself correctly with your legs straight and the padded bar against your lower leg. Squeeze your hamstrings to bring your heels towards you, then return to the start.

3B Seated leg extension

(Image credit: Photograph: Glen Burrows. Model: Olly Foster)

Sets 4 Reps 10 Rest 60sec

Why It isolates your quads so you can go heavy

How Position yourself correctly with your knees bent and the padded bar against your shins. Raise your feet to straighten your legs, then squeeze your quads at the top. Lower back to the start position slowly to increase the tension on the target muscles.

Superset 2

This final superset comprises two high-rep moves to target and fatigue as many muscle fibres as possible so you end the session with your heart rate soaring. If you struggle to hit the rep target, lift lighter or finish each set with bodyweight reps.

4A Dumbbell lunge

(Image credit: Photograph: Glen Burrows. Model: Olly Foster)

Sets 3 Reps 8 each side Rest 30sec

Why This works all your lower leg muscles as well as your abs and lower back

How Stand tall, holding a dumbbell in each hand. With your chest up and core braced, take a big step forwards with your left leg and lunge down until both knees are bent at 90°. Push off your front foot to return to the start, then repeat with your right leg. Alternate your leading leg with each rep.

4B Dumbbell squat

(Image credit: Photograph: Glen Burrows. Model: Olly Foster)

Sets 3 Reps 15 Rest 60sec

Why It targets your glutes and abs as well as your quads and hams

How Stand tall, holding a dumbbell in each hand. With your chest up and core braced, bend at your hips and knees to squat down as deep as you can without rounding your back. Push down through your heels to stand back up and return to the start position.

Leg Workout FAQs

How often should you train your legs?

“I’ll begin with how often the average person should train their legs if they want to achieve a lean, muscular physique with a low body fat percentage, as part of a balanced, strength training-focused workout programme,” says personal trainer Emily Servante, global trainer education manager at Ultimate Performance.

“Three days a week is the absolute minimum frequency of strength training one should do when seeking results quickly. For people who lead busy, highly stressed lives, this level of frequency creates the right balance between stimulus and recovery.

“For beginners or anyone with less than six to 12 months of training experience, a full-body routine would be the best option. You can do this by alternating between two different workouts, A + B, which both include moves that will train your upper and lower body.

“In this scenario, you alternate workouts A + B, working out three times a week. Effectively, you would be working your legs three times a week as part of a full-body routine. If you’re a beginner, you should start to see significant muscle gains in your legs within four weeks, particularly if you are progressively overloading [gradually increasing the weight or reps] with each workout.”

“Anyone with more training experience can use a body-part split. One of the most effective three-times-a-week routines is to alternate between upper and lower body – especially if you’re male and chasing muscle mass.

“For many of my clients who progress through the first phase of full-body training three times a week, a popular progression is to then use a cross-body split. Workout A would consist of upper-body pushing (chest, shoulders, triceps) and lower-body pulling (glutes, hamstrings).

Workout B would consist of upper-body pulling (back, biceps) and lower-body pushing (quads).

“A third workout of the week could then either concentrate on full-body exercises, or you could add in a specialisation workout – for example if you love training your legs, you can add in a legs and glutes workout. In this scenario, you would effectively be training your legs three times a week.”

If this approach piques your interest, Servante has supplied a cross-body plan, which we added to our selection of push/pull workouts.

“Training four times a week is the sweet spot for many people with normal genetics and recovery capabilities. In that case an upper/lower body split works really well. In this scenario, you would perform upper-body workouts twice a week, and train your lower body twice a week.

“If you want to train four times a week, a good workout split might look something like this:

Monday – upper body

Tuesday – lower body

Thursday – upper body

Friday – lower body

“Everyone has different recovery capabilities, and listening to your body trumps prescriptive rules about how often you should train a particular body part every time. However, at Ultimate Performance, we generally recommend that you don’t train the same body part on consecutive days.”

Workout Tips For Building Bigger Legs

This workout is a great way to bulk up your lower body, but if you’re looking to develop a keener understanding of effective leg training, we’ve pulled together some key pointers for how to build bigger legs. For anyone who’s short on time, here’s the tl:dr version.

Train fast – explosive movements can build leg muscle more quickly.
Do unilateral moves – maintain balance in your body by working one side at a time.
Isolate the muscles – isolation exercises can increase muscle definition.
Stabilise – don’t neglect stabiliser muscles, because they are key to performing heavy lifts safely and effectively.
Use resistance bands – banded exercises can help you warm up and increase the difficulty of big lifts.
Work your glutes – strong glutes are vital for building bigger legs. Add these glute exercises to your routine
Don’t neglect your calf muscles – use calf raises and other calf exercises to ensure your lower legs aren’t left out.

Leg Workouts For The Gym

Stefanie Moir's leg day workout

This session from Stefanie Moir uses free weights and resistance machines to test your leg strength, and throws in pulses to increase the challenge of unweighted squats, too. See the leg day workout

Maro Itoje’s leg workout

This workout used by England rugby union star Maro Itoje was shared with us in 2017 has stood the test of time, mixing compound exercises with lesser spotted moves like the front-foot elevated split squat. See Maro Itoje’s leg workout

A booty workout from fitness app SHREDDY

When you want to grow your glutes and nothing but your glorious glutes, try this taster of SHREDDY’s booty-building training plan. See the booty workout

Leg Workouts For Home

Nine-move leg workout at home

There’s something for everyone in this mostly bodyweight session (only one move requires a weight and you can use anything in your house which is heavy enough) – even the impressively fit, since there’s the option to throw a pistol squat into proceedings. Thankfully there’s an easier option for us mortals. See the leg workout at home

The ultimate resistance band glute workout

If you’ve hit the limit of what you can achieve with your own bodyweight, buy yourself a small-looped resistance band and take it for a spin with this four-move workout. Keep tension in the band throughout each 30-second work period for a serious challenge. See the resistance band glute workout

Home workout to improve your back squat

Committed gym-goers can still find a home workout is time well spent. This session will develop your mobility, movement, strength and co-ordination. PT Tom Cherry, who programmed the session for us, says it “will help improve your squatting control”. See the home workout to improve your back squat

Leg Workouts For Runners, Footballers And Tennis Players

Leg strength workout for runners

After your next easy run, go straight into this six-move session made up of single-leg exercises, which makes sure a dominant side isn’t doing the majority of the work. See the leg workout for runners

Leg workout for footballers

Trainer Bradley Simmonds, who has worked with Theo Walcott and John Terry among others, shared two workouts: a strength routine that requires a dumbbell, and a speed session for which you’ll need a large looped resistance band and suspension trainer. See the leg workout for footballers

Leg workout for tennis players

The LTA’s lead strength and conditioning coach shared this scalable session with us. It has six levels of difficulty so anyone can use it to develop their leg strength. See the leg workout for tennis players

The Ultimate Resistance Band Glute Workout

Nick Harris-Fry — Tue, 09 Nov 2021 05:43:46 +0000

No matter how strong you are, resistance bands can deliver a truly testing glute workout. Looping a band around your legs and keeping tension in it as you perform glute exercises and leg workouts significantly increases the demands on your muscles, and it takes no time at all to build up a serious burn in your bum.

This quick resistance band workout has been created by Katie Anderson, head of training at FLY LDN, and it’s a taster of what you can expect from the Bootycamp classes at the studio.

“Place a resistance band just above your knees, put on a fun playlist with your favourite workout songs and do each exercise for 30 seconds,” says Anderson. “Take a break between rounds. Repeat as many times as you like for a dedicated glute workout, or use it as an addition to your strength workout and complete once.”

If you haven’t got the required equipment already, our round-up of the best resistance bands will help you find the right set for you. If you buy a large looped band too you’ll also be able to add this resistance band workout to your routine.

1 Banded crab walk

(Image credit: Getty Images / Stevica Mrdja / EyeEm)

Time 30sec

Stand with your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart and the band just above your knees, ensuring your knees are in line with your feet and there is a significant amount of tension on the band. Lower into a squat position as you step out to the side, then take half a step in with the other leg. You should be moving one leg at a time slowly, ensuring your upper body stays still. Take two more steps to one side, then reverse to your starting point. Repeat on the other side. Aim to make sure that tension remains in the band.

2 Banded crab walk with jump

Time 30sec

Repeat the banded crab walk, but after each step add a jump squat, swinging your arms to generate momentum. Land softly, lower into the squat position and take another step.

3 Banded in-and-out jump squat

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Time 30sec

Move the resistance band up so it sits on your thighs. Stand with your feet hip-width apart, lower into a squat, then rise into a low jump, landing with your feet wide. Squat, then jump and land with your feet hip-width apart.

4 Fast feet

Time 30sec

With the resistance band still around your thighs, lower into a squat position and start lifting your feet off the floor, one at a time, alternating at pace. Stay predominantly on the balls of your feet.

Five Minutes Of Fire Legs Workout Challenge

Jake Stones — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 14:56:14 +0000

Next time you’ve finished a session in the gym or ended a run and feel like you’ve got a little left to give, give this lower-body finisher a whirl. Of course, it doesn’t have to be a workout finisher, we just think you may want to have a bit of a sit down afterwards. The routine – created by Beth Thayne – is only five minutes, but we bet that you’ll decide that’s more than long enough before you’ve even reached halfway.

“It’s five minutes of fire focused on your glutes, quads and core,” says Thayne. “You start by doing squat jumps for 50 seconds and a beast hold for ten. Then after each round you alter both by ten seconds – it’ll always add up to one minute of work. Eventually, you’ll be doing ten seconds of squat jumps and 50 seconds of the beast hold.

“The aim is to do the squat jumps continuously and then go straight into the beast hold. This means no rest, which keeps your pulse high and works on your endurance.

“It burns like hell and the quads take the biggest hit, with the glutes also getting heavily involved. The whole workout relies on the core throughout. It’s five minutes of solid work.”

The Exercises

Jump squat

Stand with feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and your toes pointed out slightly. Squat down so that your knees are at a 90° angle, then push through your heels and jump straight up. Land on both feet and go straight into the next rep.

“Keep the landing soft and make the process of jumping, landing and jumping again one continuous movement,” says Thayne.

Beast hold

Get on your hands and knees, with your arms extended, hands underneath your shoulders and knees underneath your hips. Tuck your toes and lift your knees just off the ground. Hold this position.

“For an added challenge, you can try the three- or two-point beast hold. Lift one foot off the ground, or one foot and the opposite hand.”

The Workout

Round	Jump squat	Beast hold
1	50sec	10sec
2	40sec	20sec
3	30sec	30sec
4	20sec	40sec
5	10sec	50sec

More Legs Workouts

The Best Quad Workout To Build Up The Front Of Your Legs

Joel Snape — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 18:33:10 +0000

The quads are not tricky to target with your legs workouts. They’re the main muscles used to squat, perhaps the most popular exercise of all, so anyone who trains is likely to be working the quads regularly.

However, in a strange way that can actually mean you end up neglecting the quads to an extent, because they form a large muscle group with four heads and require more than squatting to target fully. Ideally you want to use a range of quad exercises to work the muscles from different angles using both isolation and compound moves with a variety of rep ranges.

This four-move workout is all about the quads, and if you’re used to only working your thighs through squats, trust us when we tell you that you’ll wake up the day after this session with DOMS in parts of your quads you’ve never noticed before.

1 Front squat

(Image credit: Unknown)

Sets 4 Reps 6-8 Rest 2min

Take a “clean” grip, hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Position the bar on your collarbone and drive your elbows upwards. Un-rack the bar, and take two steps back. Check your stance is even with feet just outside shoulder width. Take a deep breath, brace your core and lower under control into a full squat. Think “sitting between your heels”, rather than “sitting back”. Throughout the movement keep your elbows up and in to maintain the “shelf” for the barbell. Once you hit the bottom position, drive back up through the mid-foot until you reach the start.

2 Bulgarian split squat

(Image credit: Unknown)

Sets 3 Reps 8-10 Rest 90sec

Position yourself in a staggered stance with your rear foot elevated on a step or bench. Lower by bending at the knee and hip while keeping your torso upright. When you reach the bottom drive back up, extending your knee and hip to return to the start position.

3 Leg press

(Image credit: Unknown)

Sets 3 Reps 10-12 Rest 90sec

Position yourself on the leg press machine and place your feet on the platform shoulder-width apart. Slowly lower until your knees are bent at least at a 90° angle. Keeping your whole foot in contact with the platform, engage your quads to press the weight back up. Don’t lock out your knees at the top.

4 Leg extension

(Image credit: Unknown)

Sets 2 Reps 12-15 Rest 60sec

Sit up straight on the leg extension machine and imagine you have a seat belt around your waist pulling your hips down into the seat. Use your quads to initiate the movement and avoid “kicking” the weight up. Extend your legs fully and pause for one second at the top, then lower under control.

Workout Tips To Build Big Quads

Squat deep

All those quarter squats might be good for your ego, but they aren’t maxing out your quad development. The quads are mechanically advantaged at the top of the lift, which means it’s easier for them to move weight. So squat as deep as you can with good form. Working below parallel forces the quads to work far harder and causes much higher levels of activation than quarter squats.

Get one-legged

“Single-leg work is great for stimulating the vastus medialis oblique or VMO, the teardrop-shaped muscle on the inside of the thigh,” says body composition expert Tom MacCormick. “This is because the opposing leg isn’t there to help stabilise and keep you in position. Without the aid of the opposing leg the working leg requires the VMO to kick in to aid stability, correct knee tracking and maintain alignment.”

Extend and flex

“Don’t ignore the leg extension if quad growth is your goal,” says MacCormick. “It causes high levels of activation in the rectus femoris, which flexes the hip and the knee. During squats the hip extension movement opposes the hip flexion function of the rectus femoris and limits its activation. But in the leg extension no hip extension occurs, so the rectus femoris can achieve higher levels of activation.”

More Quad Workouts

Once you’ve done the workout above a quadzillion times, you can move on to these other excellent quad workouts to keep challenging your legs.

The Rock’s Leg Day Finisher

Dwayne Johnson has never skipped leg day in his life, and to showcase the type of training he does he shared this full-on finisher on Instagram. It involves doing four exercises back to back – a monster set, for when supersets no longer suffice. Those moves are the leg press, hack squat, chain lunge and dumbbell sumo squat, and The Rock does five rounds.

See the The Rock’s leg day finisher

Leg Workout For Quads

This testing five-move leg workout requires a variety of free weights and a suspension trainer, so it’s best done at a gym. The moves are a mix of squats, lunges and step-ups, with a suggested rep range of 10 to 15 in each set, using a weight that makes the last few reps of each set a challenge.

See the quad-focused leg workout

Legs Workout To Build Bigger Legs

As we mentioned above, all good leg workouts will challenge your quads, and this muscle-building session is perfect for anyone in need of leg day inspiration. It’s a six-move workout with two straight sets followed by two supersets, and all the major muscle groups in the lower-body get in on the action.

See the leg workout

Power Up Your Quads With This Leg Workout

Nick Harris-Fry — Thu, 20 Aug 2020 09:58:26 +0000

How’s your next leg day workout shaping up? If you’re in need of some inspiration, we have just the thing for you. This five-move quad workout from Amber Gamble, trainer at F45 Chelsea, is just the thing to put your lower body through its paces. Just be prepared to handle some DOMS in the subsequent days if you’ve been giving your legs an easy ride lately.

You’ll need a barbell, dumbbells and a suspension trainer for the workout, and with each move Gamble suggests using a weight that makes it a challenge to complete the final few reps of each set. Gamble also recommends a rep range of ten to 15, depending on your ability. We’ve gone with the lowest number below, but adjust as you wish or build up the reps over future sessions.

For more ways to spend leg day, try this gym legs workout, this quad workout, or to avoid walking afterwards, this home legs workout.

1 Front squat

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Sets 4 Reps 10

Set up with the bar resting on the top of your chest, holding it in an underhand grip – hands under the bar and palms facing up – with your elbows pointed forwards and raised as high as possible. Lower into a squat until your thighs are parallel to the ground, then drive through your heels back up to standing.

2 Weighted reverse lunge

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Sets 2 Reps 10 each side

Holding dumbbells by your sides, take a big step back and lower until both knees are bent at 90°, then push back up to standing.

3 Weighted step-up

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Sets 2 Reps 10 each side

Stand facing a platform a little lower than knee height. Holding dumbbells by your sides, step up onto the platform leading with your right foot. Then step back down, again leading with your right foot. Do all your reps on one side, then switch.

4 Split squat

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Sets 2 Reps 10 each side

Stand holding dumbbells by your sides or resting a barbell on the back of your shoulders. Take a big step forwards so your back heel is raised off the ground. Lower until your back knee almost touches the ground, then push back up. Stay in the split stance and complete all your reps on this side, then switch legs.

5 TRX pistol squat

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Sets 2 Reps 10 each side

Holding the handles of a suspension trainer, lower slowly on one leg, lifting and extending the other leg so it’s straight out in front of you as you reach the bottom position of the squat. Then push back up. Do all your reps on one leg, then switch.

Krissy Cela’s Bum Workout Will Have Feeling Your Best

Nick Harris-Fry — Thu, 16 Jan 2020 11:34:56 +0000

If you’re looking for a glutes workout purely for aesthetic reasons, then we have what you’re looking for right here – except that this training session brings a whole load of other benefits as well.

“Your glutes are the largest set of muscles in your body and are used for a range of functional movements,” says Cela. “When we fail to train our glutes effectively, our back and legs work harder to compensate, and this can lead to injury – it’s a reason why so many of us suffer from lower back pain. Training your glutes not only works your muscular system but your skeletal and cardiovascular system too, so not only do booty workouts have you looking your best, they’ll have you feeling your best too!”

This workout comes from Cela’s app, Tone & Sculpt, which is full of training sessions that you can do at home (if you have the right kit) or in the gym. For this session you’ll need a set of dumbbells and, if you don’t have a handy hill to climb for the warm-up, a treadmill set on an incline.

Warm-Up

Incline walking

(Image credit: Unknown)

Time 5min

Either find a hill and walk up it or set a treadmill at an incline to get your glutes going.

Workout

Take a 60-second break between sets and a two-minute break between exercises.

1 Donkey kick

(Image credit: Unknown)

Sets 4 Reps 12 each side

Start with your hands and knees on the floor. Keeping your right knee bent at 90°, lift your right knee behind you to hip level. Straighten your right leg, point your toes, then lower your foot to the floor. Lift your leg to hip height again, then bend your knee and return to the starting position. Complete all the reps on one side, then switch.

2 Dumbbell alternating step-up

(Image credit: Unknown)

Sets 3 Reps 12 each side

Stand in front of a raised platform, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Place your right foot on the platform and step up, engaging your quad and straightening your front leg. Step down carefully and repeat with the left leg. Continue alternating legs until you complete all the reps.

3 Standing straight-leg kick-back

(Image credit: Unknown)

Sets 3 Reps 12 each side

Stand straight with a slight bend in your knees and your hands on your hips for balance. Bend at your hips and kick one leg back behind you, keeping both legs straight as you do. Slowly return to the starting position. Alternate legs until you complete all the reps.

4 Frog pump

(Image credit: Unknown)

Sets 3 Reps 15

Lie on your back with your knees bent. Place your feet so your soles face each other. Lift your hips, the same way you would for a glute bridge, and squeeze your glutes at the top of the movement.

5 Alternating single glute bridge walk

(Image credit: Unknown)

Sets 3 Reps 12 each side

Lie on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground. Keep your arms at your sides with your palms down. Lift your hips off the ground until your knees, hips and shoulders form a straight line. Raise one leg off the ground, bring it back down, and then raise the other and bring it back down. Hold your bridged position for a couple more seconds, then ease back down.

6 Dumbbell hip thrust

(Image credit: Unknown)

Sets 4 Reps 12

Sit on the ground, resting your shoulders on a chair directly behind you. Place the dumbbell on your hips, using some sort of padding to avoid discomfort. Drive through your feet, pushing your hips up to raise the dumbbell. Your shoulders should remain on the chair at all times. Squeeze your glutes throughout the movement and scoop your hips in at the top. Slowly come back down to the starting position.

Finisher

1 Skipping

(Image credit: Unknown)

Time 10min

Round off your workout with ten minutes of skipping to get your heart pumping.

The Tone & Sculpt app is available from £13.99 on the App Store and Google Play