Couldn't leave the house to get to the gym so you thought you had to skip leg day? Think again! This five-move lower body workout can be done just about anywhere as it doesn't require any home gym equipment. Plus, it contains lots of compound movement to help you strengthen multiple muscles in your lower body, so you get more bang for your buck.
For those who aren't a fan of squats - we apologise in advance - as this workout does include different squat variations. Although, we're not that sorry, as they're one of the best exercises for your lower body. Not only does the squat pattern have great carryover to the way that we move in everyday life - like picking something off the floor and sitting down - but a study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research revealed that squats produced higher levels of testosterone and growth hormone, which means more gains.
For this workout by Fitness Coach, James Stirling, work your way through the five exercises below, completing 10 repetitions for each exercise (on single-leg exercises make sure you do 10 on both sides!). Rest for 20-30 seconds and try to complete three to four rounds. Once you're comfortable with the movements, you can try performing them with a pair of dumbbells or a kettlebell as the increased intensity will force your muscles to work harder, helping them to grow bigger and stronger (this is known as 'progressive overload'). Here are your exercises:
- Single leg Romanian deadlift
- Lateral lunge
- Squat pulses
- Single leg glute bridge
- Wide squat jumps
If you still want to stick with bodyweight workouts, then that's fine as we've got plenty of them. Give this five-move workout from Arnold Schwarzenegger (don't panic, it's not as hard as you think), or this squat-free six-move workout that will take you no longer than 25 minutes. Alternatively, if you do want to try and move onto using dumbbells, here's a three-move dumbbell workout that'll take just 20 minutes.
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Build unshakeable core strength with a kettlebell and these three exercisesAdd this to the end of your workout to fire up your midsection muscles
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Arnold Schwarzenegger's 30-minute dumbbell workout for full-body gainsIncrease your strength and muscle mass in the time it takes to make tea – what’s not to love?
