The 11 Best Bodyweight Leg Exercises, According to a Personal Trainer
With no weights required, you can do this workout anywhere
Contrary to what you may think, you don’t need heavy weights to build leg strength. While a set of dumbbells can be a helpful tool while training, it’s also possible to strengthen your quads, calves, and hamstrings with bodyweight leg exercises.
The Benefits of Bodyweight Leg Exercises
- You can avoid the gym.
I get it: When you’re a beginner, the gym can be an intimidating place. In your home, you have the ability to focus on just you and your workout—without feeling self-conscious or overwhelmed by your surroundings. Additionally, doing strength training exercises at home is more convenient.Bodyweight leg exercises are also budget-friendly. Instead of shelling out money on dumbbells or other strength training tools, you can put that cash toward your next road race or ski trip. - You can still complete “leg day” while traveling.
When you’re away from home, it can be difficult to stick to your workout routine. Even if your hotel has a gym, it may lack the equipment you typically rely on. Bodyweight exercises help fill this gap. This type of workout can be done pretty much anywhere.
How to Complete This Workout
The number of sets and reps you should do of these bodyweight leg exercises will depend on your fitness level and training goals.Building muscle hypertrophy is more difficult when you’re just using your bodyweight, since you don’t have external resistance to overload your muscles. As a result, you’ll want to perform more reps than you would in a typical weighted set.If you’re a beginner, you’ll likely see significant improvements in your muscle strength and muscle mass from bodyweight exercises. However, most studies suggest that experienced athletes may need to perform sets to failure or complete more than 15 reps per set if they are using a reduced weight load to see strength gains.
HOW TO DO IT:
1.Stand upright with good posture. Keep your chest up, your core engaged, and your shoulders relaxed. Your feet should be slightly wider than hip-width apart.
- Bend your knees as you simultaneously lower your butt all the way back as if you’re going to sit in a chair. You can bring your arms forward in front of your body as a counterbalance. Make sure that your shins are parallel, and your knees do not extend beyond your toes.
- When your legs are at a 90-degree angle and your thighs are parallel to the ground, pause at the bottom of your squat.
- Press through your heels to stand up.
- Progress this exercise by pausing at the bottom of the squat position and holding each squat for 5 to 30 seconds, depending on your fitness level. This isometric hold will help build muscular endurance.
- Jump Squats
Jump squats are a plyometric exercise to build power and explosive strength in your glutes, quads, and calves. In addition to being a great full-body exercise, this movement will give you a small cardio workout by elevating your heart rate. - Rear-Elevated Split Squat/Bulgarian Split Squat
Commonly known as the Bulgarian split squat, this exercise is a great way to isolate the workload onto the quad and glute muscles in your front leg.If you are doing this workout at home, you can use a coffee table, chair, or step to elevate your back foot. If you’re at a gym, use a weight bench. - Glute Bridge
The glute bridge is a great beginner-friendly bodyweight exercise. Initially, start with both feet on the ground at the same time. As you build strength, progress to a single-leg bridge by lifting one leg up straight into the air and pressing through one heel at a time. - Single-Leg Hip Thrust
While the glute bridge is a good beginner-friendly bodyweight leg exercise, more advanced athletes can progress to a single-leg hip thrust. Compared to the previous exercise, this isometric movement will create more of a challenge by loading all of your body weight onto one leg. - Heel Slides
Heel slides help build strength in your hamstrings, a critical muscle for climbing, running, and hiking. For this exercise, you’ll need to wear socks on a “slippery” surface, such as a tiled or hardwood floor. If you practice this movement at a gym, you can use sliding discs. - Step-Ups
This simple movement is more effective than you think. A 2020 study published in Journal of Sports Science & Medicine found that step-ups are one of the best lower body strengthening exercises. At home, find a set of stairs or a sturdy chair to step onto. If you’re at the gym, use a plyometric box. - Box Jumps
If you’re an advanced athlete, you can progress from low-impact step-ups to explosive box jumps. Instead of stepping up onto your box one leg at a time, jump up with both legs.
