If you don't have access to a fully equipped gym -- squat racks, barbell, weight plates, and machines -- you need to get creative with leg exercises at home.
You may not be able to build the kind of mass that heavy squats and deadlifts do, for example, but you can definitely get in good condition and build muscle with leg exercises at home.
For these reasons, it makes sense to make do with what you have—even if it's just dumbbells and a bench. Most importantly, keep training your lower body well, hard, and consistently. (That means at-home calf exercises, quadriceps exercises, and glute exercises.)
Can I Build Leg Muscles Without Weights?
Contrary to popular belief, it's not just heavy weights that stimulate strong muscle growth.
Lifting relatively light weight (about 50 percent of your single rep max) for about 20 to 25 reps is just as efficient at building strength and muscle size as lifting heavier weight (up to 90 percent of your single rep max) for 8 to 12 Reps representatives, according to a study by McMaster University in Ontario.
The secret of hypertrophy (muscle building) is to exhaust the muscles. You can achieve this by using high reps, light weight (or just bodyweight) and different training methods.
- Time under tension works your muscles harder for a longer period of time, giving you better results in half the time.
- Eccentric isometrics emphasize the lowering phase of a movement to focus on muscle lengthening rather than muscle contraction.
- And high-intensity finishers fully exhaust and stimulate your muscle fibers to create metabolic stress in muscle cells, causing them to swell.
Bottom line: Your body doesn't know how you're tiring your muscles, and it doesn't care. As long as you create microtears in the tissue, your body will repair these cells, thereby encouraging them to grow.
Why is leg day important?
Leg training days are usually the most demanding for athletes - and also the most effective.
"Your legs are half your body and are made up of the largest muscle groups, which means you'll burn more calories and boost your metabolism for hours after your workout," says Ethan Marine, CPT.
Since you're training some of the largest muscles in your body, these workouts create the most potent hormonal response and skyrocket your testosterone levels.
Do Leg Exercises Strengthen Your Knees?
When you're experiencing knee pain, it's often due to muscular imbalances that are putting undue stress on the joints. Unilateral exercises can reduce overloads and imbalances caused by sports such as running. Mobility exercises can also increase the range of motion in surrounding muscles, allowing you to move more vigorously in different planes of motion (swivelling, sprinting, and jumping).
Overall, exercises that target and strengthen the glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps help improve lower body stability, while flexibility can help relieve tension in the knee joint.
Try these at-home leg exercises to help determine size. We've included a variety of at-home leg exercises that require only bodyweight, as well as those that use free weights, a TRX, a weight bench, and a swiss ball.
15 best bodyweight leg exercises to do at home
If you're looking for a workout that builds muscle and burns fat at the same time, these top bodyweight leg exercises are for you. They target the fast and slow twitch muscle fibers of the glutes, quadriceps, calves, hamstrings, hip stabilizers and more.
Incorporate them into your regular leg workout. Or do them as a bodyweight conditioning circuit. If you decide to do the circuit, do 3 to 5 sets of 20 reps per exercise.
Why it works
Why it works
Why it works
Why it works
Beth Bischoff
Why it works
Beth Bischoff
Why it works
Why it works
Why it works
Beth Bischoff
Why it works
Why it works
Why it works
Why it works
Why it works
Why it works
Beth Bischoff
Why it works
Best bodyweight leg workout to do at home
body weight training 1
directions
Do the pairs of exercises (marked A and B) alternately. So you do a set A, rest, then a set B, rest again, and continue with all the prescribed sets.
- Sentences: 4
- Reps: 8
- Break: 60 sec.
Beth Bischoff
- Sentences: 3
- Reps: Hold for 30 seconds. (every side)
- Rest: 30 sec
- Sentences: 4
- Reps: 6 (each side)
- Break: 60 sec.
- Sentences: 4
- Reps: 8
- Break: 60 sec.
- Sentences: 3
- Reps: 15 (each side)
- Break: 60 sec.
James Michelfelder
- Sentences: 3
- Reps: 12 (each side)
- Break: 60 sec.
- Sentences: 2
- Reps: Hold for 30-60 seconds. (every side)
- Break: 60 sec.
body weight training 2
directions
Perform 4 sets of continuous sets, resting 1 minute between sets.
Courtesy of Lee Boyce
How it goes
Courtesy of Lee Boyce
How it goes
Courtesy of Lee Boyce
How it goes
How it goes
Best weighted leg exercises and workouts
Training 1: German body comp
Equipment needed: A pair of light and heavy dumbbells and a medium-tension resistance band.
directions
Complete as many tri-sets as you can in 40 minutes (if you can do 7 of them, that's a good indication of your overall fitness).
James Michelfelder
How it goes
James Michelfelder
How it goes
Courtesy of Lee Boyce
How it goes
Training 2: Rear Chain Attack
Equipment needed: Heavy kettlebell, medium or heavy dumbbells, and an exercise bench.
directions: This workout looks at supersets and compound sets to get the most out of your posterior chain (glutes and hamstrings). Perform the two supersets for 4 rounds, resting 1 minute between rounds but not between exercises. Rest a minute between sets for the final exercise.
James Michelfelder
How it goes
How it goes
James Michelfelder
How it goes
Justin Steele
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Marius Bugge
How it goes
Training 3: Mid-Range Madness
Equipment needed: Heavy kettlebell, swiss ball and a pair of medium or heavy dumbbells.
directions: This workout uses partial ranges of motion to deepen technique and give the lower body a double pump with every repetition performed. Perform supersets for 4 rounds. Rest 90 seconds between rounds.
James Michelfelder
How it goes
How it goes
James Michelfelder
How it goes
James Michelfelder
How it goes
Training 4: Contrast training
Equipment needed: Heavy kettlebell and a pair of heavy dumbbells.
directions: The goal of contrast training is to pair or group loaded movement patterns with similar patterns that are unloaded and explosive in nature. This will effectively train the fast-twitch muscle fibers and increase more strength and power. Perform as a contrast superset and triset for 5 rounds. Rest 90 seconds between rounds.
Justin Steele
How it goes
Justin Steele
How it goes
James Michelfelder
How it goes
James Michelfelder
How it goes
James Michelfelder
How it goes
Beth Bischoff
How it goes
Beth Bischoff
How it goes
Workout 5: TRX + Lateral Plane
Equipment needed: TRX or suspension trainer, medium-sized dumbbells or kettlebells and training bench.
directions: You train in the lateral plane, using side-by-side training rather than just forward and backward movements. In this routine, you'll do supersets and straight sets. Follow the work and rest times given for supersets.
Courtesy of Lee Boyce
How it goes
David Fuentes Prieto/Getty Images
How it goes
Courtesy of Lee Boyce
How it goes
Getty Images
How it goes
Courtesy of Lee Boyce
How it goes
Training 6: rdic Triset
Equipment needed: none (weight plate or dumbbell optional)
directions: This three-movement beast of a superset requires nothing but body weight and a place to secure your feet. Take a 30-minute break and rest as needed after each superset. See how many laps you can do in 30 minutes.
How it goes
Courtesy of Lee Boyce
How it goes
