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Jump to 5 BEST Leg Workouts At Home
No gym, no problem.
When you think “leg day”, you might think of jumping into a squat rack, but there are several effective leg exercises you can do at home with dumbbells.
Enter these 5 leg workouts at home. Effective lower body strength training, using minimal equipment like a set of dumbbells and resistance band.
We have several lower body workouts, but this post highlights our 5 BEST Leg Workouts At Home!
Ranging from a 10-minute beginner glute activation, to pregnancy-friendly leg workouts and advanced, 45-minute leg workouts. There’s an at home leg workout for all fitness levels in this round up.
Ultimately, it depends on your personal fitness level and fitness goals.
I recommend giving each muscle group at least 24 hours to recover between workouts.
For example, if I did a leg workout on Monday, I would wait until Wednesday (at the earliest) to do another heavy leg workout.
If you want a structured workout plan to follow, try one of my FREE 14 or 30 Day Workout Plans!
These basic leg exercises make an appearance in all 5 of these leg workouts at home.
If you want to sculpt strong, toned legs, these are the 5 BEST Leg Workouts At Home with weights. And you can find each of these leg workouts on YouTube.
Each leg workout will vary in terms of specific exercises included, but you can count on firing up all the muscles in your lower body, including:
I’ve included a description of each leg workout below so you can choose the one that best fits your fitness level.
Each of these leg workouts includes a warm up, but if want something extra, try this 10 Minute Glute Activation.
Do this Leg Workout if: you want a challenging, low impact leg workout. The 3 lunge, squat and deadlift variations are sure to keep you engaged and leave you sore. ALL legs, ALL strength training.
Leg Exercises Included:
Equipment: set of dumbbells (8-20 lbs).
Workout Format: Counted reps. Four circuits, 3 leg exercises per circuit (12 leg exercises total). 10 to 12 reps per leg exercise; repeat each circuit x 2 sets.
Muscles Worked: Glutes, hamstrings, thighs, hips, quads and calf muscles.
Beginner and Pregnancy-Friendly? Yes! I filmed this video during my 2nd trimester, and this has become a popular pregnancy leg workout on Youtube. Note, every body, and pregnancy, is different. I personally dropped my weights several times throughout this workout and performed the leg exercises with just my bodyweight (and added baby weight).
Do this Leg Workout if: you want a strength and plyo glute-focused workout. This is a 30 minute lower body HIIT workout with weights (aka booty burnout).
Plyometrics involve an explosive intensity, like jumping, which requires multiple muscle groups to work together. These movements generate POWER, which increases calorie burn and leads to quicker strength gains (International Sports Sciences Association).
6 Best Booty Building Leg Exercises Included:
Equipment: set of dumbbells (8-20 lbs) and chair or bench.
Workout Format: Reps and timed intervals. 12-16 reps of each strength exercise and 30 second timed intervals of each Plyo exercise.
Muscles Worked: Butt — the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus (the lower, upper and side glutes).
Beginner and Pregnancy-Friendly? Yes, with modifications. Take the low impact modifications offered in place of the Plyo exercises.
Do this Leg Workout if: you want to activate and “turn on” the glutes (especially if you tend to be more quad dominant). This is a 30 minute lower body HIIT workout with resistance bands (affiliate).
A great cross training leg workout for runners that targets the glutes, hips and stabilizing lower body muscles. Also great for strengthening your knees as you train in all three planes of motion.
8 Best Resistance Band Exercises for Legs Included:
Equipment: mini loop resistance band (affiliate) (I likes these resistance bands, get a discount with codeL NML).
Workout Format: Reps and timed intervals. 12 reps of each strength exercise and 30 second timed intervals of each Plyo or power resistance band exercise.
Muscles Worked: Glutes, hamstrings, quads, hips and calf muscles.
Beginner and Pregnancy-Friendly? Yes, with modifications. Take the low impact modifications offered in place of the Plyo exercises.
Do this Leg Workout if: you want a complete lower body burnout, super-setting two strength exercises with one power exercise. The goal is to lift heavy weights and focus on good form.
Leg Exercises Included:
Equipment: set of dumbbells (8-20 lbs) and optional mini loop resistance band (affiliate) (I likes these resistance bands, get a discount with codeL NML).
Workout Format: Reps and timed intervals. 8-16 reps of each strength exercise and 30 second timed intervals of each power exercise.
Muscles Worked: Glutes, hamstrings, quads, hips, thighs and calf muscles.
Beginner and Pregnancy-Friendly? Yes, with modifications. Take the low impact modifications offered in place of the power exercises.
Do this Leg Workout if: you want an intense leg day workout that challenges you to life heavy weights. This lower body strength workout leaves me sore every time I do it (I personally think it’s the hardest on the list, but a favorite of mine).
Leg Exercises Included:
Equipment: set of dumbbells (8-30 lbs) and optional mini loop resistance band (affiliate) (I likes these resistance bands, get a discount with codeL NML).
Workout Format: Rep-Drop. 14 reps on the first set of each exercise, 12 reps on the second set, and 10 reps on the third set.
Muscles Worked: Legs, hamstrings, glutes, thighs, quads, hips and calf muscles.
Beginner and Pregnancy-Friendly? This is an advanced leg workout requiring lots of core engagement to perform each move safely. You can take it with modifications, lighter weights, or choose one of the other leg workouts.
If you’re focusing on building the muscles in your booty, try starting your workout with one of these glute activation workouts. You also can use these quick leg workouts as a “burnout” at the end of your leg workout to push your lower body muscles to fatigue.
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