20-Minute Legs and Back Workout (Max 20 Day 1)
Build serious strength with this legs and back workout at home. Using just dumbbells, you’ll train the glutes, hamstrings, quads, lats, traps and core stabilizers in 20 minutes. Simple strength circuits combine functional compound movements to efficiently build muscle.
This is DAY 1 of my Max 20 Program.
LET’S GET STARTED
Download Your FREE Workout Plan & Workout Tracker Here
Download the PDF calendar for this workout plan with a daily workout tracker so you can measure your progress.
Download Plan
Day 1 of my Max 20 Program starts strong with a focused legs and back workout — 2 of my all-time favorite muscle groups to work together.
Your legs and back make up the majority of your lean muscle mass. When trained together, they:
- Improve pulling and lifting strength
- Support better balance and athletic performance
- Build powerful glutes and strong upper back muscles
- Boost total calorie burn
- Improve posture
You’ve seen the combination of leg exercises and back exercises from me before. In my opinion as a personal trainer and busy mom, training the legs and back together is one of the most efficient and functional ways to work out.
The legs and back (also known as the posterior chain) are the powerhouses behind movements like bending, squatting, lifting and pulling throughout the day. Each time you bend to pick up your kids or carry a bag of groceries, your legs and back are working together to keep you strong and stable.
Today’s muscle-building leg and back day workout is simplified strength training. You don’t need machines, complicated programming or hours in the gym to see results.
You’ll focus on 4 foundational exercises, repeated x 4 sets to create a high-volume strength workout that builds muscle in just 20 minutes.
Workout Details
Build strength in the legs and back with this quick and effective strength workout at home.
I suggest doing this dumbbell legs and back workout once a week as part of a well-rounded workout routine.
Workout Equipment
Medium-to-Heavy Dumbbells. I’m using 15-30 lbs. Optional pull-up bar and pull-up assist band (long loop resistance band) if needed (discount code: NML).
Workout Instructions
Follow along with the guided 20-Minute Leg and Back Workout on YouTube, led by me — your certified personal trainer, Lindsey Bomgren.
Your Workout Looks Like This:
- 40 Second Buy In
- 4 Strength Exercises
- Timed Intervals (Complete each exercise for 40 seconds of work, followed by 20 seconds of rest.)
- Repeat All 4 Exercises x 4 Sets
Workout Outline
1. Superman
Targets: The entire posterior chain (or backside of your body).
How to Do Prone Superman
- Lie face down on a mat or flat surface with your legs straight out behind you. Straighten the arms out in front of you, keeping your neck in a neutral position by looking down towards the floor.
- Take a deep breath and engage your core muscles to lift your arms and chest off the ground simultaneously.
- Hold the top position, squeezing your glutes and lower back muscles to keep your chest lifted.
- With control, lower your upper body towards the mat, returning to the starting position.
Modification: Perform a bird dog, extending the opposite arm and opposite leg away from each other in a quadruped position.
2. Squat
Targets: Legs, glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, hips and core.
How to Do a Dumbbell Squat
- Start standing with your feet shoulder-width apart and your knees slightly bent. Hold a pair of dumbbells at your sides, palms facing in toward your body.
- Lower your hips until your thighs are parallel to the floor (range of motion will look slightly different for everyone). Drive your knees out toward your outer toes.
- Drive through your heels to stand tall, returning to a standing position.
3. Pull-Up
Targets: Upper and lower back – latissimus dorsi (lats), erector spinae, trapezius (traps), biceps, pectoralis major and minor (chest) and core.
How to Do a Pull-Up
- Start standing underneath your pull-up bar, feet hip-width apart, neck and shoulders relaxed.
- Reach up and grip the pull-up bar with your palms facing away from your body (overhand grip), hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Allow your body to hang freely with your arms fully extended.
- Initiate the pull-up by squeezing your shoulder blades together and pulling your chest towards the bar. Keep your elbows pointed downward throughout the movement.
- Continue to pull your body, pulling your chest up until your chin is above the bar, or as high as you can comfortably go. Keep your core engaged and your body straight throughout the movement.
- Slowly lower yourself back down to the starting position, extending your arms fully.
Modification: Option to perform a single arm dumbbell back row. If you’re working on pull-ups, check out my 12-week pull-up progression program.
4. Staggered Deadlift
Targets: Legs, glutes, hamstrings, hips, lower back and core.
How to Do a Staggered Romanian Deadlift
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent. Hold dumbbells in each hand in front of your thighs, palms facing in toward your body.
- Stagger your feet, so your right leg is slightly in front of your left foot. Kickstand your back left foot, left heel floating off the ground. Keep 80% of your weight in your front foot, 20% in your back left toe.
- Maintain a staggered stance as you hinge at the hips. Push your hips back towards the wall behind you as you glide the dumbbells down the front of your legs. Range of motion will look different for everyone.
- Drive through your front right heel to push your hips forward, pulling the dumbbells back up towards your hip as you stand tall.
5. Lateral Lunge
Targets: Glutes, quads, outer thighs and inner thighs.
How to Do a Lateral Lunge
- Start standing with your feet hip-width apart. Hold 1 dumbbell in both hands between your legs.
- Take a large step to the right with your right leg as you sit your hips back, bending your right knee while leaving your left leg straight. Think of performing a single-leg squat with your right leg while your left leg remains straight. Knees and toes are pointing forward.
- Drive through the right heel to return to center, stepping your right foot in to meet the left.
- Repeat, this time taking a large step to the left with your left leg, performing a single-leg squat on the left.
- Drive off your left foot to reverse the movement, returning to the starting position. Continue this pattern, alternating sides with each rep.
FAQs
Does it make sense to train legs and back together?
Yes. The legs and back are the 2 largest muscle groups in the body. Training them together increases total calorie burn, builds full-body strength and reinforces functional movement patterns found in daily movements like lifting, hinging, squatting and pulling.
How many sets of an exercise should I do as a beginner?
Start with 2-3 sets per exercise. This gives your muscles enough stimulus to get stronger without overtraining and risking injury. As you get stronger, move to 3-4 sets. You can also check out my beginner workout plan for guided beginner workouts.
How heavy of weights should I use for leg day?
The last 2-3 reps of each exercise (or last 10 seconds of the interval) should be challenging to complete, but allow you to maintain proper form. I recommend using dumbbells around 8-10% of your body weight if you’re newer to weight training. For example, if you weigh 135 lbs, start with 10-15 lb dumbbells. As you gain strength, increase weights to achieve progressive overload.
How do I tone my back?
“Toning” is really a combination of building muscle and reducing body fat. This workout helps build lean muscle in the upper back and strengthens the muscles that support good posture, which helps create the appearance of a more defined back over time.
Max 20: FREE 2-Week Functional Training Program
A 2-week at-home workout program, designed to make strength training simple and get results in the time you actually have.
If you liked this back and leg workout, download the FREE 2-Week Workout Plan.
Pin This At-Home Legs and Back Workout
This post includes affiliate links. I do earn a commission for products purchased using these links (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for supporting Nourish Move Love, making the content you see on this blog possible.
Leave a Comment
one comment
I love your workouts but find your emails and links to get to a workout so confusing. They all seem to be ads and I can never get to the actual workout video. Any tips?