While your legs and glutes contain the biggest muscle groups in the body, you don’t have to go to a gym and lift massive weights in order to give them a good workout. With the right set of exercises you can use bodyweight alone to create a leg-shaking workout. And if you happen to have a set of dumbbells or any workable substitute (cans of beans, big bags of rice or fully-loaded backpacks almost always work) to hand, then you can easily increase the challenge.
This home leg workout has been created by the team at activewear brand Sundried, who have also put together a handy infographic of the exercises involved. Have at it.
1 Squat
Sets 3 Reps 10
Targets Quads, hamstrings and glutes
Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Keeping your chest up and back straight throughout, bend your knees and lower, pushing your hips back until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Then drive through your heels to return to standing.
2 Lunge
Sets 3 Reps 10 each side
Targets Quads, hamstrings and glutes
From standing, take a big step forwards with your right foot and lower until both your knees are bent at 90°. Push back up through your right foot to standing. Do all your reps on one leg, then switch to the other.
3 Pistol squat (or single-leg box squat)
Sets 3 Reps 10 each side
Targets Quads, hamstrings and glutes
The pistol squat is perhaps the toughest bodyweight variation of the squat. Stand on one leg and drop into a deep squat, pointing the raised leg out straight out in front of you.
If you can’t do this, don’t worry – it’s really tough. Instead do a single-leg box squat. Stand close to but facing away from a box or any surface that’s around 40cm off the ground and can take your weight. Lift one leg in front of you and slowly sit back into a squat until you’re sitting on the box, then stand back up. Do all your reps on one leg, then switch to the other.
4 Good morning
Sets 3 Reps 10
Targets Hamstrings and glutes
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your hands behind your head. Bend forwards, hinging at the hips, until you feel a slight stretch in your hamstrings, then reverse the movement to stand back up.
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