June 21, 2021
The largest muscles in the body are found below the waist so you might be thinking that you will need heavy weights to train them properly. The good news is that you can get a killer leg workout in with just your bodyweight. You can tweak the volume, angles and muscles targeted to get the most out of a no equipment at home leg workout. We will be providing 5 at home leg workouts that you can do, only using your bodyweight. All you need is a get up and go attitude, water and maybe a towel to wipe off all that sweat.
Look down at your legs, do you think they deserve a little more attention? Your legs are your mobility so you should train them as such. If faced with the option of taking the stairs up two flights or walking an extra few minutes to take an escalator up those same two flights, what would you choose?If you hesitated to answer that question you should read on.
To train your legs properly you should first understand what the muscles are and their function in your lower body so you can form a solid body-mind connection before jumping into a leg workout.
We’re actually going to include hips and glutes here as they are important in lower body exercises. So, we will briefly touch on the anatomy and function of the hips, glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings and calves.
Let's start at the hips and work our way down to the calves.
Hips
One of the most flexible joints in the body, the hip is comprised of multiple muscles that are grouped together by their location and function. There are a total of four groups of muscles in the hip including abductor group, adductor group, posterior group and anterior group. The muscles in the hip provide strength, stability and mobility to the hip joint and thigh bones. We won’t go into depth about all the muscles found in the hip but below is a general functioning of each group of muscles.
Glutes
Made of three muscles the gluteus minimus, gluteus medius and gluteus maximus. These muscles help to keep our core and spine stable throughout various movements. You've probably noticed that the gluteal muscles have been in the spotlight in recent years especially with the rise of social media.
More Resources on Gluteal Muscles:
Quadriceps
This strong and lean four headed muscle is located at the front of your upper legs. Working in unison, these muscles help with standing, walking and running while also keeping the kneecap stable. The quad muscle aids in the extension of the lower leg from the knee. The four heads of the quadriceps are as follows:
Hamstrings
Comprised of three muscles on the back of the thigh, the hamstring muscles help with knee and hip movements in squatting, walking, bending knees and tilting the pelvis. These muscles contract to bring your leg behind your body by bending the knees. Tendons connect the hamstring muscles to the bones of pelvis and knee. The three muscles of the hamstring are:
Calves
Comprised of two muscles, the soleus and the gastrocnemius, the calf muscles are on the back of the lower leg. Both muscles join and merge at the base of the calf muscle then connect to the Achilles heel via strong connective tissue. These muscles are important for walking, running and jumping by lifting the heel, propelling us forward.
Getting to the good stuff now, we pout together 5 brutal bodyweight leg workouts that can be done in the comfort of your own home. The leg exercises included in these at home workouts range from beginner to advanced. Each exercise contains step by step how to, the difficultly level, muscles worked and the pertaiing workouts (found just below the workouts in this article). These no equipment home leg workouts are spread amongst multiple training protocols as follows:
Notes: You won’t need any actual equipment but some exercises will require a bench or chair that you can jump up on to so make sure it is sturdy and that you don’t mind getting it dirty. You will need enough space where you can take one large step forward and backward as well as to the sides.
As we always recommend; before beginning any workout you should include a 5–10 minute dynamic warmup and upon completion of the workout you should complete a 5-10 minute cool down or stretch.
In this at home leg workout we structured it like a gym routine where you should complete 10 reps and 5 sets of each exercise listed. In this home leg workout, you will target all major muscles of the lower body including the hips and glutes. No rest between exercises. Take 1-2 minutes rest between each round.
In this leg AMRAP at home workout you will be doing 9 different leg exercises for 45 seconds each where you will do as many reps as possible then rest for 15 seconds before completing the next exercise. You will be doing two rounds of all 9 exercises with a brief rest of 1 minute between the three rounds. Try to improve your number of reps each round if possible.
Note: If possible try to track how many of each exercise was completed to see you progression over time.
Squats are one of the best leg exercises you can do at home. Bodyweight squats are great for burning calories while targeting all the muscles in the lower body. In this squat circuit you will perform 6 squat variations.
Complete this bodyweight squat circuit by doing 20 squats of each exercise before moving on to the next with no breaks until you finish the 6th exercise. Rest up to 2 mins then continue until you’ve done 5 full circuits or a total of 600 squats.
Note: Do 10 each side for split squats. Increase difficultly of this circuit by finishing the circuit in the fastest amount of time.
This lunge leg workout isn’t for the faint of heart. You will complete ascending and descending ladders of four lunge variations. An ascending ladder is where you add one rep at a time (1-2-3...10) and a descending ladder you reduce one rep at a time(10-9-8...1).
In total you will be doing 400 lunges split into two sessions. Each session is made of two different lunges. Lunges are unilateral exercises where you will exercise one leg at a time. Therefore, you should focus on one leg from reps 1-10 then switch legs for reps 10-1.
Front Lunge x Curtsy Lunge
10 Front Lunge then 1 Curtsy Lunge-->followed by 9 Front Lunges 2 Curtsy Lunges.
Until you get to 1 Front Lunge and 10 Curtsy Lunges.
Then reverse this count until you get back to the original of 10 Front Lunges and 1 Curtsy Lunge.
Rest up to 3 mins
Reverse Lunge x Lateral Lunge
10 Reverse Lunges then 1 Lateral Lunge-->followed by 9 Reverse Lunges then 2 Lateral Lunges.
Until you get to 1 Reverse Lunge and 10 Lateral Lunges.
Then reverse this count until you get back to the original of 10 Reverse Lunges and 1 Lateral Lunge.
Although the following exercises aren’t all technically all plyometrics, they are all about explosiveness and power. Each bodyweight leg exercise in this workout will involve jumping. That said, you should give it your all with each jump trying to get as much air as possible or as far as possible (lateral jumps). Each exercise will have four sets but varying number of reps in each set.
Rest up to 2 mins in between rounds
Note: Make sure you are aware of your energy levels especially when doing one leg box jumps and box jumps. if you are extremely winded take a short breather until you can safely perform the jumps.
As promised, here are all the bodyweight leg exercises that were included in the 5 home leg workouts. Each exercise has a step by step how to, difficulty level and muscles worked.
1. Squats (Workouts #2, 3)
Good for: Beginners to Advanced
Primary muscles worked: Quads, Glutes
Secondary muscles worked: Hamstrings, Hip Adductors, Calves, and Core
2. Split Squat (Workouts #2, 3)
Good for: Beginners to Advanced
Primary muscles worked: Glutes, Hamstrings, Quads
Secondary muscles worked: Hip Adductors, Calves
3. Sumo Squat (Workouts #1, 2, 3)
Good for: Beginners to Advanced
Primary muscles worked: Inner Thigh (Quads & Hamstrings), Glutes
Secondary muscles worked: Hip Flexors, Calves, and Core
4. Hindu Squat (Workouts #3)
Good for: Beginners to Advanced
Primary muscles worked: Glutes, Quads, Calves
Secondary muscles worked: Hamstrings, Hip Flexors
5. Bulgarian Split Squat (Workouts #1)
Good for: Intermediate to Advanced
Primary muscles worked: Quads, Glutes
Secondary muscles worked: Hamstrings, Hip Adductors, Calves
6. Jump Squat (Workouts #5)
Good for: Beginner to Advanced
Primary muscles worked: Quads, Glutes, Hamstrings, Calves
Secondary muscles worked: Hips, Low back, Core
7. In and Out Squat Jump (Workout #3)
Good for: Beginner to Advanced
Primary muscles worked: Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Calves, Hip Abductors
8. Front Lunge (Workouts #2, 4)
Good for: Beginners to Advanced
Primary muscles worked: Quads, Glutes
Secondary muscles worked: Hamstrings, Calves, Core
9. Curtsy Lunge (Workouts #1, 2, 4)
Good for: Beginners to Advanced
Primary muscles worked: Quads, Glutes, Calves
Secondary muscles worked: Hamstrings, Hips, Core
10. Reverse Lunge (Workouts #4)Good for: Beginners to Advanced
Primary muscles worked: Hamstrings, Glutes
Secondary muscles worked: Quads, Calves, Core
11. Lateral Lunge (Workouts #2, 4)
Good for: Intermediate to Advanced
Primary muscles worked: Quadriceps, Hip Adductors, Glutes
Secondary muscles worked: Hamstrings, Hip Abductors
12. Elevated Hip Thrusts (Workouts #1)
Good for: Intermediate to Advanced
Primary muscles worked: Glutes, Hamstrings, Hip Flexors
Secondary muscles worked: Calves, Quads, and Low Back to a lesser degree
13. Glute Bridge with March (Workouts #1)
Good for: Beginner to Advanced
Primary muscles worked: Glutes, Hamstrings
Secondary muscles worked: Core, Hips
14. Plie Calf Raises (Workouts #1, 2)
Good for: Beginner to Advanced
Primary muscles worked: Calves
Secondary muscles worked: Glutes, Inner Thigh (isometric)
15. Calf Raises (Workouts #1, 2)
Good for: Beginner to Advanced
Primary muscles worked: Calves
16. One Leg Box Jumps (Workouts # 5)
Good for: Advanced
Primary muscles worked: Quads, Glutes, Hamstrings, Calves
Secondary muscles worked: Hips, Core
17. Skaters (Workout #5)
Good for: Intermediate to Advanced
Primary muscles worked: Quads, Glutes
Secondary muscles worked: Hamstrings, Calves, Hips, Core
18. Lunge Jumps (Workout #5)
Good for: Intermediate to Advanced
Primary muscles worked: Quads, Glutes, Hamstrings, Calves, Hip Flexors
Secondary muscles worked: Hips, Core
19. Box Jumps (Workout #5)
Good for: Intermediate to Advanced
Primary muscles worked: Quads, Glutes, Hamstrings, Calves
Secondary muscles worked: Hips, Core
20. Calf Jumps (Workout #2, 5)
Good for: Beginner to Advanced
Primary muscles worked: Calves
Can you build leg muscle without weights?
Yes, it is possible to build leg muscle with bodyweight leg exercises. To build muscle without weights you must make your workouts progressively more intense. You can do this through a number of methods including increasing volume, shortening rest time, hitting different angles of various exercises and using other training methods such as AMRAP, drop sets and supersets. Progressive overload principles also apply to bodyweight exercises.
Beginners to exercise can definitely pack on some lean leg muscle from leg exercises without weights. However, it will be a little more difficult for regular weightlifters to put on muscle by performing bodyweight exercises. To make bodyweight leg workouts more difficult and effective, try adding in some unilateral and plyometric exercises.
What are the best leg exercises with no weights?
The best leg exercise you can do with no equipment is the modest squat. While it might not seem like an Earth-shattering answer, squats are one of the best bodyweight leg exercises you can do. Squats work all the major muscles of the lower body including glutes, quads, hamstrings and calves. Doing air squats can actually build lean muscle if following progressive overload methods, plus squats can help to improve balance as you can engage your core during the movement to keep the form and technique up to par. Lastly, squats help to burn tons of calories if done at a high pace.
Related: 26 Best Bodyweight Leg Exercises
Is training legs good for weight loss?
A big yes! Leg training with or without equipment will help you burn an immense number of calories. The largest muscles in your body are found in your lower body so when you work them out your body requires more energy to fuel them. The heart has to work harder to pump blood to these large muscle groups therefore turning you into a fat burning furnace.
What exercises burn the most leg fat?
Many people ask how they can reduce fat in their thighs, but the unfortunate answer to this question is that spot targeting bodyparts for fat loss is a myth. The best way to reduce leg fat is to burn more calories, eat healthier and gain lean muscle. With that being said we find the best leg exercises to burn fat and add muscle are squats, lunges and plyometrics. The good thing is that there are numerous variations of these exercises so you should never get bored while also hitting different muscles within the major muscle groups of the legs.
Related: How Many Calories do Squats Burn?
What’s the best exercise to strengthen legs?
The best exercises to strengthen legs are usually considered the squat and deadlift. Both of these leg exercises require major muscles to work together as one. So, as these large muscles are recruited to work in unison, they produce more force. There’s a reason why powerlifters consider both squats and deadlifts two of the quintessential lifts to display strength and power. Considering this article is about no weight at home leg exercises, we would have to give the competitive edge to squats for strengthening legs.
CONCLUSION
We take for granted the amazing gift of being bipedal and all too often we don’t use our legs as much as we should. It’s no excuse to skip leg day just because you might be stuck at home with no weights.
At home leg workouts can seriously kick your butt into shape. We often get asked, “how can I workout my legs at home if I don’t have any weights?”. The answer; do enough bodyweight leg exercises to make you regret asking that question in the first place.
The Ultimate Upper Body Bodyweight Workout
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