If you think you need barbells and lots of fancy machines to build lower body muscle, think again. In fact, you don’t even need the gym for that matter. You can still get a decent lower body workout and build muscle straight from home using a pair of dumbbells and these six simple exercises.Quad and glute pump incoming...
We know that leg day is often the most dreaded workout session of the week, but it's arguably the most important training session. Besides from not wanting chicken legs, training your lower body goes beoyond aesthetics, it will also help you reduce your risk of injury. According to Balanced Physical Therapy: "Strong leg muscles work in tandem with the core and back muscles to support a healthy alignment, preventing overuse injuries caused by poor posture." As our lower body also houses the largest muscles in our body (hello glute maximums), ensuring these muscles are strong can also reduce muscle imbalances and therefore the likelihood of injuries too.
This workout focuses on hypertrophy (building muscle) so the rep ranges are quite high. With that in mind, make sure you don't choose a set of weights that are too heavy; opt for a medium weight where the last two to three reps feel like a challenge. Adjustable dumbbells are a good choice here as you can easily play around with the weight. All these exercises are also compound movements which are also great for improving your core strength, so you'll kill two birds with one stone. Aim for 10 to 15 reps on each exercise, resting for 30 seconds to a minute between each exercise. Once you've completed one round, rest for 90 seconds, then repeat two more times. Here's your exercises:
- Sumo squat
- Split squats
- Romanian deadlifts
- Bulgarian split squats
- Glute bridge
- Lateral squat
If you fancy an extra challenge and want to really light up your lower body (although we're sure it will be after this), then why not add this short superset to the end of your workout? Your glutes and quads will be left on fire. For those days you're tight on time and just need to move your body, this HIIT bodyweight workout from CrossFit athlete, Lucy Campbell, it's only five minutes, but a real burner.
