Revamp your leg day routine with this quick and effective training session. I’ve programmed the best leg day workout for building strength and explosive power in the lower body. We’ll target the quads, hamstrings, hips and glutes in just 30 minutes, using a set of dumbbells at home. Whether you’re a seasoned athlete or fitness beginner, this leg day is an effective and efficient workout designed to fit into your busy schedule.
I’m a firm believer that you don’t need an expensive gym membership to achieve the best leg day workout.
Not only does working out at home save time and money, but training with dumbbells can actually be more efficient and more functional than using specialized gym machines.
I’m calling this workout the “best leg day workout” because it includes every component I consider necessary for a truly effective leg day:
Heavy Strength Exercises: to build muscle mass and definition, develop slow-twitch muscle fibers, and increase metabolism.
Power Plyometric Exercises: to build explosive force, develop fast-twitch muscle fibers, improve athletic performance and increase calorie-burn.
Multi-Planar Movements: to train in multiple planes of motion, increasing range of motion and overall functional strength for daily movements.
Stabilization Movements: to build deep core strength to reduce risk of injury and support heavier lifts.
This workout is a complete home leg workout, targeting every major muscle group in the legs. If you’re looking to target specific muscle groups within the lower body, I suggest trying our popular isolation-style workouts — best glute exercises or best hamstring exercises.
Leg Day Workout Routine for Muscle and Strength
To get the most out of your lower body training sessions, I highly suggest warming up with a couple hip mobility exercises. Improving hip mobility will improve your squat depth, reduce back pain and risk of injury.
Add compound leg exercises like this to your home workout plan one to two times a week to improve leg muscle definition.
Workout Instructions:
Follow along with the guided Dumbbell Leg Day Workout Routine on YouTube, led by certified personal trainer, Lindsey Bomgren.
Your Workout Looks Like This:
2 Leg Day Strength Circuits (3 strength training exercises and 2 power exercises per circuit)
Timed Intervals (30 seconds work, 15 seconds rest)
Repeat Each Circuit x2 Sets
Workout Equipment:
Medium Pair of Dumbbells. I recommend between 5-25 lbs depending on your fitness level. We used 15 and 20 lb dumbbells in today’s workout. Option to add a mini loop resistance band.
Workout Outline
CIRCUIT ONE:
Strength: Uneven Squat Thruster
Strength: Staggered Deadlift
Strength: Staggered Deadlift and Clean Squat
Power: Low/High Drop Steps
Power: Loaded Wide/Narrow Jumps
CIRCUIT TWO:
Strength: Alternating Lunge and Rotation
Strength: Split Lunge Dumbbell Set Down and Power Knee Drive
Strength: Curtsy Lunge, Reverse Lunge and Lateral Lunge
Power: Runners and Staggered Stance Explode
Power: Banded Lateral Shuffle
6 Best Leg Day Workout Exercises
Uneven Squat Thruster
Targets: Glutes, quads, hamstrings, back and shoulders.
How To Do Uneven Squat Thrusters
Stand with feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent. Option to place a mini loop resistance band around your calves.
Hold one dumbbell in your left hand at your left side. Hold another dumbbell in your right hand in a front rack position at your right shoulder.
With your weight in your heels, sit your hips back as you lower into a squat, striving for a 90-degree angle between your hips and knees.
Then, drive through your heels, squeezing your glutes to stand tall. As you stand, perform a single arm squat thruster, pressing the weight overhead. Your right bicep should be near your right ear.
With control, bring the weight back down to shoulder height and repeat.
Staggered Deadlift
Targets: Posterior chain, hamstrings, glutes, core, and lower back.
How To Do Staggered Romanian Deadlifts
Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand in front of your hips (palms facing in towards your body). Option to place a mini loop resistance band around your shins.
Stagger your feet, so your right leg is slightly in front of your right 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 toe.
Maintain a staggered stance as you hinge at the hips. Pushing your hips back towards the wall behind you as you glide the dumbbells down the front of your legs, keeping your core tight, slightly bending both knees. Range of motion will look different for everyone.
Drive through your front heel to push your hips forward, pulling the dumbbells back up towards your hip as you stand tall, returning to starting position.
Staggered Deadlift and Clean Squat
Targets: Glutes, hamstrings, hips, quads, calves, trapezius, deltoids, lower back, abs and core.
How To Do Staggered Deadlifts and Clean Squats
Stand with feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent. Hold a dumbbell in each hand in front of your thighs, palms facing in towards 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. Pushing your hips back towards the wall behind you as you glide the dumbbells down the front of your legs; core tight.
Then, drive through your heels to stand tall, bringing your left foot parallel to your right foot.
As you stand, bring the dumbbells up towards your chest (this is the “clean” portion of the clean squat).
Lower down into a squat position, lowering your hips down parallel to your knees. Both knees bent at 90 degree angles. Drive your knees out toward your outer three toes.
Drive through your heels to stand tall again, finding a staggered stance again by stepping your left foot back.
Continue this pattern, alternating one staggered deadlift with a dumbbell clean and front squat.
Alternating Lunge and Rotation
Targets: Legs, glutes, quads, hamstrings and core. Lunges also target the small stabilizing muscles in your hips and thighs.
How To Do Alternating Reverse Lunges with Rotations
Start standing in a neutral position, feet hip-width apart. Hold one dumbbell horizontally at your chest.
Step your left foot back into a reverse lunge. Lowering your left knee towards the mat, aiming for 90-degree angles in both knees.
As you step your knee back, rotate your torso to the right, turning your shoulders towards your front right knee.
Hold for a moment, then drive through your front right heel to return to standing, rotating your torso back to center.
Then alternate the movement, this time stepping your right foot back into a reverse lunge and rotating your chest to the left.
Modification: Omit the rotation, performing alternating reverse lunges instead.
Split Lunge and Power Knee Drive
Targets: Legs, glutes, quads, hamstrings, and core.
How To Do Split Lunges and Power Knee Drives
Stand with feet shoulder width apart, holding a dumbbell in your left hand in front of your left thigh.
Step your left leg back into a reverse lunge, keeping your right leg in place.
Slowly lower your hips until both knees reach a 90-degree angle, right thigh parallel to the floor. Shoulders remain stacked over hips throughout the entire exercise, torso upright.
Press into your front right heel to slowly lift, straightening both legs. Repeat twice, performing two split squats.
Then, place the dumbbell on the ground next to your right foot and explosively drive your left knee up, performing a knee drive.
With control, step your left foot back into a reverse lunge and bend your knees to lower to the ground, picking up the dumbbell and returning to the starting position.
Curtsy Lunge, Reverse Lunge and Lateral Lunge
Targets: Mainly the quads and glutes, but also engages the gluteus medius (outer butt and thigh muscles), inner thighs and core.
How To Do Curtsy Lunges, Reverse Lunges and Lateral Lunges
Stand with feet hip-distance apart, holding one dumbbell in your right hand.
Step your right leg back into a curtsy lunge (right knee should meet left calf), right knee lowers towards the mat. Lower your hips until both knees reach a 90-degree angle, front thigh parallel to the floor.
Then, staying low throughout the entire movement, step your left foot out slightly to the right, landing with your left foot straight behind you in a reverse lunge. Both knees are bent to 90 degrees.
Finally, press through your front right heel to step your right leg out to the side. As you step out with your right leg, push 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.
Then, drive off your right foot to reverse the movement, exploding back up to center and stepping your right leg back into a curtsy lunge.
Repeat this three-way squat sequence, performing one curtsy lunge, one reverse lunge and then one lateral lunge.
Best Leg Day Workout FAQs
The deadlift is an exercise designed to strengthen the hamstrings, glutes, hips and lower back. If you’re feeling back pain during deadlifts, it’s likely that 1) the weights are too far away from your body, putting too much pressure on your low back or 2) your core isn’t engaged so you need to drop weights and strengthen the core. You can also try holding the dumbbells towards the outside of your thighs (versus directly in front of your shins) to reduce pressure on the lower back.
Even if you have ‘bad knees’, I don’t recommend totally skipping leg day. Instead, try starting with lower body isometric exercises (or holds). These exercises are a great way to build lower body strength without causing knee pain. For example, if reverse lunges don’t feel good for your knees, try holding a lunge for 20-30 seconds, then releasing.
The lunge is one of the best lower body exercises for strengthening the quads, glutes, hamstrings and thighs. However, lunges may cause unnecessary strain on the knee joint when performed incorrectly. Common errors include finding too narrow of a stance, uneven weight distribution, and limited hip/ankle mobility. Reverse lunges tend to be gentler on the knees than forward lunges.
Choosing your weights can feel a bit tricky: too light of weights won’t get you the results you want, but too heavy of weights can compromise proper form, causing injuries. A good rule of thumb is that the last 2-3 reps of each exercise should be challenging to complete with good form. The leg muscles are some of the largest muscles in the body – I want to encourage you to reach for your heavy weights!
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