It may be cliché - but don’t skip leg day!
We get it. We all want to have a ripped upper body, and the recovery from a hard leg workout routine can be completely draining.
Your glutes, lats and quads are the largest muscles in your body, and keeping them fit isn’t just great to increase your overall strength and stability, it also helps you build muscle and lose weight all over!
Read on for some compelling reasons to make regular leg workouts part of your exercise regimen and learn 15 different bodyweight leg exercises you can do at home, or anywhere!
Here are a couple of very good reasons not to skip leg day:
1. Avoid a lopsided physique
The most obvious reason to not skip leg day is so that you don’t resemble an upturned chicken drumstick! A jacked chest is a sight to behold, but any athletes worth their salt know that you can’t neglect the whole body.
Equilibrium plays an important role in many aspects of our lives, including fitness.
2. You’ll build overall muscle faster
Training your lower body is thought to release growth hormones and testosterone. This creates an anabolic effect in your body, stimulating the growth of muscle all over!
3. Be less prone to injury
Without a balanced set of muscles, you’ll have to overcompensate with your upper body when doing exercises such as deadlifts.
This tendency will make you much more prone to injuring yourself.
4. You won’t just look strong - you’ll BE strong
Having a strong upper body is great - but neglecting your lower body means you’ll be far less functional when it comes to daily life.
Consider lifting a box up a flight of stairs or going on a long, hilly hike.
Without the stability and power of strength training in your legs, it won’t take much to get you winded, and you’ll have an increased risk of muscle strain. Working your legs makes you a stronger, leaner and faster athlete.
5. Full body exercise helps burn fat quicker
Lastly, the combination of resistance and endurance training promotes a strong basal metabolic rate (BMR), helping you to lose weight.
Since your leg muscles are the largest in the body, the work you put into keeping them strong provides an even greater benefit to your BMR than the upper body alone.
Target all the areas of your body and your engine will be purring like a jaguar in no time!
Incorporate These 15 Leg Exercises Into Your Morning Routine For a Stronger You
Your morning workout routine should include 1-2 of these exercises to help keep your legs strong. Try creating a workout schedule and mixing up the exercises for some variety and to target different muscle groups.
Ideally, you should be looking to perform 3 sets for each of these with 10 reps, but if you’re just getting started, you can start with 2 sets and work your way up!
Squats
Get your morning started right with squats and blast your quads, hamstrings and glutes.
With a straight back and chest up, keep your feet hip-width apart and bend low, keeping your hips back until your knee is bent at a 90-degree angle. Then use the power of your heels to return to a standing position.
Variation: Plié Squat
This alternate version of a squat also targets your abs and also helps open up your hips.
Keep your feet wider than your shoulders and feet pointed outwards at a 45-degree angle. Keep your core tight and place your hands on your hips as you squat down. Make sure to keep knees in line with your ankles.
Variation: Pistol Squat
This advanced and very difficult version of a squat uses only one leg at a time, allowing a greater impact on each leg!
With a narrow stance, hold your arms out in front of you and bend down using one leg and lift the other leg off the floor.
Lunge
The lunge is a great move for bodyweight beginners and along with working your hips, glutes, quads, and hamstrings, it also impacts your inner thighs.
With your core engaged and back straight, keep your feet hip-width apart and take a big step forward with your right leg.
You should be lowering your body until your right thigh is parallel to the ground, and ensuring your knee does not bend past your toes. Use the power of your right heel to drive back up, and then alternate.
Variation: Reverse Lunge
This variation of the standard lunge is a bit easier on the knees. Take a big step backward with your right leg while lowering down with your other knee.
Try to bring the knee of your right leg all the way to ground, then use your front heel to return to starting position and alternate.
Variation: Walking Lunge
Find a hallway and lunge your way into a better body. Keeping your back straight, lunge forward with one leg, ensuring the knee on the opposite leg does NOT touch the floor.
Use the heel of the forward foot to propel your body into the next lunge, leading with the opposite foot.
Variation: Side Lunge
Start with your legs together, then extend your right leg with a big step to the side.
Placing your foot flat on the ground with feet facing forward, shift weight onto your right heel and bend your right knee while keeping your arms extended for balance. Then return to neutral and alternate.
Good Morning
This is basically a crunch, but standing up. It’s a great exercise because it can be done absolutely anywhere!
Start by standing with your feet directly under your hips, and bring your fingertips back to rest behind your ears. Lock the upper body, and bend at the hips, bringing your torso towards the floor.
Reverse the movement with your glutes until you’re fully standing again.
Donkey Kick
Another great move for beginners - Donkey kick your butt each morning with this exercise that focuses on your glutes. Get on all fours with your hands under your shoulders and knees under hips. Raise your right leg back until your knee reaches the hip level, with your knee bent at 90-degrees. Return your leg to the starting position but without letting your knee rest on the floor, then repeat 10-15 times with the same leg before switching legs.
Variation: Donkey Kick Crossover
This more advanced variation targets your quads as well as glutes. The move starts the same as you lift your right leg to hip level with the knee bent at 90-degrees, but then you lower that right knee to the outside of your left leg before bringing the leg back to the neutral position.
Calf Raise
With feet hip-width apart, and hands-on-hips or behind your head (whichever helps you balance better), lift the right knee to hip level with toes pointed down.
Keep your core tight and hold your right leg in place, as you lift with your left heel as high off the ground as you can and hold for three seconds, then lower.
Repeat 10-15 times and then switch legs.
Side Leg Raise
This gentle glute and inner thigh movement is a great move for a low impact stretch.
Lie on one side with legs straight and stacked on top of each other. Using your hip and glutes, lift your top leg towards the ceiling in a controlled motion, and back down.
Do 10-15 reps then switch to your other side.
Glute Bridge
This elegant exercise is a great way to tone your butt while also strengthening your core and lower back. Lie on your back with knees bent.
Straighten one leg, keeping your thighs parallel to each other. Use your heels to lift up your hips and squeeze your glutes, hold for 2-3 seconds, then lower your leg. Alternate several times with both legs!
Stiff-leg Deadlift
The only exercise on our list that needs a pair of weights - no need to use a dumbbell, some evenly distributed bags full of canned peas can do the trick!
Keep your knees slightly bent throughout. Keep your back straight and bend at the hips, keeping them close to your legs. Slowly stretch back up when you feel a stretch in your hamstrings.
And that’s it! We’ve armed you with some killer leg exercises to get you moving, and to ensure your legs stay muscled and strong!