Getting to the gym isn’t always an option. And, as you know, skipping leg day is as bigger sin as murder. So if you’re looking to work your legs until you need to throw up down your Gold’s Gym stringer, hunched in a stolen wheelchair, crying at the thought of the 10 stairs up to your sexy, soft, alluring bed then you’re in the right place. Sort of.
The big issue with you not having access to the gym comes with the fact you’re going to be struggling to overload the muscle using a combination of heavy sets and reps.
But some leg training is better than no leg training. So you can ditch the shitty excuses and smash something completely new and completely challenging.
Why training your legs is crucial
Your legs are the biggest muscles you’ve got in your puny body. Unless you’ve spent every gym session for the last 5 years focusing on curls anyway.
To build a well rounded and strong physique a earthquake causing pair of legs is essential.
Not only do guys with tiny legs and massive bodies look plain stupid, they also won’t have as much overall stability or strength when it comes to some of the essential big lifts.
But, it’s not just about the appearance and performance, training your legs has actually been shown to help promote the release of testosterone.
And, as a key steroid hormone, testosterone is an absolutely crucial part of optimizing performance, appearance and recovery.
Best exercises to perform at home
You’ve got to get creative here. We’re going to be choosing these exercises and presuming you don’t have your own barbell or dumbbell set at home. If you do, that’s even better. As adding weight needs to be something you do to get the absolute most from leg training.
A simple backpack is a great tool to load up with weight and use to help train your legs. If you manage to even get 5kg packed in using a bagged up rock or stone you’ll feel a big difference over just hammering out 1 million bodyweight squats.
The best movements you have at your disposable to do a killer home workout are multi joint leg exercises.
#1 Back Squats
Not just one of the best leg exercises, but one of the best exercises period. Back squats are an essential part of any muscle building or even fat loss program. They’re one of the big three lifts and don’t just target your leg muscles, but also work your core muscles.
Squats have also been show to promote body wide muscle building by being associated with key hormones.
If you can find a weight to add to a backpack, or use a barbell, then you can make squats THE killer exercise you need to perform. As well as include them in this workout.
#2 Bulgarian Split Squats
Bulgarian split squats take the conventional back squat movement and make it harder and more sickening.
They focus the weight much more on a single leg, working your quads, calves and hamstrings. Plus making you need to balance yourself out.
If you elevate your leg up you’ll find you are also working your core muscles.
#3 Lunges
Lunges are one of the more well known leg exercises. They can be performed both with and without added weight and can be used as a travelling exercise or something that’s performed stationary.
This is a completely functional movement, as it trains muscles you use whilst walking normally.
To add a bit of weight to your lunge you can either wear a weighted backpack or carry two dumbbells (or heavy objects) either side of you as you complete the movement.
# 4 Calf Raises
Calf raises are an exercises that focus on your calf muscles. They focus on your calf muscles and build up your calves.
As an isolation exercise calf raises calf raises.
They’re really simple to perform, and can even be done standing on the floor. To get the most out of this it’s best to perform them without shoes on and do one leg at a time. Try and get to 20 reps per leg with a couple of fingers lightly pressed on a surface for balance.
#5 Box Jumps
Box jumps build up both upper body and lower body strength. With a big focus on your legs.
Performing a box jump helps build your fast twitch muscle fibers as you squat down then jump up in a explosive motion.
This will burn calories and also help develop your legs.
The killer leg workout
All the movements above can be combined into a killer leg workout that basically requires no equipment.
If you can grab yourself a pair of cheap dumbbells then even better, or find something around the house that can be used to add a little bit of weight to exercises.
Exercise | Reps |
---|---|
Box Jumps | 25 |
Rest | 30 Secs |
Squats | 20-30 |
Rest | 30 Secs |
One Legged Calf Raise | 15 Each Leg |
Rest | 20 Secs |
Lunges | 40 |
Rest | 40 Secs |
Bulgarian Split Squat | 20 |