There are dozens of leg exercises you could perform at home with dumbbells, and combined with multiple workout formats and fancy strength training techniques, you could work out every day of your adult life and still not exhaust all your muscle-building options.
But life’s too short, and a back-to-basics approach is plenty good enough for most of us. If that sounds appealing, check out this four-move workout from Jaleel Trotty, a certified trainer from Planet Fitness.
It features three fundamental compound leg exercises everyone should know how to do—the squat, Romanian deadlift and lunge—as well as calf raises so your lower legs don’t miss out on the action.
Add this routine to your week and Trotty told me that by preserving and building muscle mass with this type of strength training, you’ll ensure your body the foundation it needs to maintain stamina and stay active for longer.
Get your hands on a pair of relatively heavy dumbbells—your legs contain the largest muscles in your body after all. You’re aiming for a weight that makes the final few reps of a set feel challenging, but manageable. One Fit&Well contributor and PT recommends buying a pair of 30lb hex dumbbells if you don’t own home weights already.
1. Squat
Sets: 3 Reps: 10
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding dumbbells.
- Bend your knees and sit your hips back to lower until your hips are in line with your knees (or as low as you can manage), maintaining a straight back throughout.
- Push through your heels to stand back up.
2. Romanian deadlift
Sets: 3 Reps: 10
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and a slight bend in your knees, holding dumbbells in front of your thighs.
- Maintaining a straight back, push your hips back to lower the dumbbells along your legs as far as you can without bending your knees further or rounding your back. You should feel a slight stretch in your hamstrings as you reach the end of your range.
- Pause, then squeeze your glutes to push your hips forward to return to standing.
3. Calf raise
Sets: 3 Reps: 10
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding dumbbells by your sides.
- Rise onto your toes, lifting your heels as high as possible and shifting your weight onto the balls of your feet.
- Pause, then slowly lower your heels to the floor with control.
4. Lunge
Sets: 3 Reps: 10 each side
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding dumbbells by your sides.
- Take a big step forward and bend both knees to your rear knee is just above the floor.
- Push through your front foot to return to the start.
- Repeat, leading with the other foot, alternating sides with each rep.
