Bodyweight Exercises For Lower Body

When most people hear “leg day," they immediately think of heavyweights and exercise machines. There's no doubt that a heavily loaded barbell or weight machine can build strong, muscular legs. But there are lower body bodyweight exercises that are really easy to do at home and they’re perfect for getting in a strength workout that’s both functional and effective.

 

Lower body exercises target your legs and glutes. The main muscles involved include:

Glutes, Hamstrings, Quads, and Calves.

 

Strengthening these areas will not only improve your functional fitness levels, but they are also really important for preventing injury too.

 

A lot of people can suffer from injuries if they have weak glutes and hamstrings. So, by targeting these areas, you can avoid difficulties when doing more intense forms of weightlifting.

Are Bodyweight Exercises Effective?


Bodyweight exercises are extremely effective at allowing you to build muscle as well as improve your fitness levels. 

 

Some of the other benefits include:

 

  • Improve speed and power – lower body exercises will help to increase your speed and power. And by strengthening your hamstrings and your glutes, in particular, you can improve your explosivity. So, they’re great for overall performance.


  • Injury prevention – as we mentioned above, weak hamstrings and glutes are a common problem. Lower body bodyweight exercises are functional, and you can isolate each side easily to avoid asymmetries. And by strengthening your lower body muscles in this way, you can avoid injury through strains.


  • Convenient – when you’re not using much equipment to train, you have a lot more freedom in terms of when and where you work out. So, if you need to get some strengthening in but have a busy schedule or are traveling, these are perfect for fitting into your day.


  • Great cardio – bodyweight exercises can be extremely challenging. For example, jumping squats, jumping lunges, and lateral step-ups are all going to raise your heart rate as well as help you feel the burn.

Does Bodyweight exercising burn fat?


The short answer is yes. 

 

What you need to remember is, fat burning is linked to your heart rate. So, as long as your heart rate is at the right level, then you will be burning fat. You don’t necessarily need weights to burn fat, although this is the best and simplest way to challenge your workouts.

LOWER BODY EXERCISES FOR EACH GROUP:

 

Glute Exercises

  • Fire hydrants
  • Sumo squats
  • Donkey kicks
  • Glute bridge

 

Hamstring Exercises

  • Raised glute bridge
  • Single leg bridge
  • Box jumps

 

Quad Exercises

  • Jumping squats 
  • Jumping lunges 
  • Wall sits 
  • Single leg squat  
  • Air squats 
  • Bulgarian split squat  
  • Lateral step-ups 
  • Step up to reverse lunge 
  • Box jumps

You can easily receive a full lower body workout with just your bodyweight. Try some of these exercises next time you are in the gym or at home and you’ll quickly feel the burn.