What are Leg Workouts? | What Muscles Do They Work? | The Exercises

Follow along with Pat Chadwick in this 10-minute complete leg workout at home, using only bodyweight with no equipment needed. This routine will have you building muscle, strength, and endurance in the comfort of your own home. If you have free weights at home, you can incorporate them into this workout to make it more challenging. 

There are 10 exercises in this workout e where you will work for 45 seconds for each exercise and rest for 15 seconds. Every third exercise will be an explosive movement that will get your heart rate pumping, which might push you to your limits! 

The majority of leg exercises below are compound movements, which means they work on many muscle groups. For example, squats engage your quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, inner and outer thighs, and also your core. This will have a positive carryover to your everyday activities and sporting performance such as walking, running, cycling, and swimming. Research suggests that resistance training is effective for burning calories and reducing fat mass.

What Muscles are Worked by this Leg Workout?

The exercises demonstrated in this workout are compound movements that work multiple muscles at the same time. This will increase your workout efficiency, save time, and burn more calories. The primary muscles worked are the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, gluteus maximus, and hamstrings. The secondary muscles worked are the abdominals, soleus, and adductors.

What Level is this Leg Workout?

This is an intermediate-level workout that contains explosive movements that will get your heart rate pumping and push you to the limits. Beginners are welcome to try this workout and test their muscular strength and endurance. If you find this hard or need a break - Don’t worry about it, take a small rest, and continue once you are ready.

Forward lunges

1. Stand upright with your feet being hip-width apart and arms down by your sides.
2. Inhale as you take a big step forward approximately 3 feet in front with your right leg, and lower until your knees are bent at 90 degrees angle. Keep your core tight and your back straight.
3. Exhale as you drive through the heel on your front feet and return to the starting position.
4. Switch to lunging with your opposite leg on the next rep and repeat this alternating movement for 45 seconds. You can learn more about the lunge and its variations in this lunges tutorial.

Squat Jacks

1. Stand with your feet together and hands down by your sides.
2. Bend your knees and jump your feet out into a sumo squat position where your feet are spread out at should-width apart, while simultaneously extending your arms out to the side and overhead. 
3. Lower down into a squat until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Keep your core tight and your torso upright.
4. Exhale as you jump your feet back to the starting position with your arms down by your sides. 
5. Repeat this movement for 45 seconds.

Curtsey Lunges 

1. Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart and arms down at your sides.
2. Inhale as you step back with your right foot diagonally to the left. Lower down until your knees are bent at 90 degrees while clasping your hands together at the center of your chest to counterbalance. Keep your core tight to ensure that your torso stays upright.
3. Exhale as you extend your legs and return to the starting position, followed by repeating this action on the opposite leg.
4. Repeat this movement for 45 seconds. You can find out more about this exercise and its benefits in this lunges tutorial.

Sumo Squats

1. Begin by standing tall with your feet wider than shoulder-width and your toes pointing slightly outwards. Your arms are down by your sides.
2. Inhale as you lower your hips down as if you’re sitting back on a chair. Keep lowering until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Brace your core.
3. Exhale as you push through your heels to extend your legs and return to the starting position. Squeeze your glutes at the top position.
4. Repeat this movement for 45 seconds. You can make this exercise more challenging by holding a dumbbell at the center of your chest. Learn how to do this by checking out this goblet squats tutorial.

Jumping Lunges

1. Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart. 
2. Inhale as you jump your right leg forward and your left leg back so that they’re approximately 3-4 feet apart. Lower down into a lunge until both knees are at 90 degrees.
3. Exhale as you explosively jump up and switch your legs in midair so that you land with your left leg in front and your right leg back. Cushion the landing by bending your knees into a lunge.
4. Repeat this alternating jumping tempo for 45 seconds.

Bulgarian Split Squats 

1. Stand roughly two feet in front of an elevated surface such as a chair or a plyometric box. Your feet are hip-width apart and your arms are down by your sides. Place your left foot on the elevated surface behind you, either balancing on your toes or at the front of your feet. Engage your core and keep your torso upright. 
2. Inhale as you lower down by bending your knees until your front thigh is parallel to the ground. You can bring your hands together at the center of your chest to help with balance. Keep your core tight.
3. Repeat this movement for 45 seconds, followed by switching sides and working for another 45 seconds. There are three different variations of this exercise that you can practice in your routines. Check out this Bulgarian split squats tutorial to find out more.

Reverse Lunges

1. Stand tall with your feet being hip-width apart and arms down by your sides.
2. Inhale as you take a big step back with your right leg roughly about three feet backward into a lunge. Lower down until your knees are at 90 degrees angle.
3. Exhale as you extend your leg and return to the starting position.
4. Switch sides after every single rep and repeat this alternating movement for 45 seconds.

Elevated Hamstring Bridge

1. Lie on your back with your heels resting on a chair and arms by your sides and palms flat on the ground. Your knees should be stacked on top of your hips.
2. Exhale as you contract your abs, glutes, and hamstrings, to lift your butt off the ground by pulling your heels down towards the ground. Raise up until your body is at a straight line from shoulders to knees. Squeeze your butt and hold the top position for a second.
3. Inhale as you slowly lower back down to the starting position.
4. Repeat this movement for 45 seconds.

Jump Squats 

1. Stand with your feet just wider than shoulder-width apart and your toes pointing slightly outwards.
2. Inhale as you squat down by bending your knees, while simultaneously bringing your hands together at the center of your chest. Lower down until your knees are at 90 degrees. Squeeze your core and keep your torso upright. 
3. Exhale as you drive through your heels to extend your legs and propel your body straight up into airborne, lifting both feet of the ground. Slice your hands back down as you jump up. 
4. Land softly, cushioning the momentum by landing into a squat. 
5. Repeat this movement for 45 seconds. We have covered this exercise extensively in this jump squats tutorial - Be sure to check it out!

I want to congratulate you on completing this killer routine! What you’ve done is a combination of muscular strength, endurance, and cardio training. This burns lots of calories and sets your glutes, quads, and hamstrings on fire. I recommend you switch up your training to target different muscle groups whilst resting your lower body muscles. Check out this oblique workout and this chest and bicep workout - See you there!

About the Author

My name is Pat Chadwick, I am a calisthenics coach with over 4 years of experience in helping people from all backgrounds to achieve their calisthenics goals. My goal is to become the number one calisthenics coach in the world as it is my passion to help people change their lives through inspiring bodyweight movements. I believe everyone deserves the right to feel good about their health, body, and be delighted inside and out.