While dumbbells, barbells, and exercise machines increase our chances of leg and glute gains, it’s still possible to build lower body strength and muscle from the comfort of your home with zero equipment.
It doesn’t matter how we train our muscles per se, as long as they encounter resistance and have to work hard to overcome that resistance, they can become bigger and stronger. For the beginner, especially, their bodyweight can be enough in this instance.
Even when an exercise becomes too easy using just your bodyweight though, there are still ways you can ramp up the intensity, like slowing down the movement, increasing the number of reps you do, pausing in certain positions and cutting down your rest time. It’s called ‘progressive overload’ and it’s the key principle behind building strength and muscle – with or without weights.
Here’s our favourite equipment-free exercises for lower body gains and, when it is eventually time to add some weight into the equation, remember, you can always reach for household items first – don’t underestimate the power of an old rucksack filled with books!
1. Squats
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Why: The gold standard of lower body exercises, squats can deliver maximum bang for your buck as this compound move will activate your glutes, quads, hamstrings, and calf muscles. As we mentioned earlier, there are ample of ways you can up the intensity when a standard squat becomes too easy, such as adding in a pause, tempo, increasing your reps, or (eventually) adding in some additional resistance.
To perform:
- Stand with your feet a little wider than shoulder-width apart, your toes slightly turned out and clasp your hands in front of your chest
- Bending at the knees, sink your hips backwards into a squat, so that your thighs are parallel to your knee crease, or slightly lower
- Hold for a second, then push through your feet to stand up straight
2. Sissy squat
Why: If you want to add some serious dimension to your quads, sissy squats are one of the best, and most underrated bodyweight exercises, in our opinion. Even Exercise Scientist, Dr Mike Israetel, rates them as one of the best quad exercises out there. All you need is a stable surface to hold onto, and you’re good to go.
To perform:
- Stand in between a doorway, with one hand either side of it, your feet hip-width apart and raise your heels off the floor
- Holding the doorway for support, lean your torso back slightly and lower your knees all the way to touch the floor
- Hold here for a second (it will burn) and then push through the balls of your feet to return the start position
3. Bulgarian split squats
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Why: Bulgarian split-squats are one of the best unilateral lower body exercises, which will help you build strength in your quads, glutes and hamstrings, as well as challenge your balance. Depending on your body positioning, you can manipulate this exercise to your advantage: keep your torso more upright, take a shorter stride and let your knee travel further over your foot for more quad focus, or take a longer stride and lean your torso forward more to hit the glutes.
To perform:
- Standing a few steps in front of a sturdy chair, coffee table or weight bench, with your back facing it
- Place your rear foot on the chair (laces facing down), keeping your front foot in line with your hips
- Lower your body as far down towards the floor as you can go (some people can get their back knee just above the floor, but don’t worry if you can’t)
- Hold here for a second, then push through your front foot to return to the start position
4. Step ups
Why: As well as only requiring a sturdy chair, coffee table, step or weight bench, just like Bulgarian split squats, step-ups are great for building single-leg strength to iron out imbalances. They’re easier than Bulgarians though, as you can hold onto something to assist you. The key to making them effective is to make sure you don’t push through your back foot. Keep the weight in your elevated foot, and push through the heel.
To perform:
- Stand in front of a step, sturdy chair or weight bench
- Lift your right foot up and place it onto your chosen surface
- Leaning your torso forwards slightly, push through the heel of your right foot, to lift your left foot onto the surface too
- Slowly lower the left foot back to floor, then your right foot, and repeat on the other side
5. Walking lunges
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Why: Walking lunges won’t just add mass to your lower body, they can be a great cardio-booster too, as high reps will most definitely put your lungs through their paces. If you can’t quite do walking lunges, yet, just stick to alternating lunges. If that’s still too hard, try assisted lunges, where you hold onto something for support.
To perform:
- Stand tall with your feet together
- Take a large step forward with your right foot and bend your right knee, until your left knee is hovering just above the floor
- Push through your right foot to lift your left leg in front of you, then bend your left knee until your right knee is hovering above the floor
- Continue doing this for your desired amount of reps
- If you’re struggling with balance, bring your feet together before taking a step forward
6. Pistol squat
Why: Probably the toughest single-leg exercise in our list, but one that can deliver phenomenal single-leg strength, lighting up your quads, glutes, and hamstrings, while also putting your ankle and knee mobility to the test. It’s rare that you’ll even see people in the gym using weights for these, as all your bodyweight transferred onto one leg is often more than enough to give your lower body muscles a run for their money.
To perform:
- Stand with your feet close together, place your arms lengthened out in front of you, and then lift one leg off the floor
- Bend the knee of the leg you are balancing on and squat down as low as you can towards the floor, whilst keeping your torso upright and your other leg lifted off the floor
- Push through the heel of the balancing leg to return to the start position, then repeat on the opposite leg
7. Single-leg hip thrust
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Why: Not sure how to grow your glutes from the comfort of your home? The single-leg hip thrust is your go-to. Perform each rep slowly with control, and avoid swinging your hips up and down for lots of fast reps. It’ll help you build stronger glutes in no time, making everyday tasks easier and reducing your likelihood of injury.
To perform:
- Start with your upper back supported on a chair, the edge of a coffee table or weight bench, and your feet position out in front of you
- Raise your hips so that you’re in a tabletop position and your feet are positioned under your knees (your hips, knees and shoulders should all be in line with each other)
- Raise one leg in the air, then descend your bum towards the floor
- Push back through the supporting leg, raising your hips back to your tabletop position
- Hold here for a second, then repeat (and don’t forget to swap sides)
8. Bodyweight leg extension
Why: Again, if you want to build massive quads, the bodyweight leg extension is simple, yet effective exercise to max them out. It still requires a decent amount of base strength to perform, however, it is easier than the sissy squat.
To perform:
- Begin by kneeling on the floor and cross your arms over your chest, with a hand resting on either shoulder
- Slowly lower your body backwards until you can’t lean back any further and you feel a stretch across your quads
- Squeeze your quads to reverse the movement and return back to your start position (here’s a demo video, just in case)
