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An expert trainer says these three moves will build a stronger lower body, improve your balance and boost your metabolism
When you decide to do a home leg workout you’re probably thinking about strengthening your glutes, quads and hamstrings—the large muscles in your butt and upper legs—and any good routine worth your time should help you achieve just that.
But there are many more benefits you can realise with a smartly-programmed session, like this one from Portia Page, a personal trainer, Pilates instructor and Balanced Body educator.
“Fitting strength training into your schedule helps boost your metabolism—the more lean muscle you have, the more calories your body burns—even when resting,” says Page.
“Stronger muscles also improve the control and stability around the joints, reducing your risk of injury, and enhancing your everyday functional movement, from climbing stairs, to getting up from a seat, to picking up your child.”
Page’s choice of dynamic movements also adds instability into the mix, forcing you to develop your ability to balance, and her addition of a heel lift to a goblet squat develops strength in your calves too, a muscle that’s often criminally neglected in leg workouts.
How to do this workout
Page uses Les Mills weights for this workout. “They are easy to hold and maneuver, and work with their SMARTBAR barbell, making them a versatile tool in my home workout studio,” she says.
Dumbbells and kettlebells will work, too (although you’ll need to modify the final exercise if you only have dumbbells), and if you’re returning to exercise after a break you may wish to start by performing these movements without weights.
1. Goblet wide squat with heel lift
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Sets: 3 Reps: 10
How to do it:
- Stand with your feet wider than hip-width apart, holding the weight close to your chest.
- Engage your core, then push your hips back and bend your knees to lower, until your thighs are parallel with the floor, or as close as your mobility allows.
- Push through your heels to stand back up, and then lift your heels, ending on the movement on your toes.
- Lower your heels to the floor and continue into the next rep.
Why Page recommends it: “Squats engage all the major lower-body muscles while keeping your spine supported, and holding the weight in front of your chest keeps your core active and engages your postural muscles.”
2. Romanian deadlift to reverse lunge with a balance
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Sets: 3 Reps: 10 each side
How to do it:
- Hold the weight in your right hand in front of your right hip.
- Engage your core and, keeping your back straight throughout, hinge forward at your hips while bending your knees slightly and lowering the weight until you feel a slight stretch in your hamstrings (the backs of your thighs).
- Squeeze your buttocks and extend your hips to stand upright.
- Step back with your right leg and bend both knees to lower into a lunge.
- Push off your right foot, extend your left leg and hinge forward from your hips, lifting your right leg behind you and lowering the weight.
- Squeeze your buttocks and extend your hips to return to standing. Complete all your reps on one side before swapping sides.
Why Page recommends it: “Deadlifts hit the posterior chain (hamstrings, glutes, and lower back) which are all essential for balance, power and injury prevention. The reverse lunge then helps to build unilateral strength, improves hip mobility, and provides a balance challenge, while adding load to the quads. Ending on a balance targets everything in the lower body, making this exercise a triple threat.”
3. Single leg bridge
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Sets: 3 Rep: 10 each side
How to do it:
- Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, with the plate hooked on your right foot.
- Drive through your left heel to lift your hips while extending your right leg.
- Keeping your right leg extended, lower your hips to just above the floor with control, keeping your hips square, then push through your left heel to lift your hips back to the starting position.
Why Page recommends it: “Bridges are one of the best exercises to activate the glutes and help with hip extension, a crucial requirement for daily activities such as walking. The single-leg bridge tests your balance and works the diagonal sling of muscles that cross the front and back of your torso, as well as challenging the quads and hip flexors.”
Page notes that if you don’t have a weight you can hook on to your foot, you can do a standard glute bridge with the weight resting on your hip.
