Body Weight Leg Exercises

Great leg exercises you can do using your body weight

Good leg exercises using your body weight.

Russian Leg Curls

1. Find a rail, beam, or stable couch to wedge your feet under. Kneel on top of a pillow or folded towel to reduce pressure on the knees.

2. With an upright trunk, lower the body under control while keeping the glutes tight, making sure not to bend forward too much at the hips or allow the pelvis to anteriorly rotate too much.

3. At the bottom of the movement, catch yourself in a push-up position and spring back to starting position, using the shoulder and arm muscles for assistance but attempting to maximize the torque on the knee joint and trying to rely on the hamstrings for movement production.

Primary: Hamstring (biceps femoris, semitendinosus, semimembranosus)

Secondary: Erictor spinae (spinalis, longissimus, iliocostalis), gluteus maximus

Bulgarian Split Squats

Body Weight Leg Exercises

1. Stand in front of a step, stair, couch, bed table, stool, or weight bench. Reach back with one foot, resting the top of the foot on the top of the surface. (Think laces down.)

2. With an upright trunk or a slight forward lean, sink the knee of the rear leg down and slightly back while trying to keep most of the body weight on the front leg.

3. Descend until the back knee almost touches or touches the ground. Rise to starting position.

Primary: Quadriceps (rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, vastus intermedius), gluteus maximus

Secondary: Hamstrings (biceps femoris, semitendinousus, semimembranosus), adductor magnus, adductor longus, adductor brevis, gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, deep-hip external rotators.

Reverse Lunge

Body Weight Leg Exercises

1. Stand with feet pointed straight ahead and hands on the hips.

2. Keeping most of the weight on the front leg, step back and lean forward to an approximately 30-degree trunk angle, sinking into the working hip and descending until the back knee approaches or touches the ground.

3. Rise back to starting positon.

Primary: Quadriceps (rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, vastus intermedius), gluteus maximus

Secondary: Hamstrings (biceps femoris, semitendinousus, semimembranosus), adductor magnus, adductor longus, adductor brevis, gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, deep-hip external rotators.

Step Ups

Body Weight Leg Exercises

1. Begin with your entire foot placed on top of a step, sturdy box, chair, or weight bench. The other foot remains on the ground.

2. Shift your weight forward and lift your body weight by stepping up, making sure that the top leg does most of the work and the bottom leg doesn’t provide too much momentum.

3. Stand tall and squeeze the working glute. Do not touch the working leg to the bench and swing the nongrounded knee upward by flexing the hip. Lower yourself slowly and under control back to the starting position.

Primary: Quadriceps (rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, vastus intermedius), gluteus maximus

Secondary: Hamstrings (biceps femoris, semitendinousus, semimembranosus), adductor magnus, adductor longus, adductor brevis, gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, deep-hip external rotators, psoas

Static Lunge

Body Weight Leg Exercises

Get in a split-stance position that is wide enough that your front shin is vertical at the bottom of the lunge.

1. Your hands are on the hips and feet pointed straight ahead.

2. Keeping the torso upright, descend until the back knee approaches or touches the ground.

3. Return to starting position.

Primary: Quadriceps (rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, vastus intermedius), gluteus maximus

Secondary: Hamstrings (biceps femoris, semitendinousus, semimembranosus), adductor magnus, adductor longus, adductor brevis, gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, deep-hip external rotators.