10 Easy Leg Workouts with Dumbbells at Home

Written by Mariia Roza

Written by Mariia Roza

Mariia Roza is a weight loss and fitness writer at Unimeal. She is an expert in nutrition, wellness, longevity, and sports.

on November 11, 2021

Fact checked by Davi Santana, M.Sc.

Fact checked by Davi Santana, M.Sc.

Davi Santana is a fact checker at Unimeal. He has been a personal trainer for more than 5 years. He is well-versed in strength training, HIIT, running, functional training, and CrossFit.

The Unimeal team works to give you the most accurate and up-to-date information. All texts are reviewed by a panel of experts and editors and updated according to the latest research. Only evidenced-based and verified sources of leading medical publications and universities get into the article materials.

All you need for a slim body is one pair of dumbbells. Build muscle at home with exceptional non-revealing exercises.

Never ever skip the leg day if you want a well-balanced good-looking physique. You can become stronger, more athletic, and build muscles even when the gyms are closed, or if you don’t want to buy a gym membership.

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We’ve gathered ten exercises that will help you tone your legs at home. Some of them are pretty classic and easy to follow, and some of them are more challenging and will incorporate your core and lower back to stabilize your body. Choose what works for you, don’t forget about the proper technique, and improve your body even if all you have is a pair of dumbbells.

Types of leg workouts to do with dumbbells

There are several categorizations of leg workouts with free weights. According to the form, there are:

• Lunges (backward, forward, on the side)
• Squats (narrow stand, wide stand)
• Deadlifts (single leg, both legs)
• Jumps
• Thrusts

Considering the exercises by muscle groups, we can divide workouts into:

• Gluts exercices (activating gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus, aka the buttocks).
• Quads exercises (activating rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius, aka front sides of your thighs).
• Hamstrings exercises (activating the long head of the biceps femoris, the short head of the biceps femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus, aka back sides of your thighs).
• Calves exercises (activating the gastrocnemius and the soleus, aka the below the knee part of your legs).

When we talk about the training purposes, we can set apart these types of exercises:

• Strength exercises focused on making your muscles stronger
• Hypertrophy exercises, aimed at muscles growth
• Power exercises that improve your athleticism and focus on the explosiveness of your moves
• Corrective exercises that work with the weakest muscles to improve your balance or create security bondage around your knees or hips

Exercises with dumbbells for a leg day at home

Before we get to the exercises, here is a quick reminder. Always try harder than the last time. To build muscle efficiently, increase your volume, the number of sets or reps every week or two.

Another important rule is that you should be consistent in your workouts! Muscle building is not an easy process. You will need at least eight weeks to see your first results. 

With all this being said, here are our top ten exercises for the lower body.

Dumbbell front squat

How do you perform the dumbbell front squat?

Put dumbbells on or near your shoulders. If you use one dumbbell, hold it in front of your chest. When you do squats, try to get your thighs parallel with the ground. If you feel some discomfort in your hips or knees, find the squat depth comfortable.

What muscles does the dumbbell front squat activate?

Squats are one of the compound exercises that train several muscles of your body. Dumbbell front squats will primarily work on your quads, partially on your glutes, and on your calves as you use them to stabilize your position when you go up. Studies³Paoli A., Marcolin G., Petrone N. (2009, January). The Effect of Stance Width on the Electromyographical Activity of Eight Superficial Thigh Muscles during Back Squat with Different Bar Loads. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. DOI:10.1519/jsc.0b013e3181876811 show that if you do narrow stance squats, you activate the inner part of your quads more, and if you choose a wide stance for squats, your glutes are activated. 

Is there something else?

Squats add flexibility to your calves and hips. Thus, it’s a great exercise if you do some sports and aim to increase performance.

Some people cannot do squats because of the knee or hip injuries. Don’t push yourself if this exercise isn’t comfortable for you. If you’re at the gym, you can easily replace squats with machines, such as a leg press machine.

Dumbell Reverse lunge

How do you do the Dumbell reverse lunge?

Take dumbbells in your hands and make lunges backward. Don’t put both your feet on one line; the leg going back should be placed a little bit out. 

What muscles does the reverse lunge dumbbell activate?

The main focus is on your quads and gluts. Reverse lunges also activate your core as your back and abs are working to stabilize your movements. You also activate your calves with this exercise, though there is little focus on these muscles.

Is there something else?

This form of lunges is believed to be less challenging for your joints, especially your knees compare to other types of lunges, like the walking lunges⁴Stastny P., Lehnert M., Zaatar A. M. Z., et al. (2015, November). Does the Dumbbell-Carrying Position Change the Muscle Activity in Split Squats and Walking Lunges? Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. DOI:10.1519/JSC.0000000000000976. However, if you like it more, you can try ordinary lunge dumbbells and progress to the dumbbell stepping lunge in several weeks to make your workouts more challenging.

Romanian deadlift

How do you do the Romanian deadlift?

You can do this exercise with a barbell (a more traditional version) or two dumbbells. You can use a narrow or a medium stance. Start with two dumbbells in your hands pulled down. Push your hips straight back and lower the dumbbells below your knees. Your back should be straight (don’t round your back!), and your knees should stay almost at the same point through all the exercise.

When you push your hips forward, your chest should go a bit up, and you can do so by putting your shoulder blades together.

It is great if you have a large mirror. Stand sideways to it so you can see that the dumbbells are at the same vertical line through all the exercise, that your hips go backward, that your knees don’t go forward, and that your back is straight.

What muscles does the Romanian deadlift activate?

The main focus of this exercise is the hamstring, though, as the Romanian deadlift is a compound movement, you will also feel the tension in your glutes, lower back, and maybe even in your upper back, forearms, and trapezius.

Is there something else?

One of the most common mistakes in this exercise technique is when people make a kind of a semi-squat by pushing their knees forward. This might be the result of too heavy weights. Start with lower weights to get the proper technique first.

Dumbbell squat jumps

How do you do dumbbell squat jumps?

Hold weights by your sides. Use a medium stance, don’t place your feet too narrow or too wide. Descend into a squat, and when you’re in your lower position, just above the parallel, push yourself explosively with heels upwards. During the whole repetition, hold dumbbells in straight, tense hands.

What muscles do dumbbell squat jumps activate?

Dumbbell squat jumps are an explosive exercise that makes you use your muscles to the maximum in a short period. It increases your heart rate more than any other of these exercises, activating all the muscles in your lower body, including quads, glutes, and calves. It also includes your abs and lower back needed to stabilize your body.

Is there something else?

This exercise aims to make you more explosive, adds power to your movements and muscles. Dumbbell squat jumps are a great exercise to improve your overall athleticism. One study⁵Vanderka M., Longova K., Olasz D., et al. (2016, August). Improved Maximum Strength, Vertical Jump, and Sprint Performance after 8 Weeks of Jump Squat Training with Individualized Loads. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine. PMID:27803628 shows improvements in maximal strength vertical jump and sprint performance among athletes who’ve tried this exercise.

Dumbbell adductor lunge

How do you do the dumbbell adductor lunge?

You will need a slidable surface, shoes, or socks, or a specific something that will make sliding easier. In this exercise, you will need to make a lunge by sliding one leg aside.

Hold a dumbbell in front of your chest, and start sliding with one leg aside, simultaneously pushing your hips backward. Stop in a semi-squat when your knee is just above your ankle. Slide back with your leg. To do so, you will use muscles inside your thighs.

What muscles does the dumbbell adductor lunge activate?

The main focus of this exercise is the hip adductors, the muscles inside your thighs. They’re responsible for your hips’ mobility. Hips mobility is essential as it helps you avoid lower back and knee injury. Dumbbell adductor lunge also incorporates your glute medius.

Is there something else?

If you’re in a gym, choose an adductor machine. It was specifically designed to hit that specific inner hip muscle.

Curtsy Lunge

How do you do the curtsy lunge?

Put one leg on to a side, and perform a squat by pushing your hips back and placing your knee above your ankle. After you stand up from the squat, you put the leg round to another side of your body and back behind you, where it performs a curtsy lunge. For a curtsy lunge, sit straight down on a leg behind you.

What muscles does the curtsy lunge activate?

You will feel all the thigh area, especially the quads and the glutes. Lunge to curtsy also works on your abductors, the outer part of your thigh.

Is there something else?

This exercise might be quite challenging for people with ankle, knee, hip, or lower back injuries. Don’t force yourself into doing it if it makes you feel uncomfortable.

Standing calf raises

How do you do standing calf raises?

Take dumbbells and stand on something that elevates your toes. Raise all the way up on your toes, hold that position for several seconds, and then go down until your heels hit the floor.

What muscles do standing calf raises activate?

Standing calf raises activate the calves muscles (gastrocnemius) and the inside muscles attached to the knee joints.

Is there something else?

Some people have asymmetrical bodies. For example, one of your calves can be 0.5-1 inches wider than the other one. With this exercise, you can correct such an asymmetry by working on the lagging leg a bit harder than on the other one. 

Single-leg deadlift

How do you do the single-leg deadlift?

Stand straight, and lower dumbbells in front of you, while lifting your back leg in parallel to the floor. Your head, back, and back leg should form a straight line. Your hips should be in parallel with the floor. Don’t bend your knees, and don’t hunch over. 

What muscles does the single-leg deadlift activate?

The main muscles activated by the SLDL are the gluteus and hamstrings. However, your core, and lower back also participate in this exercise. 

Is there something else?

If you have trouble stabilizing your body after lifting your leg, you can hold dumbbells in one hand. The dumbbells are used as a counterbalance to help your body stabilize. If your left leg is floating, take a dumbbell in your left hand. If your right leg is floating, hold a dumbbell in your right hand. Doing so will help your hips stay in parallel with the ground and make the exercise less challenging.

Bulgarian split squat

How do you do the Bulgarian split squat?

Put one foot on a bench (so that there’s around a 90-degree angle in the knee) and step forward with another foot. Your shoulders should be above your hips, and your chest should be up. You can take one dumbbell and hold it in front of your chest. You can use two dumbbells, placing them on your shoulders, choose what works for you. Make a squat all the way down so that your knee touches the ground, and then go all the way up. Don’t lean forward while doing squats. 

What muscles does the Bulgarian split squat activate?

Bulgarian split squat activates all the legs, including quads, calves, glutes, and hamstrings. You can focus more on the quadriceps by placing your standing leg closer to the bench. If you step forward a bit more, where your knee doesn’t go beyond your foot, you work harder on your glute. As this is a single-leg exercise, your body needs to stabilize, so this exercise will also include your lower back and core.

Is there something else?

There are several variations of the Bulgarian split squat. For example, you can add some intensity to it by choosing the one-and-a-half technique, when you go down to the bottom, then halfway up, and then back down again as one rep. 

Dumbbell hip thrust

How do you do the dumbbell hip thrust?

You will need a bench or a well-fixed chair or sofa. Sit next to it and make sure that when you make a thrust, your upper back and shoulders will be on a bench. Holding a dumbbell on your lower stomach (or on your hip bones if you use two dumbbells), perform a thrust. Hold the upper position for a while and then go back down. You should be a straight line: Do not through your head back and do not hyperextend your spine.

Your knees should be at 90 degrees in the upper position, and your back should be as straight as possible. 

What muscles does the dumbbell hip thrust activate?

According to one research⁷Contreras B., Vigotsky A. D., Schoenfeld B. J., et al. (2016, February). A Comparison of Gluteus Maximus, Biceps Femoris, and Vastus Lateralis Electromyography Amplitude in the Parallel, Full, and Front Squat Variations in Resistance-Trained Females. Journal of Applied Biomechanics. Retrieved from https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/jab/32/1/article-p16.xml, hip thrust with weights (barbell or dumbbell) is one of the most efficient exercises for upper gluteus, lower gluteus, and hamstrings. 

Is there something else?

One study⁸Barbalho M., Coswig V., Souza D., et al. (2020, May). Back Squat vs. Hip Thrust Resistance-training Programs in Well-trained Women. International Journal of Sports Medicine. Retrieved from https://www.thieme-connect.de/products/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/a-1082-1126 found that back squats are double as effective as the hip thrust for muscle growth. However, one of the essential benefits of hip thrust is its low impact on the lower back. So, if you feel pain or discomfort in your lower back when performing back squats, hip thrust might be a good exercise you can do instead.

Some basic recommendations on leg workouts

• Most of the exercises described above are compound movements that incorporate many muscles in your body. Compound movements should take a significant part of your workout routine if you want to get maximum results in a short period.
• If you aim to build new muscle, you have to rest. Make more extended interset resting periods⁶Aguilera-Castells J., Busca B., Morales J., et al. (2019, August). Muscle Activity of Bulgarian Squat. Effects of Additional Vibration, Suspension, and Unstable Surface. PLoS One. Retrieved from https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0221710 and don’t train legs every single day.
• On the other hand, having only one leg day a week might not be enough for maximum results. A 2016 systematic meta-analysis⁷Contreras B., Vigotsky A. D., Schoenfeld B. J., et al. (2016, February). A Comparison of Gluteus Maximus, Biceps Femoris, and Vastus Lateralis Electromyography Amplitude in the Parallel, Full, and Front Squat Variations in Resistance-Trained Females. Journal of Applied Biomechanics. Retrieved from https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/jab/32/1/article-p16.xml has demonstrated that training a muscle group twice a week compared to once a week almost doubles the hypertrophy results.
• When performing single-leg exercises, always start with the lagging body part first.
• If some exercises are painful for you (like squats or lunges), skip them for a while and strengthen your muscles and joints with other exercises or machines first.
• Usually, personal coaches recommend that beginners start with two to three sets of 12-15 repetitions of one exercise. For maximum hypertrophy, at the end of the set, you need to feel as if you almost can’t do this anymore. Choose weight accordingly: Not too heavy so that you can perform all reps and all sets; not too light, so you feel tired after the exercise.