Your Lower Bod Will Be Quivering After This Express Bodyweight Workout
The beauty of bodyweight workouts? You can do them any time, anywhere. So next time you're traveling or simply stuck with limited equipment access, give this lower-body blaster of a workout a go.
The moves ahead are a mix of dynamic leg and glute exercises that hit the lower-body muscle groups from all angles. It's important when training the lower body, and your whole body in general, to move in different planes, says Ariel Belgrave, CPT. For example, in an air squat, you are primarily moving in the sagittal plane, or forward and backward. In the speed skaters or lateral lunges, you are moving in the frontal plane, or side to side. Moving more three-dimensionally helps reduce your risk of injury and make it easier to move and function day to day (even when you're, say, carrying groceries).
Meet the expert: Ariel Belgrave, CPT, is the creator of The L.E.A.N. Program fitness and nutrition coaching and the program creator behind the Women's Health 28-Day Workout Challenge.
Another perk of the bodyweight lower-body workout here is that it's totally scaleable. Need more rest and recovery? Only do the first three sets, then keep coming back to the video as you get stronger. Need more challenge? Hold light to medium dumbbells during the lunge patterns, and hold a weight across your hips in the glute bridge. Get ready for a serious lower-body burn—and follow along with Belgrave.
Time: 20 minutes | Equipment: None | Good for: Lower body
Instructions: Warm up with 30 seconds of marching and 30 seconds of air squats (shown below). Then, perform as many reps as possible (AMRAP) of each move for 40 seconds, followed by 20 seconds of rest. Repeat the workout exercises for a total of 4 rounds.
Follow along with the full workout in this video and get detailed instructions on how to do each move below:
(Hearst Owned)Programmed by Ariel Belgrave, CPT, for the Women's Health 28-day workout challenge 2023, this workout hits the butt, legs, and hamstrings with no equipment.
