Leg exercises for men with dumbbells and barbell

May 5, 2019
Home workouts
Tatiana Udalova

Using dumbbells to train your lower body is just as effective as using them to train your upper body. Doing exercises with any type of weight increases the intensity, challenges your body, and will help you become stronger, more resilient, and build muscle over time.

Dumbbells are the easiest to find and use - most gyms will have at least one rack of dumbbells in different sizes, and they tend to be easier to occupy than some other options. It will also not be difficult to purchase this equipment for home use. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced athlete, dumbbells are a great and convenient option for your workout.

Squats

Stand up straight, take one dumbbell in each hand, place them on your sides with your palms facing inward.
Lower yourself down, bending your knees until they form a 90-degree angle with the floor. Rise to the starting position after a short pause at the lowest point.
Keep your upper body still throughout the exercise.

Using dumbbells for squats

Here is an effective exercise for training the leg muscles. Squatting with dumbbells means improving your quadriceps and glutes. Execution techniques vary; the load can shift to the buttocks or quadriceps. When doing squats, the limbs are placed narrowly, the exercise loads the quadriceps as much as possible. Standing with your feet wider than your shoulders, squats below parallel, the muscles of the buttocks are loaded to the maximum.

The exercises are great for the gluteus medius muscles. Do squats with dumbbells in your hands. Push off from the floor, using the help of your heels, jump up, and land on your knees. It is worth covering the floor surface with soft material in advance.

Reverse lunges

Stand up straight, take one dumbbell in each hand, place them on your sides with your palms facing inward.
Take your leg back and begin to lower yourself down until your knees are at right angles. After a short pause, rise to the starting position.
Repeat the exercise on the other leg. Keep your upper body still throughout the exercise.

Inner thigh exercises with dumbbells

Spread your lower limbs wide, with your toes turned out as far as possible. The dumbbells are held below, near the feet, then we squat until the thigh is parallel to the line. You need to feel how much the inner thigh is tense. Then we squat and push off the floor with our heels, the gluteal muscles remain tense.

Deep squat

You should try to straighten your pelvis forward; this position removes excess load from the back and allows you to keep your buttocks tense. The activity requires a straight lower back. No need to bend or round. Do not push your knees forward too much. They should bend when rising from a squat. The dumbbells are lifted by tensing the buttocks; you should not pull the weight with other parts of the body.

Side lunges

Stand up straight, take one dumbbell in each hand, place them on your sides with your palms facing inward. Or take one dumbbell and hold it in front of you.
Take a long step to the side so that your knee rotates 90 degrees. Slowly return to the top after a short pause.
Repeat the exercise on the other side. Keep your back straight throughout the exercise.

Standing or sitting, rise on your toes with dumbbells

A good activity to improve your shin. The calf muscles develop from raising on your toes. When raised to the toes from a sitting position, the soleus muscle improves. The dumbbell calf raise is ideal for increasing said muscle size. For example, a number of exercises to improve the muscles of the lower leg:

Holding dumbbells, stand straight, toes raised 5 cm, heels fixed to the floor. When lifting socks, use a barbell or wooden blocks. Then smoothly rise onto your toes, contracting your calf muscles. If you have good balance, you should stay for a few moments. Lower yourself down, touching your heels to the floor. Do the exercise 10 times in two approaches.
When rising on your toes, take a deep breath, and when lowering, exhale. This exercise is good for strengthening your calf muscles. To see results, light weight dumbbells must be used. Dumbbells for men can weigh 30 kg. You need to approach the load gradually. At the end of correctly performed exercises, the calf muscle will begin to burn. Take breaks of 30 seconds between approaches.

Strengthening your calves

Calf raise

Stand on a slight elevation, take one dumbbell and press it towards you, palm facing inward. Bend one leg slightly and move it back a little.
Rise up, standing on one toe, and slowly lower down after a short pause.
Switch legs and repeat the exercise. Make sure that only the calf muscles are involved in the work.

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Leg exercises with dumbbells for men can be performed both in the gym and at home. As practice has shown, with a competent approach, you can achieve good results at home. Moreover, the result of “home” athletes often exceeds the result of athletes training in gyms. Of course, this largely depends on how well both the training program and nutrition plan are drawn up. But more on that later. Below we will look at the basic exercises with dumbbells for men that will bring maximum results.

Squats with dumbbells.

This is one of the main and basic exercises for training legs at home. Try to squat so that your knee does not go beyond the toe line. At the same time, move your pelvis back. In general, the technique of all exercises is clearly visible in the image.

Squat with wide legs.

Unlike the previous type of squats, in an exercise with wide legs, the back of the thigh and gluteal muscle are more involved in the work.

Lunges with dumbbells.

Perhaps this is one of the most effective exercises with dumbbells at home for men. This movement works the hamstrings and gluteal muscles perfectly. The advantage of this exercise is that for a full load you do not need very large dumbbells, and you can more than fully load your legs at home.

Lunges can be done with a step forward, with a step back, and even with an “angled” step. I recommend starting with regular lunges, moving forward.

Deadlift with dumbbells.

This is one of the best exercises for training the hamstrings and gluteal muscles. It is very important to catch the tension in the muscle at the lowest point. If there is no tension in the back of the thigh, straighten your legs more and keep your back straight.

Bent-overs with dumbbells.

In fact, this is an analogue of a deadlift, and also works well with the gluteal muscle.

Lifting onto a platform with dumbbells.

If you train at home, you can use any hill as a platform.

Standing calves with dumbbells.

This is an exercise for the calf muscles.

These are the basic dumbbell leg exercises for men. It is also important in what sequence and within what program they are performed. On average, the legs are fully trained once a week, and on the remaining days other muscle groups are trained. This is called a “training program”, which is compiled depending on your goal: to burn fat and gain muscle definition and endurance, or, conversely, to gain more mass if you are thin.

Top 10 leg exercises with dumbbells

Typically, a standard dumbbell leg workout consists of a variety of squats and lunges. Yes, these exercises are the basis of classes. But we added plyometric and static elements to this TOP. This will allow you to diversify your usual training and comprehensively pump up your legs with dumbbells. But first things first.

Squats

One of the best exercises for legs and buttocks with dumbbells. Target muscles are quadriceps, gluteals, calves, soleus, and hamstrings. The lumbar region, trapezius, and forearm muscles are indirectly loaded (when holding dumbbells).

Technique:

Straighten up, place your feet at shoulder level;
Take the shells and place them on the sides of your hips;
Taking a deep breath, simultaneously bend your legs and move your pelvis back;
When you lower your knees to a right angle, stop for a second;
Then, exhaling, return to the upright position.

Do 3-4 sets of 12-15 repetitions.

When performing squats with dumbbells, make sure that your back remains straight. Don't lean forward too much. Control both phases of the exercise: a smooth squat and a smooth rise.

Romanian deadlift

The Romanian deadlift exercise is designed for focused training of the gluteal muscles and hamstrings. Quadriceps, shin muscles, and back extensors receive indirect load.

Technique:

Stand up straight, bring your feet close to each other (15-20 cm);
Hold dumbbells with straight arms near the groin area;
Inhaling deeply, bend over and lower the implements below your knees;
Exhale and return to the starting position.

Do 3-4 sets of 12-15 repetitions.

Bend your knees slightly as you lower the dumbbells. At the bottom you should feel a strong stretch in your buttocks and back of your thighs. Remember to keep your back straight and avoid “rounding” it. Also make sure that the projectiles fall and rise along the line of the legs.

Plie squats

When performing a plie, the main load falls on the buttocks and adductor muscles of the thighs. The calf muscles, abs, and quadratus lumborum muscles are additionally loaded.

Technique:

Straighten up, spread your feet wide (about 70-80 cm);
Turn your socks out to the sides as far as possible;
Hold the dumbbell with both hands near the groin area;
Inhaling deeply, squat down and lower your pelvis until a right angle is formed in your knees;
Exhale and return to the starting position.

Do 3-4 sets of 12-15 repetitions.

When performing plie squats, do not lean forward and avoid “rounding” your back. Make sure that the knee joints do not converge inward. Move smoothly, without quickly lowering your body or sudden jolts from the bottom position.

Lunges forward

Lunges work the quadriceps, calves, soleus, hamstrings, and glutes. Indirect load is received by the abs, trapezius, muscles of the forearms (when holding dumbbells), as well as small muscles responsible for stabilization and balance of the body.

Technique:

Straighten up, take the shells and place them on the sides of your hips;
Take a wide step forward with one leg and lower your pelvis with an inhalation;
The angle at the “front” knee should be straight;
Exhaling, rise to the starting position and repeat with the other leg.

Do 3-4 sets of 12-15 reps on each side.

When performing lunges, make sure that the knee joint of the forward leg does not extend beyond the toes. Keep your back straight and avoid leaning forward.

Pistol Squats

The Pistol exercise creates a powerful load for the quadriceps and gluteal muscles. The core muscles and small stabilizers are indirectly involved.

Technique:

Stand up straight, take one dumbbell and lift it to your shoulder;
Place your free hand on a stable piece of furniture for balance;
Raise your left foot slightly off the floor;
With an inhalation, squat on your right leg while simultaneously lifting your left leg to the horizontal;
Having lowered to the end, rise with an exhalation.

Do 3-4 sets of 8-10 squats on each leg.

Move slowly while maintaining balance. The exercise is difficult. To begin with, we recommend mastering the technique without weight.

Bulgarian lunges

Bulgarian lunges are used to work the quadriceps, gluteal muscles, and hamstrings. Additionally, the exercise involves the back, abs, forearms (when holding the apparatus), as well as small muscles responsible for stabilizing and balancing the body.

Technique:

Stand a meter away from a sofa or chair and turn your back;
Take dumbbells and place them on the sides of your hips;
Take one leg back and press it with your foot into the seat;
From this position, inhale and lower your pelvis until a right angle is formed at the knee of the “front” leg;
Exhaling, return to the starting position.