Leg Workouts with Dumbbells for Shredded Legs

Best Leg Workout Dumbbell Only

We know you can get a decent leg workout with dumbbells – yep, even light ones. So we’ve used our personal training knowledge and years of coaching clients to put together a one size fits all workout for leg day using dumbbells.

If you’re looking for a two-day sesh, keep scrolling for your follow-up leg day dumbbell workout.

What’s the aim of this leg workout?

• Raise heart rate and burn calories
• Improve leg muscle endurance
• Help to strengthen your legs
• To be easily modified to suit all levels

What’s the importance of leg day?

Your legs and their strength play a huge part in your daily life and sports. Walking, taking the stairs, picking something up off the floor, unloading the dishwasher – these are all functional movements that involve squats, hip hinges and lunges. All things that you can strengthen and support during leg day.

Making sure your legs are strong enough for day-to-day life, and your sports is going to help make life easier and improve your athletic performance. Leg day also targets major muscle groups in the body and recruits stabilising muscles such as the core, back and arms. So, while it might be leg day, you’re doing more than just a leg workout!

Never skip leg day!

The Dumbbell Leg Workout

Enough chat, let’s get started on the best dumbbell leg exercises.

Just by changing up the reps and tempo you can make this workout suit a beginner right through to a regular lifter.

If you’re new to weights, use light dumbbells or even body weight. Stick with lower reps too.

If you’re a regular gym goer and want to feel the burn in your lower body even with lighter weights, aim for high reps or a slow tempo on the eccentric. Really think about the movement and make the mind-muscle connection to help increase activation.

1. Universal Leg Workout With Just A Pair Of Dumbbells

Warm up:

Never skip the warm up.
If there’s a treadmill or bike get the body warm with some cardio for 5 minutes then go into 10 bodyweight squats, 10 inch worms and 10 bodyweight good mornings.

No machines? Try:

Jog on the spot, bodyweight squats, bodyweight good mornings, inch worms, hip mobility movements – 1 minute of each

Main session:

Rep range: 12-20

Sets: 3

Rest: 1-2 mins between sets

Weight: body weight or pair of dumbbells

Workout type: lower body workout with just dumbbells

• Exercise 1: Dumbbell front squats / add a challenge by counting to 3 on the eccentric
  How to: Start by standing with your feet shoulder width apart. Hold your dumbbells close to your chest. Hinge at the hip and knee until your thighs are parallel to the ground (or almost!). Return to standing position. Add a challenge by counting to 3 on the way back to standing.

• Exercise 2: Split squat / add a challenge by elevating the back leg and turning it into dumbbell Bulgarian split squats.

  How to: Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Take a wide step back so you can give your legs enough space. Drop your back left knee to the floor and push back up with your front heel. Keep your hips level and glutes engaged as you perform the movement. Add a challenge by elevating the back foot on a bench or sturdy chair. Switch to the other leg after performing 12-20 reps.

• Exercise 3: Dumbbell Romanian deadlift / add a challenge by elevating the toes slightly using a weight plate or gym mat.

  How to: Stand upright with your feet hip width apart. With your dumbbells by your sides, hinge at the hips, keeping your knees soft. When your torso is parallel to the ground return to starting position. Make this tougher by elevating the toes slightly on a mat edge or slowing the tempo.

Circuit finisher: high reps, increased tempo to boost the heart rate

• 30s (each leg) Dumbbell step ups onto a weight bench
• 45s Squat and press (let’s give the upper body a little turn!)
• 45s Lunge and knee drive (make it easier by skipping the knee drive)

X3

Cool down stretches

2. Dumbbell Leg Workout Only For Serious Lifters

Warm up (as before)

Main session:
Rep range: 12-20

Sets: 3

Rest: 1-2 mins between sets

Weight: Pair of dumbbells

Workout type: leg workout dumbbell only

• Exercise 1: Single leg dumbbell deadlift / add further challenge by reducing the tempo on the eccentric

  How to: Hold a pair of dumbbells in front of your body and fully extend your arms. Keeping your stabilising knee slightly bent and back straight, hinge from the hips. Lower your torso toward the ground, and let your arms go with the movement. When your body is parallel to the floor (or almost depending on your flexibility) Pause, and then slowly move back to the starting position.

• Exercise 2: Dumbbell reverse lunge (alternating legs)

  How to: Holding a pair of dumbbells and standing with your feet shoulder width apart, take a step back with your left foot and hinge at the knee, keeping your weight in your front heel. Push back to starting position, squeezing the glutes. Now repeat the movement by stepping back with your right foot. Alternate legs on this reverse lunge.

• Exercise 3: Dumbbell sumo squat with 2 second pause at the bottom

  How to: Holding dumbbells in your hands and close to your chest, take a step so your feet are wider than shoulder width and your toes are pointed slightly outward. Keeping your weight in your heels, hinge at the knees and hips until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Pause for 2 counts. Push through your heels to stand.

Circuit finisher

• 30s dumbbell jump squat
• 30s reverse lunges (alternating legs)
• 30s high knees

X3

Training Tip: Squat Better

You probably know how to squat, it’s likely that you’re doing it every day in your life as it’s a very functional movement. However, it’s a really important movement to get right as you’re using a large muscle group. If you need a reminder, read on. If you’ve been to squat school and know your form is spot on, skip ahead.

1. Start with your feet slightly wider than hip width apart
2. Toes pointed slightly outward
3. Keeping your torso upright and shoulder blades back and down, bend your knees. Be careful not to lean forward.
4. When you are in the squat position push back up to standing position.

For a sumo squat, you want your feet hip width apart then take an extra step out each side.

A dumbbell squat adds a nice bit of weight to your exercise. You could hold the weight by your chest like in a goblet squat, at your shoulders, out in front (zombie squat!) or in front of you so they track down between your knees during your squat.

Leg muscle groups you’re targeting in dumbbell leg workouts

These exercises are going to work your posterior chain, which includes some of the largest muscles in the body responsible for functional daily movements. Training these can help with strength in the lower body, increase athletic performance and even manage chronic conditions such as arthritis and heart disease.

The NHS explains that strength and flexibility exercises will help you increase muscle strength, maintain bone density, improve balance, and reduce joint pain.

The main muscles you’ll be working include:

• Hamstrings
• Back
• Quads
• Glutes
• Calf muscles

Make sure you keep your core engaged to get even more bang for your buck.

The Pick & Mix Workout – FT. The Best Dumbbell Leg Exercises

If you absolutely hate the exercises suggested above (Dumbbell Bulgarian split squats I’m looking at you!), pick a few from this list instead.

• Dumbbell jump squats
• Dumbbell sumo squats
• Goblet squats
• Dumbbell squats
• Dumbbell step ups with knee drive
• Dumbbell front squat slowing the tempo
• Dumbbell deadlift
• Dumbbell hip thrust
• Single leg hip thrust
• Dumbbell leg curl
• Goblet squats with pause
• Dumbbell calf raises
• Cossack squat
• Curtsy lunge
• Front foot elevated dumbbell lunges
• Reverse lunge
• Goblet squats with pause at the bottom
• Dumbbell squats – count 1 on the way down, hold for 2 seconds, and come up in 3 seconds.
• Dumbbell swing

Dumbbell Leg Day Session FAQs

Got questions? We’ve got answers. Using our PT coaching experience and training we are pretty confident in them too.