Lower Body Strength Training

Looking for ideas for lower body strength training with body weight and free weights.

I have a good upper body workout (assisted pull ups working toward regular pull ups, push ups, bicep curls, skull crushers, and various bits of shoulder-focused work), but no lower body workout in place yet.

Right now I'm using various popPilates videos for my lower body workouts (mostly tush-focused, but they also hit hamstrings) and adding in some variations on sit-ups and some wall squats for my quads. I know, however, that there's a better way to do this. My upper body workout always leaves me sore. My lower body workout never does. A weight-lifting friend of mine designed my upper body workout for me, but he said he didn't know how to design a lower body workout for a woman who couldn't do squats.

Thoughts on putting together a good lower body workout would be much appreciated! I plan to do my core/lower body workout twice a week. I also do my existing upper body workout twice a week. At this point, I'm shooting for a lower body workout taking 30-45 minutes. (I'm a newbie to strength training, and I know I'll lose motivation if I try to do too much all at once.)

Here are my limitations and goals:

*I LOVE the leg press machine, but don't have access to one. I work out at home. I have access to my body, hand-held free weights, and a bar with weights.

*I'm a woman and am not shooting for body-builder-level definition. (That would be cool as well, but it's not my current goal.) Mostly I want to build some strength and improve my appearance by tightening things up a bit.

*Tricky knees eliminate squats and make lunges a little hazardous. I'm working toward squats and lunges with body weight only, but I have goofy knees and some muscle activation issues around the knee, and don't want to end up in PT again, so I'm very cautious. I know squats and lunges are the sine qua non of lower body workouts, and someday I hope to be able to do them safely. The muscles next to the knee that keep the patella on track are damaged and weak on me though, so I'm not going to do squats and lunges until I feel I can do them safely. I can't ask my physical therapist because I finished PT about 5 years ago.

*Although the compound exercises in my upper body workout hit my core a little, I'm hoping to include my bum and my core in my lower-body work-out. I have a naturally flat bum, and I sit a lot, so my bum could definitely use some strengthening and expansion. I think I've also accidentally trained my body to rely on hip flexors rather than glutes, so I need to work on rebalancing that. I do weighted bridges to activate my glutes, but, even though they eventually tire me out, they never leave me sore.

*I have naturally well developed calves (albeit with slim, weak ankles), so, while I'm happy to include calf work, it's not a priority. I definitely don't want to increase the size of my calves; my cutest boots wouldn't fit any more!

*If it helps, I'm familiar with yoga and ballet (from a million years ago, but still) terminology, and, to a lesser extent, Pilates terminology (from DVDs and youtube PopPilates videos).



Thanks in advance for sharing the fruits of your experience!

*Edited to add....On my cardio days, I walk on the treadmill at an incline, which hits my calves....unfortunately, my knees poop out on me when I try to run. I know that walking quickly uphill should also theoretically hit the bum a bit, but, I think my body defaults to hip flexors over bum whenever possible.