At home thigh/leg workouts for muscle?

Dayniie
Dayniie Posts: 55 Member
edited November 24 in Fitness and Exercise
Hey tuere.

I have recently started doing body weight and smaller dumbell exercises at home to start off my weightloss journey.

Im struggling to find any leg workouts that I can really feel are working.

Any advice?

Thanks

Replies

  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    Dayniie wrote: »
    Hey tuere.

    I have recently started doing body weight and smaller dumbell exercises at home to start off my weightloss journey.

    Im struggling to find any leg workouts that I can really feel are working.

    Any advice?

    Thanks

    What do you mean "feel working"?

    And what size dumbbells?
  • Silkysausage
    Silkysausage Posts: 502 Member
    Have a look at Bulgarian split squats, squats, goblet squats, stiff leg deadlifts...maybe your dumbbells aren't so heavy or your form isn't correct?
  • Dayniie
    Dayniie Posts: 55 Member
    By feel working I guess I mean "the burn" Doing ab and arm exercises I can just really feel ots working my muscles and ache afterwards, like jelly. But legs feel no different after.

    And thanks for those, ill look into and try them!

    Im currently doing 4kgs each arm, I have next to no muscle so feel thats a good starting weight for me

  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    Chasing the burn is just an emotional thing. Progress is tracked over the course of weeks and months and by tracking weight and volume increases. Sets/Reps. Feeling the burn in your legs/DOMS means you may have trouble walking or standing or going to the bathroom. Following a proven program is a much better plan.

    If you're doing ATG or at least full parallel squats, I'd suggest either finding a good Bodyweight program, You are your own gym, Convict conditioning, DDP Yoga, etc or working up to at least 5 sets of 10 squats and then working towards "pistols" or single leg squats.

  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    In addition to agreeing with the advice you've already gotten, also keep in mind that your leg muscles are bigger and stronger than your arm muscles. So if you are using the same weights for say bicep curls as you are for squats, then yeah it will be more of a challenge for your arms than for your legs.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    In addition to agreeing with the advice you've already gotten, also keep in mind that your leg muscles are bigger and stronger than your arm muscles. So if you are using the same weights for say bicep curls as you are for squats, then yeah it will be more of a challenge for your arms than for your legs.

    If you can maintain good form while holding the weights at arms length in front of you, due to center of gravity and balance issues you can approximate heavier weights/loads.

    If you cannot keep the weight at arms length or cannot maintain good form, then your only option are goblet style or front style squats.
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,069 Member
    stanmann571 wrote: »
    Chasing the burn is just an emotional thing. Progress is tracked over the course of weeks and months and by tracking weight and volume increases. Sets/Reps. Feeling the burn in your legs/DOMS means you may have trouble walking or standing or going to the bathroom. Following a proven program is a much better plan.

    If you're doing ATG or at least full parallel squats, I'd suggest either finding a good Bodyweight program, You are your own gym, Convict conditioning, DDP Yoga, etc or working up to at least 5 sets of 10 squats and then working towards "pistols" or single leg squats.

    I was going to suggest working towards pistol squats too. Also, you can use exercise bands to add resistance. You can double/triple up on them as you need greater resistance. Add some plyometrics, weighted hill sprints, etc. I do agree it is a lot harder to strength train the legs at home.
  • RacheLoko
    RacheLoko Posts: 51 Member
    I’d say what ever leg workouts your doing now, slow them down and really focus on feeling the muscle work. Also if you use YouTube fitness videos at all Popsugar Fitness has a ton of leg burning workouts!
  • Dayniie
    Dayniie Posts: 55 Member
    Thanks for the advice everyone. I will stick to the program I am doing, work on holding and raising slowing them down, and with that work towards doing the above exercises mentioned. I forgot to concider that my legs most deffinately not be as weak as my arms!
  • Ms_Natalie
    Ms_Natalie Posts: 1,030 Member
    Get some dumbells and use those with your squats and presses. They will really help.
  • tirowow12385
    tirowow12385 Posts: 697 Member
    I squat/ deadlift/ lunge an 85 pound barbell for a couple of months and I've developed muscles that weren't there before I started, I honestly don't feel the "burn' but I do feel the muscle contracting every workout, the only time I feel "burn" in my thighs is when I do a 5k run though as I'm constantly engaging the leg muscles.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    I've been using dumbbells for about 9 months. This week, my leg exercises look like this:

    Front squats: 3 sets of 8 with 17.5lb dumbbells
    Side squats on cardio step: as above
    Front lunges: 3 sets of 12 with 12lb dumbbells
    Donkey kicks 2 sets of 8, 1 set of 12 with 8lb ankle weight.

    Next week, my last set for both squats will be 12 reps instead of 8, my last set of lunges will be 8 reps with 15lbs, and I'll be doing 1 set of 8, 2 sets of 12 on the donkey kicks. (Basically, every week, I either increase the reps, increase the weights, or increase the sets to a maximum of 3. I do a full-body workout 3 days a week. If, on Day 3, I'm still struggling—which hasn't happened yet, but probably will at some point—I'll leave it unchanged the following week.)
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
    Have you tried any videos from The Firm? Cardio Explosion and Pump Jump 'n Jab are really good and work the legs. I also enjoy kickboxing and Tae Bo. Or just find a good lifting program. Heavy squats, deadlifts, hip thrusts, split squats/lunges...
  • Dayniie
    Dayniie Posts: 55 Member
    I have been doing at home UFC training with weights and as far as I know it includes all the above. I will keep going with that and see how it goes, increasing weights and getting perfect form. Thanks all! Your help is appreciated!
  • Lean59man
    Lean59man Posts: 714 Member
    Squats and lunges.
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