Let's face it, we all miss the gym. Trying to gain muscle mass while exercising at home has become a challenge, but it doesn't have to be.
You can gain muscle mass while exercising at home, you just have to choose the right exercises. You can adapt your usual muscle building day to focus on bodyweight exercises and whatever equipment you have at your disposal.
We will walk you through different exercises and methods to help you gain leg muscle mass at home. So let's start with these leg exercises.
Leg exercises:
Bodyweight squats
The squat is the holy grail of leg exercises. But, just because you don't have a barbell or squat rack doesn't mean you need to exclude it from your home workout.
Hitting the glutes and quadriceps predominantly, while being assisted by the surrounding muscles, the squat will always be the ideal movement when trying to add serious leg muscle.
- Start with your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Straight body looking forward and a tight core.
- Heels planted, sit as deep as you can before stepping back on your feet.
- Take two seconds to release, hold for two and turn on again.
Lunges
If you are looking to increase body strength, lunges are one of the best exercises you can add to your workout. Rather than standing still, as in the traditional lunge, push forward from the back leg and pull forward from the front leg - creating the walking motion.
Foot lunges strengthen the leg muscles as well as the core, hips and glutes and can be made more challenging by adding weights.
- Stand with your feet together and do a large lunge forward with your right leg, lowering your hips towards the floor.
- Bend both knees at 90 degree angles. The back knee should be pointing towards, but not touching the floor, and the front knee should be directly above the ankle.
- The power forms this position and continues until the opposite leg is now forward.
- Keep the core tight and the upper body stable and vertical.
- Put your hands on your hips or over your head for some added difficulty.
Leap lunges
Lunges are tough and very useful exercise as they are, so let's make them harder, shall we? The jump lunge is an advanced variation of a basic walking lunge exercise, increasing the intensity by adding an extra element. Jumping between each leg and rep will bring an aspect of explosive power and cardio work.
The plyometric aspect includes jumping in the air and switching the foot forward before landing. The calves and hip flexors support the core muscles of the legs.
- Start standing with your feet offset, your left foot slightly in front of your right.
- With your core engaged, push the bottom of both feet into a jump, changing the position of your feet in mid-air, landing in a basic lunge with your right leg in front.
- Without stopping, repeat this movement by alternating legs. To prevent injury, make sure the rear leg is bent directly under the body and the front leg is bent 90 degrees at the knee and hip.
- 3 sets of up to 20 reps would do the trick.
Lateral lunge
So many of our daily movements are on a plane of movement, back and forth. Whether it's walking, running, sitting, cycling or climbing upstairs, you always move in one direction.
Targeting the quads, glutes, adductors and abductors, hip flexors, and hamstrings, side lunges aren't the ones you should miss from your exercise list.
- Start standing with your legs slightly wider than your shoulders apart and your toes pointing forward.
- Shift your body weight onto one leg by bending the knee until you reach an angle of 90 degrees or as close as possible, the angle and the other leg are straight. Your glutes are pressing behind you again. Return to the center and switch sides.
- Tighten the core and keep the body as straight as possible.
Exercise with equipment:
Dumbell Calf Raises
Sometimes the calves can be overlooked when trying to build bigger and bigger legs. But who wouldn't want well-developed chiseled calves? Well, simple calf rearing is a great place to start. You can do calf raises anywhere, anytime - you can do it while brushing your teeth or waiting for the kettle to boil.
- Stand straight, with a dumbbell in each hand.
- Push your toes up, lifting your heel until you stand on tiptoe.
- Lower yourself to the starting position and repeat.
Box Jumps
The Box Jumps is a plyometric move that helps strengthen quadriceps, calves, hamstrings and glutes. They will help you be faster, more powerful than you thought. Box jumps will raise your heart rate and melt those calories - it's an essential exercise for your home workouts.
You can adjust the jump height according to your abilities.
- Start slowly squatting just above parallel and bring your arms back behind your hips to add energy to get off the ground.
- Explode with a strong swing of your arm forward and bend your knees after fully stretching your legs.
- Land softly on the box, in the same squat depth you jumped with. Rise high, locking your hips to complete the movement.
- Get off and rest.
“If you're in the mood for a real challenge, throw a burpee between each jump. You will feel the burn! "
Bulgarian squat
Flexibility is an added benefit of this exercise with the back leg raise. By working the same muscles as the squat, this can be a beneficial exercise when you are at home, with little or no equipment. You will isolate one leg at a time and perform a squat-like movement.
- Put one foot on a solid surface behind you and take a big step outside. A bench or chair is perfect for this.
- Keeping your body upright, slowly lower yourself down until your front knee is bent at a 90 degree angle.
- Pause at the bottom of the move, then push back to the starting position
“Your positioning is crucial during this move. If you are too close to the bench press and you may experience knee pain, but, if you are too far, you will put extra pressure on the groin. Make sure your front knee doesn't move past your toes and remember to keep your core engaged and your torso upright ”.
Conclusion
It's easy to build leg muscle at home with little or no equipment, simply by changing the way you train. Introducing higher reps into your workout, using HIIT supersets and circuits will help you achieve your goals.
Try 3-5 sets of 15-20 reps to really attack the muscles. Don't train the same muscle group every day that you need to allow your muscles to rest for them to grow. So, plan your sessions wisely.
If you can't get to the gym or are worried about missing a leg, don't panic. There are simple leg exercises you can do at home that can be as effective as your usual gym workouts. As long as you train hard, the diet is perfect, you will find it easier to build leg muscle at home,
Our articles are to be used for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. If you are concerned, consult a health professional before taking dietary supplements or making major changes in your diet.
