Summary
Sculpt your legs with this intense leg workout for women:- Curtsy Lunges: This unilateral leg exercise sculpts your inner and outer thighs.
- Dumbbell Deadlift to Squats: This combination exercise works your glutes, quads, and hamstrings all at once to give you defined legs.
- Dumbbell Squat to Lunges: This combination exercise improves your balance and mobility while toning your legs.
- Dumbbell Sumo Squats: This exercise targets your inner thighs, boosting lower body stability.
- Dumbbell Deadlifts: Improve your lower back strength and overall posture with this exercise.
5 Best Leg Workouts for Women
A strong lower body does more than just look great in a little black dress. It gives you strength, stability, and endurance to carry the weight of your body throughout the day! It’s only fair you look after them by investing in them!
This 30-minute guide on leg workouts for women utilizes key exercises: squats, deadlifts, and lunges. You’ll also discover combination exercises such as deadlift to squat, squats to reverse lunges and more.
No more guesswork on your leg days – just pure focus.
Before You Start – Your Leg Day Essentials
Whether you’re working out at home or the gym, here are a few things you need for your leg days:- Dumbbells
- Resistance bands
- Gym bottle
- Protein shaker
- Mat
- Gym bag
If you can’t hit the gym and need leg workouts for women at home, then get creative and replace dumbbells with any kind of household items.
You can also ditch your shoes and workout in a pair of training socks. Now that you’re covered with the basics, let’s move onto your workout.
Curtsy Lunges
- Targeted Muscles: quadriceps, glutes, gluteus medius, and hip abductors.
- Sets: 3.
- Reps: 10 to 12.
- Rest: 30-60 seconds.
How to do Curtsy Lunges?
- Start by standing hip-width apart.
- Place one foot forward and the other foot backward.
- Keep hands on your sides or hold dumbbells.
- Lower your body downward using the forward foot.
- Cross the leg behind you while lowering your body.
- Align your front knee with your toe to prevent injuries.
- Lower and push your body back up.
- Mentally focus on engaging your glutes, quads, and hip abductors.
- Keep your front foot's heel grounded as you push up.
- Repeat for a complete set, ensuring proper alignment.
Dumbbell Deadlift To Squat
- Targeted Muscles: quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, calves, hip abductors, and core muscles.
- Sets: 3.
- Reps: 6 to 8.
- Rest: 2 minutes.
How to do Dumbbell Deadlift to Squat?
- Start by standing with legs shoulder-width apart.
- Place dumbbells adjacent to your feet for easy lifting.
- Bend knees and hinge hips to lower your body, keeping back straight.
- Drive through the middle of your foot to push upward.
- Maintain neutral spine and squeeze glutes.
- Avoid over-extending lower back and shrugging arms.
- Transition from deadlift to squat smoothly.
- Hold dumbbell horizontally against your chest.
- Push hips back, keeping neutral spine.
- Lower body while aligning knees with toes.
- Push body upward using heels.
- Complete one rep – repeat for 6-8 reps or to failure.
Dumbbell Squat To Lunge
- Targeted Muscles: quadriceps, glutes, back muscles, hamstrings, and calves.
- Sets: 3.
- Reps: 6 to 8.
- Rest: 2 minutes.
How to do Dumbbell Squat to Reverse Lunge?
- Start by standing slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Hinge hips back, keeping back neutral.
- Place a plate under toes for elevation if desired.
- Descend into a squat, activating glutes, hips, quads, and hamstrings.
- Rise up and drop arms to transition into reverse lunge.
- Step back with one leg, front leg at 90° angle.
- Lower front and back leg, maintaining stability.
- Push upward, squeezing glutes and hamstrings.
- Repeat on other leg for one rep.
- Repeat for 6-8 reps.
Dumbbell Sumo Squat
- Targeted Muscles: quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, adductors, and lower back.
- Sets: 3.
- Reps: 10 to 15.
- Rest: 45 to 60 seconds.
How to Perform a Dumbbell Sumo Squat?
- Take a wide stance, toes rotated outward.
- Place a plate under your feet for increased range of motion if at gym.
- Hold dumbbell or kettlebell in front or go bodyweight.
- Drop into controlled squat, maintaining upright spine.
- Keep your chest up and core braced.
- Avoid hip hinging.
- Pull yourself up through legs and heels.
- Maintain controlled movement for tension in thighs and hamstrings.
- Ideal after main leg day lifts.
- Repeat 10-15 times or until failure.
Dumbbell Deadlift
- Targeted Muscles: quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus, lower back, and core.
- Sets: 3.
- Reps: 8-10.
- Rest: 30-60 seconds.
How to Perform a Dumbbell Deadlift?
- Keep your spine in proper alignment.
- Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, toes forward.
- Distribute weight evenly for stability.
- Keep your dumbbells adjacent to your feet and hinge hips back.
- Bend knees, hold dumbbells on sides, engage lats.
- Keep chest up.
- Fire movement by pulling dumbbells.
- Brace core, push through toes and heels against ground.
- Lean back, pull dumbbells up.
- Push hips forward and squeeze glutes to stand.
- Repeat 8-10 times or until failure.
*Pro Tip: while you can wear leggings for this lift, a pair of relaxed workout joggers will give you the comfort you need during this exercise.
If you’re still confused, read our detailed guide on performing dumbbell deadlifts.
What Muscles Does a Lower Body Workout for Women Target?
- Quadriceps: Located at the front of your thighs, quads facilitate your knee movements. Building strong quads helps you achieve knee stability, lower risks of injuries, eliminate knee pains and improve overall daily movements.
- Hamstrings: Right at the back of your thighs, your hamstrings work with your quads to ensure knee joint stability. They also support your hip and torso, which makes it even more important to build your hammies.
- Glutes: Comprising three different muscle groups i.e., gluteus medius, minimus and maximus, glutes are responsible for supporting your lower body as well as your upper body. For accurate pelvic alignment, and balance during running, jogging, or walking, you need strong glutes.
- Calves: Other than giving you picture-perfect legs, strong calves protect you from muscle tears, ankle sprains, shin splits, feet aches and Achilles tendonitis.
- Adductors and Abductors: Not only do strong adductors and abductors support you during your leg workouts, but they also support your pelvic and hip joints. In addition, they improve your overall core stability and minimize hip and knee pain.
- Hip Flexors: If you’re slouchier, odds are your hip flexors are weak. This muscle group supports your back to ensure a solid posture. In addition, strong hip flexors are great for running, jogging or even brisk walking.
What Are the Benefits of a Leg Workout for Women?
Elevated Functional Strength
Just like a turbo turns a car into a powerhouse, a robust leg workout turns your body into a performance engine. Leg workouts don’t just strengthen your lower body, they elevate your functional strength. This significantly improves your daily performance and movement. With strong legs, everyday tasks like carrying groceries or climbingFAQs
What is the best leg routine for a woman?
A balanced leg routine for women includes exercises that target the quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves. Try compound movements like squats, lunges, and deadlifts combined with isolation exercises like leg curls and calf raises. Aim for 3-4 sets of each exercise, adjusting the weight as you progress.
How can a woman tone her legs fast?
For faster toning, focus on a mix of strength training and cardio. Exercises like lunges, squats, and step-ups combined with HIIT or low-impact cardio can help burn fat and build muscle tone. Consistency, paired with a healthy diet, will help you achieve results quicker.
How many times a week should a woman do legs?
Training legs 2-3 times per week is effective for muscle growth and toning. This frequency allows adequate recovery time while stimulating the leg muscles. For best results, combine a heavy workout day with a lighter day focused on high reps and endurance.
Is 7 exercises enough for legs?
Yes, 7 exercises can be enough if they target different parts of the legs and you’re performing them with proper intensity. A mix of compound and isolation movements covering quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves provides a well-rounded leg workout. Quality and form are key to maximizing each exercise.
