Coming in HOT with an at home workout you can simply do in a small space. You don’t need a designated “workout room” or anything of the sort, you just need something to play the video and your body. I mean, you can even take it outside to your deck if it’s a nice day…THERE ARE NO RULES! So lace up, let’s do this lower body at home workout!
Table of Contents
All you need for this workout is…your body. No equipment necessary! You may want a yoga mat or towel that you can lay down on if you want, but other than that your bodyweight is going to be the perfect resistance today!
My style of training/coaching is basically circuit training. I like to get in and get out, so I am always moving from one exercise to the next fairly quickly so I can get done with the workout in a decent amount of time. Not to mention, the more I am moving, the sweatier and more excited I am to keep moving! This workout is under 20 minutes – so you have no excuses! You can get it done and shower in the amount of time it takes to watch an episode of crappy tv!
This workout is for all fitness levels – beginner or advanced! I make sure to break down each movement for you so you know exactly what to expect, while also giving modifications to make it easier/harder so the workout fits your needs. I know exercise and fitness are not a one size fits all, so I make sure to include everyone, not matter what point you are starting at!
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This exercise is as hard as you make it. A squat is a common movement pattern that everyone should be able to do, mostly because it mimics sitting into a chair and standing up. Which, we know, is one of the basic elements of daily living.
Form: You want to start with your feet just outside shoulder width and your toes pointed slightly out. Act as though you are screwing your feet into the floor as you squat down, making sure to push the knees out and keep your chest up (weight stays in the heels). Then you are going to raise halfway up, go back down to the bottom, and then rise all the way. That extra pulse puts enough tension on the leg muscles to fatigue theme quicker without weights.
Modifications: To make this easier you can take out the pulse and just perform a regular squat. If you want a little more help with that, you can grab a chair and actually practice sitting down and standing up. To make it more difficult you can hold a weight for your squat, or you can add an extra pulse.
This can be a complicated movement, so take your time with it and if you need to scale it back, please do so! It is a great exercise to work balance and power, along with focusing on a single leg movement.
Form: Start with your feet together – take one foot and step back, dropping the back knee towards the floor. You want to make sure you keep the weight over the heel of the front foot, and keep the heel of the back foot towards the ceiling. Touch the knee to the floor (or go as deep as you can), on the way up you are going to pull the back knee all the way through and jump straight up off the front foot driving up with the knee that was on the floor. Think of it as a Mario hop or a big skip!
Modifications: To make this one easier you can skip the jump and just do the reverse lunge, and to make it even easier go ahead and hold onto a broom stick or the back of a chair so you can get deeper into the lunge but along the arm to help a little. To make it more difficult you can hold weights, or focus on the power drive up through the hop.
A simple movement that will have you questioning all of humanity by how hard it is. Don’t feel bad, it is difficult for everyone, except gymnastics, they do these for breakfast.
Form: Start sitting on the floor with your legs straight and separated apart. Pick a leg to start with and place a hand on either side. Flex your foot and squeeze the top of your leg as you lift your leg off the floor and set it back down. This is a very small movement, but make sure you are firing (squeezing) the quad muscle first before you pick the foot up. Try not to push off with your hands too much. You also want to keep your core tight and your back flat, so sit up tall while performing.
Modifications: If this is too difficult, start with just squeezing the quad muscle (top of the thigh) and then relaxing again, just to get an idea of the mind/muscle connection. To make it harder you can try to leave the leg off the ground and just pulse, or you can put your legs together and do them both at the same time.
The basics of hip movement – the one that gets all the butt cheeks involved and helps us have good posture! This is also one of the easiest exercises to do to start strengthening the core and lower back as well.
Form: Start laying on your back with your knees bent (feet on the floor) – rotate your hips so your lower back presses into the floor. Then drive into your heels as you lift your butt up as high as you can and squeeze, and then return back to the floor. You want to make sure your core is tight, and your shins are vertical when you pick your hips up. Again, driving into the heels!
Modifications: There is no way to make this movement easier, to take your time. To make it harder you can put a weight on your hips, or elevate your feet on a step, or you can put a band around your knees!
This one is a difficult movement and is not for someone who make have poor core strength or bad knees. So please try this one out carefully and omit if it is too difficult.
Form: Tall kneeling with your toes flat on the floor, cross your arms over your chest. Then, keeping your core engaged and your glutes engaged, you are going to lean back as far as you can and then come back up to an upright position. This exercise is going to work the front of the thigh, so beware of that. You want to also make sure you are in a straight line from your knees to the top of your head as you perform this, if at any time your hips start to drop, decrease range of motion.
Modifications: There is not an easier way to perform this movement. You can change it a little by sitting back on the heels and then tall kneeling and squeezing the glutes, but that also changes the muscle groups used. To make it more difficult you can increase the range of motion or hold a dumbbell at your chest.
Make sure you are warming up and cooling down with each workout. The warm up makes sure the body is primed, warm and ready to exercise – all things necessary to avoid injury. And a cool down allows you to bring the heart rate down slowly and stretch out the muscles to decrease soreness and increase recovery rate. I know a lot of times we skip these parts because we “don’t have time” but really all you need is a few minutes of a warm up and a few minutes of a cool down and you are all set!
Here is a great warm up video!
And here is a great cool down video!
I hope you love this workout and come back for more sweaty at home workouts!
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