10 Lower Body Exercises & Workouts To Build Muscle

Have you been neglecting your lower body when working out, especially lower body workouts?

Unsure of what the best lower body exercises are when you do your workouts?

Many gym-goers (men especially) tend to focus more on their upper body than the lower body. However, you shouldn’t forgo spending time working your

• Glutes
• Quads
• Hamstrings
• Calves

After all, the lower body will lend stability and balance to your daily life, not to mention your upper body workouts. 

Today, we’ll show you the top 10 best lower body workouts to complete to build a solid foundation.

1. Squats

Squats are arguably the best lower body exercise you can do during your workout to build your quads. Just ask The Quadfather, Golden Era bodybuilder Tom Platz, if he agrees. Of course, the squat isn’t just for quads, as it works the entire lower body plus the core and back.

There are quite a few squat variations to choose from, and they all target the muscles in different ways:

• Front squat
• Back squat
• Bulgarian split squat
• Goblet squat
• Overhead squat
• Pistol squat
• Sumo squat

And the list goes on. If you’ve never done a squat before, learn how to do squats like a pro first. To be sure you’re getting effective lower body workouts at home or using the gym, follow Tom’s tips.

If you have knee problems or are worried about long-term joint health, front squats may be better. Deep squats compared to half and quarter squats have also been found to reduce risk of injury.

Bulgarian split squats are a great way to focus on muscle imbalance as this is a single-leg exercise. Changing your loaded leg position can also change muscle activation focus. 

Having your knee at a 90-degree angle will emphasize the hamstring and glutes. Bringing your foot further under you at a 45-degree angle will focus more on the quads.

Want more quad-focused exercises that will get you results? Check them out here. 

2. Lunges

Lunges are a little more challenging that squats are, so once you have them down you can move onto lunges. 

Improve your core stability, balance, and coordination with lunge exercises. They will also help define your glutes and work your hamstrings too. 

Beginners, athletes, bodybuilders, and athletes can all benefit from including lunges in their lower body workouts.

Much like squats, there are several variations of the lunge you can do to target different muscle activation. These two exercises are essential to building strength in your lower body.

Here are some ideas for lunges you can use to target your lower body:

• Lateral lunge
• Rear lunge
• Walking lunge
• Reverse lunge
• Rear foot elevated lunge
• Curtsy lunge
• Sliding lunge

For a winning leg day strategy that includes both squats and lunges, check out this guide.

3. Deadlifts

Incorporating deadlifts into your lower body workouts will also help improve strength and coordination. Specifically, the Romanian Deadlift. Using this deadlift variation will focus on the upper hamstrings, since it’s a hip-dominant exercise.

Deadlifts look easy, but just like any other exercise, they require proper form to prevent injury. Here is our step-by-step guide on how to deadlift to use for proper lifting techniques.

Once you’ve got the form down, you can then move onto the Romanian deadlift. If you don’t have a barbell handy, you can perform this lower body workout with dumbbells instead. Squats and lunges can also be performed with dumbbells if you prefer.

4. Leg Curls/Leg Extension

Leg curls and leg extensions are similar exercises that focus on the hamstrings, quads, and calves. To perform these exercises correctly, you’ll need a lying leg curl machine and a leg extension machine.

Form is important, especially for knee joint protection. When done properly, lying leg curls have been found to build the distal hamstring muscle. This provides greater protection to the knee and can also help with heavier lifts in other exercises.

Avoid straightening the knee completely and use a weight that’s challenging but not too heavy. These tips will ensure your knees stay strong and reduce your risk of knee or hip injury.

5. Calf Raises

It’s no surprise that the calf raises focus on strengthening and building muscles in the calves. You can perform this exercise at home or at the gym.

You can start doing this bodyweight lower body workout using a raised step or box. There are also machines at the gym you can use if that’s what you prefer. These can be done standing, seated, or as a bridge exercise to focus more on the hips than the hamstrings.

Calf raises can be made more challenging when adding weights like dumbbells or kettlebells. This article provides information on proper form. These exercises are great for beginners as they are easy to learn form to prevent injury.

There’s no denying calf raises are one of the best lower body workouts to focus on calf strength. These muscles are sometimes forgotten when working out, so make sure they are part of your routine.

6. Glute Hamstring Raise

This lower body workout will focus more on the hamstrings while also working the lower back and glutes. 

Researchers compared four hamstring exercises and determined glute ham raises as one of the best. They were performed along with:

• Romanian deadlift
• Leg curl
• Good morning

Once muscle activation was tested, researchers found that the glute ham raise and Romanian deadlift were best for hamstring muscle activation. To fully work all the muscles in the hamstring, all four of these exercises can be used. 

The Romanian deadlift and good mornings focus on the upper hamstring while leg curls and glute ham raises focus on the lower.

Of course, glute hamstring raises will need to be performed on a machine at the gym unless you have one at home. 

7. Glute Bridges

One of the best lower body workouts for glutes are glute bridges. This exercise also targets the hips and core. These are pretty easy to do and can be done at home with no weights.

Once you’ve got the form down and are up for an added challenge, you can add weights. If you have a BOSU ball handy, you can also do this and other exercises listed today with this piece of equipment.

Glute bridges are a great beginner exercise to try as part of your best lower body workouts. When you’re ready to increase the challenge, move onto our next exercise.

8. Hip Thrusts

Sometimes mistaken for glute bridges, hip thrusts are more difficult and should not be done by beginners. 

Athletes, bodybuilders, and powerlifters use hip thrusts to improve their sprints and lifting power.

Hip thrusts are versatile and can be done weighted or unweighted. They can be done on the floor, with just one leg, or using a bench to support the upper or lower body.

Once you’re ready to progress from glute bridges, try out the unweighted hip thrust. Once you’ve got the form down, you’ll be ready to move onto weighted variations.

9. Step-up

This lower body exercise focuses on the upper legs, glutes, and hips. You can perform this at home using a sturdy box or chair, and it’s best to start unweighted.

The single-leg exercises featured today, including the step-up, helps to improve functional body movement. You want to perform this exercise properly to avoid injury, especially to the knee joint.

Walking or running up stairs can also work in place of the step-up exercise. Once you are ready to progress, you can add weights. Use an equal weight in each hand, like a dumbbell or kettlebell.

10. Kettlebell Swings

This exercise is more advanced than some of the others and works the core, glutes, and legs.

Perfecting the kettlebell swing has a few benefits:

• Improving grip strength
• Better balance
• Improving performance
• Better lifts (deadlift, leg press, jump squat)

When done right, the kettlebell swing will provide an effective full-body workout. Make sure you can perform hip hinging exercises before trying the kettlebell swing to avoid injury. 

Learn how to perform this lower body exercise here and be sure to check out the other kettlebell exercises listed.

Now, you may have noticed we didn’t mention reps and sets for these exercises. Let’s dive a little deeper into finding out the amount of reps and sets right for you.

How Many Reps and Sets?

The number of reps and sets per exercise is determined by your goal. Everyone is different, and science has proven one thing: there is no tried and true one size fits all approach.

Hypertrophy increases your muscle size but doesn’t necessarily build strength. To determine the best reps and sets per lower body exercise, check out these articles:

• Low reps vs high reps
• Sets vs reps: What’s the difference and why does it matter?

Ultimately, you may have to experiment with the number of reps and sets to figure out what works best for you. 

For beginners, start out with low weight, reps, and sets until your form is perfect. This will ensure that once you start increasing, you won’t risk injury to derail you from your goals.

How Often Should You Work Out?

Depending on your level of experience and goals, you can work out anywhere from two to five days per week. Some more advanced athletes, including bodybuilders and powerlifters, may work out six days per week.

A split routine is always a good idea when just starting out. This means you focus on one part of the body per day. A sample routine could look like this:

• Monday: Upper body
• Tuesday: Rest
• Wednesday: Lower Body
• Thursday: Rest
• Friday: Upper Body
• Saturday: Rest
• Sunday: Rest

Then you can start over with the lower body on Monday and continue through the week. You could also do upper body then lower body the following day, then have a rest day in between.

Just like finding the right number of reps and sets, figuring out a schedule for your workouts may take some time.

What Do the Judges Say?

“These are great workouts to build more strength and stability in the lower body muscles. Doing these exercises on a regular basis will help to improve your overall health and mobility.

What’s great about most of the exercises in the routines listed in the article is that they can be performed at home so if you don’t have time to do them during your gym workout, you can do them at a more convenient time at home.” – Old School Labs Ambassador and Natural Mr. Olympia Winner John Hansen

Final Thoughts

Creating an effective lower body workout can be done at the gym or at home, with the right equipment. Choose which exercises to focus on depending on your goals and which muscles you want to work.

For best results, incorporate lower body exercises at least twice per week. If you are just starting out, a split routine may work best so you don’t end up too sore. It may take some trial and error to find what works best for you to meet your goals in the gym.

To ensure you get the most out of each workout, Vintage Build™ was created specifically for muscle building. Loaded with BCAAs, creatine monohydrate, and L-glutamine, Vintage Build™ will give you strength during your workout and help with the recovery stage after.

Did your favorite lower body workouts make the list? If not, will you share it in the comments? We’d love to hear what’s working best for you!