Leg exercises at home and with dumbbells
Squats, lunges, a hamstring move and calf raises. Do them on 2 or more days a week. Dumbbells help but aren’t needed. The catch: in one trial, squats didn’t grow the back of the thigh.
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Which leg exercises can I do at home?
Four moves cover the whole leg. A squat and a lunge work the front of your thigh (quads) and your bottom.
A hinge works the back of your thigh (hamstrings). A calf raise works your lower leg.
The NHS says adults should work all major muscles, legs included, on at least 2 days a week.
A 4-move leg session with no gym
- 1
Squat
Feet wider than your shoulders, toes slightly out. Push your hips back and lower until your thighs are level with the floor, or as low as is comfortable. Stand and squeeze your bottom.
- 2
Lunge
Step forward and let your front knee bend. Step back, or walk on with the other leg. Hold a chair if you need support.
- 3
Hinge
Stand tall, knees soft. Slowly push your hips back until you feel a stretch in the back of your thighs. Then push your hips forward to stand.
- 4
Calf raise
Hands on the back of a chair. Lift both heels as far as is comfortable, slowly. Lower and repeat.
Sources: Sussex Community NHS physio; University of Kentucky; NHS: strength exercises
How long? An NHS physio team gives people with hip pain a squat and a lunge. Each lasts 30 seconds, with a goal of 3 to 5 sets.
New to exercise? Start with the NHS chair moves. Sit-to-stand is 5 slow reps, using your legs, not arms.
Do the four moves twice this week.
How do I do leg exercises with dumbbells or no weights?
Same moves, more load. The NHS physio team makes a move harder by adding weight or working one leg.
| Move | No weights | With dumbbells |
|---|---|---|
| Squat | Hands together in front of your chest. | Hold one dumbbell at your chest (a goblet squat). |
| Lunge | Hold a chair for support if you need it. | Hold a dumbbell in each hand. |
| Back of thigh | Leg extension: hands on a chair, raise one straight leg back. Hold up to 5 seconds. | Romanian deadlift: the hinge, with dumbbells in front of your thighs. |
| Calf raise | Both heels, hands on a chair. | One leg at a time, or hold a dumbbell. |
Sources: Sussex Community NHS physio; University of Kentucky; NHS: strength exercises
The NHS says you should feel that leg extension in the back of your thigh and bottom.
No dumbbells? For light weights, the NHS says filled water bottles will do.
Got a band? The NHS counts working with resistance bands as strength work. See resistance band exercises.
Do squats work your hamstrings?
Not much, in one trial. 17 men did full or half squats twice a week for 10 weeks. Body scans (MRI) measured their leg muscles before and after.
| Muscle | Full squats | Half squats |
|---|---|---|
| Front thigh (most of the quads) | Grew 4.9% | Grew 4.6% |
| Bottom (glutes) | Grew 6.7% | Grew 2.2% |
| Inner thigh | Grew 6.2% | Grew 2.7% |
| Back of thigh (hamstrings) | No change | No change |
Source: Kubo 2019
That gap is your hamstrings. Squats alone left them the same size.
So add a hinge, like the Romanian deadlift. Dalton Harris, a University of Kentucky fitness coach, says it works the glutes, hamstrings and lower back.
Full squats also grew the bottom and inner thigh more than half squats. Go as low as you comfortably can. It was a small trial in men using a barbell.
For more on the bottom, see glute exercises at home.
How do I build leg muscle?
Make each set hard. In a review of 21 studies, light weights (60% or less of the most you can lift once) built similar muscle size to heavy ones. Heavy weights built more strength for one big lift.
The catch: every set in the review went until people couldn’t do one more good rep. It didn’t test bodyweight moves.
For health, the NHS sets a gentler bar. Do strength moves to the point where you need a short rest before repeating.
Make every leg set count
- Keep going until you need a short rest before the next set.
- To train like the review, end the last set when you can’t do one more good rep.
- When that gets easy, add reps or time, or work one leg at a time.
- Add weight with dumbbells or filled water bottles.
- For calves, do raises on a step, from heels below the step up to level (one trial, on a machine).
- The NHS physio team says don’t push through pain. It shouldn’t last hours or days after a session.
Sources: NHS: physical activity guidelines; Sussex Community NHS physio; Schoenfeld 2017; Kassiano 2023
Why the bottom half? In one 8-week trial, 42 young women did calf raises on a machine. Raises in the bottom half grew the inner calf 15.2%, against 6.7% for full raises.
Hold a rail or wall on the step. See progressive overload for beginners for adding load week by week.
How many sets and how often?
Train legs at least 2 days a week. For its hip-pain exercises, the NHS physio team says they don’t need doing every day: 3 to 4 times a week is usually enough.
More sets tend to grow more muscle. In a review of 15 studies, each extra weekly set was linked to about 0.37% more gain.
- Below 5 sets a weekUnder 5: the lowest group.
- 5 to just under 10 sets a week5 to 9: the middle group.
- 10 sets a week or above10 or more: a trend to the most growth, not proven.
Source: Schoenfeld 2017, J Sports Sci
Count by muscle. Squats and lunges both work your quads. So 3 sets of each, twice a week, is 12 sets for the front of your thigh.
Sore for days? See muscle soreness and progress. For a full-body week, see the two-day strength routine.
When to speak to a GP
Get help if:
- You haven’t exercised for some time, or you have medical conditions or concerns. The NHS says speak to your GP first.
- Knee pain doesn’t improve within a few weeks. See a GP.
- Your knee is very painful, you can’t move it or put weight on it, or it’s badly swollen or has changed shape. Get advice from NHS 111 now.
- Your knee locks, gives way or clicks painfully, or you have a very high temperature (or feel hot, cold or shivery) with redness or heat around it. Get advice from NHS 111 now.
- You have throbbing pain or swelling in 1 leg, usually the calf or thigh, maybe with red, blue or darkened skin or swollen veins. This can be a blood clot (DVT). Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111. Call 999 or go to A&E if you also feel short of breath or have chest pain.
Painless clicking is normal. In many areas, you may be able to get physio from NHS community services without a GP referral.