There’s just something about lower-body day that feels so good. For me, it definitely has something to do with the fact that my lower body is much stronger than my upper—so I feel really powerful when I’m challenging those muscles. I can lift heavier weights when I’m doing squats and lunges that I can when I’m doing chest presses or biceps curls. Yes, showing all your muscle groups some love is important for having a balanced, healthy body and avoiding injury. But sometimes, you just want to do a workout that makes you feel strong.
This butt and thigh circuit workout will help you do just that. Even if leg day isn’t your favorite, strengthening your butt and legs will help you move more efficiently in other workouts (and life in general). “Strong legs and a strong butt are the foundation on which the rest of your day stands (literally!),” Melody Scharff, a NASM-certified personal trainer at the Fhitting Room in New York City, tells SELF. “Training your glutes will support your hips and lower back, keeping everything aligned and pain free.” Simply put, when these big muscles are stronger, they can handle more force and take the pressure off weaker spots like your hips, back, and knees.
To help you work these important muscle groups, Scharff put together the below circuit workout, which includes both weighted and bodyweight moves. “Move slowly and with control through the weighted moves, and then explode with energy in the bodyweight and plyometric exercises,” she instructs.
The exercises she selected for the workout are also compound exercises. Working the lower body with compound exercises—moves that require multiple large muscle groups to engage—is a great way to maximize your workout time because you’re targeting more muscles in just a few moves. And the more muscles you have working at once, the more intense the exercise will feel, so your heart will get a nice challenge, too.
Here’s how to do the workout:
- Alternating Kneeling Lunges — 1 minute
- Reverse Lunge to Hop — 30 seconds each side (1 minute total)
- Dumbbell Lateral Lunge to Balance — 30 seconds each side (1 minute total)
- Dumbbell Weighted Hip Bridges — 1 minute
- Dumbbell Squat Thrusts — 1 minute
- Rest for about 20 seconds in between in each.
- Do this circuit five times.
If this is your main workout for the day, do five rounds. If you want to add this onto another workout, just do two or three rounds along with whatever else you’re doing, Scharff recommends.
Here’s how to do each move:
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1 Alternating Kneeling Lunges — 1 minute
- Start kneeling with your legs wider than hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand above your shoulders. Keep your back straight and core engaged.
- Step forward with your right foot and then your left. When standing, keep your knees bent in a half-squat position.
- Step back with your right leg to bring your knee back to starting position and follow immediately with your left.
- Make sure to keep your chest up and elbows forward, Scharff says. Resist the urge to let the dumbbells rest on your shoulders.
- Continue this movement pattern, alternating your starting leg each time, for 1 minute.
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2 Reverse Lunge to Hop — 30 seconds each leg
- Start standing with your feet about shoulder-width apart.
- Step backwards with your right foot, landing on the ball of your foot and bending your knees to create two 90-degree angles.
- Push through your left heel and the ball of your right foot to explode off the floor while thrusting your right leg up in front of your body, knee high toward your chest.
- Land on your left foot and bring your right leg back behind you into a reverse squat.
- Do this for 30 seconds. Then, repeat on the other leg.
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3 Dumbbell Lateral Lunge to Balance — 30 seconds each side
- Start with your feet directly under your hips, holding a dumbbell in each hand above your shoulders.
- Take a big step to the side with your right foot. Bend your right knee as you hinge forward at the hips and push your butt back into a lunge.
- Keep your chest lifted and core engaged.
- Push through your right heel to stand up straight and bring your right leg to center, keeping your knee in front of your body so that you’re balancing on your left leg. Hold here for just a few seconds before stepping back out into another lunge.
- Do this movement for 30 seconds on the right leg, and then repeat on the left leg.
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4 Dumbbell Weighted Hip Bridges — 1 minute
- Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor, and dumbbells resting on your hips. Your feet should be about hip-distance apart with your heels a few inches away from your butt.
- Push through your heels to lift your hips up while squeezing your glutes. Try to create one diagonal line from your shoulders to your knees.
- Pause for 1 to 2 seconds, then slowly lower back down to the ground.
- Continue for 1 minute.
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5 Dumbbell Squat Thrusts — 1 minute
- Stand with feet hip-width apart, core engaged, holding dumbbells at sides.
- Bend your knees and place your hands (holding the dumbbells) on the floor, making sure your hands are between your feet.
- Jump your feet back to come into a high plank position. Pause.
- Jump your feet forward so they land on the outsides of your hands.
- Stand up straight, squeezing your butt and core.
- Continue this movement for 1 minute.
Melody Scharff is wearing LNDR Hustle Stretch-Knit Sports Bra, $60, net-a-porter.com; Adidas Performer High-Rise Three Quarter Tights, $38, macys.com; and Asics Gel Kenun sneakers, $110, asics.com.
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