The best approach to developing a painless lifestyle is slowly building up your muscle. But a modern adult’s life can be overwhelming, and not everyone feels like getting to the gym at 5 a.m. So, let’s introduce you to some exercises to build leg muscles at home that don’t require any equipment, alongside some home workout basics and post workout care routines.
The best exercises to for leg muscle building at home are:
- Squats
- Lunges
- Single-Leg Calf Rises
- Wall Sits
- High Knee Toe Taps
But before we go into the details of each, let’s start with the basics.
Training Leg Muscles at Home Without Equipment
We have two goals here: we don’t want to spend money on buying workout equipment, and we’re trying to build a simple routine that doesn’t disturb our daily activities.
Muscle training at home is different from gym workouts. Your space may be more limiting, and you typically don’t have a trainer around. There are also more obstacles like furniture and other items (including your kids, honestly).
Train no more than 3 times per week when building leg muscles at home, and be sure to develop a post workout routine for aftercare. Eat food that help with post workout muscle recovery, and treat yourself to a relaxing massage so you don’t wake up handicapped the next day.
Squat
Squats are great for building leg muscles at home without any equipment. However, as we all know, it is also a challenging one. If you don’t squat right, you can end up injuring yourself.
Slide your hands down your sides until your elbows touch your knees, then stand back up slowly. If you did your squat light, you shouldn’t need to lean forward but purely use the momentum to get back up.
Squat is also a great exercise to reduce back pain. If a full squat is too difficult, try to start with a quarter or half squat.
Lunge
Lunge works the glute (aka, your butt) since it requires you to bend your knees and hips. To do a lunge, step forward with one leg long and straight. Bend the forward knee and lower your body. At the same time, bend the back leg until the knee touches the mat. Your leg on the front should form a 90-degree angle. Push with your front heel to stand back up, then repeat with the other leg.
Single-Leg Calf Rise
First of all, single-calf rises require more stability and muscle control. Therefore, don’t feel defeated if you can’t complete this workout right away. However, single-calf rises are one of the most effective ways to build leg muscles at home, so keep grinding until you get it right!
Calf rises are great workouts to improve balance and ankle stability. Doing it one leg at a time also make sure you train each leg equally.
Wall Sit
Stand with your back against the wall and your feet at shoulder width apart. Slowly slide down until your thighs are parallel to the ground and your knees are directly above your ankles. Maintain for 20 to 60 seconds depending on your ability while keeping your back flat against the wall. Slide up to return to your original standing position.
Wall sits isolate quadriceps muscles, located on the front of your thighs. It also builds up muscle endurance so your legs don’t get worn out as quickly. This is a great workout for those working in the warehouse and having to go up and down stairs regularly.
High Knee Taps
High knee taps are a super workout if you want to build leg muscles at home. Why? Because it literally works every single crucial muscle on your legs from glutes, hip flexors, quads, hamstrings, calves, to your core.
To do a standing high knee tap, hold your hands at waist height as measurement. Stand up straight and tighten your core. Lift your right leg and tap your right palm with your knee. Gently put your foot down and repeat on the other side. Make sure you’re not stomping your feet as that could lead to pain in the balls of your feet!
Post-Workout Muscle Recovery
Your post-workout routine is a critical as the actual training. Otherwise, you’re causing more damage than benefits to your muscles. Make sure you eat some food to reduce post workout muscle pain. You can also give yourself a simple calf massage before getting back to your day. A hot salk with himalayan salt and essential oils is also great for relaxation and faster muscle recovery.
Finally, make sure you check out our handheld percussion massager UGO. Unlike any other massage guns, UGO features an ergonomic design that hugs your body and turns back and calf massage effortless in no time.
