Leg workouts don't have to involve heavy weights. In fact, you don't even need to go to the gym to build lower body strength and muscle.
Strength training beginners in particular can benefit from home workouts containing a few cleverly-programmed bodyweight exercises. Add an affordable piece of equipment like a resistance band or dumbbell into the mix and suddenly you have a whole host of great exercises at your disposal.
This three-move workout from fitness trainer Alexia Clark is a great example of how you can enjoy an effective leg day at home. All you need is a long resistance band for the Bulgarian split squats (although you can always perform them without if you don't have one to hand).
To give the workout a go, perform the three exercises one after the other as a circuit, and repeat this for a total of four rounds—it couldn't be more simple.
Watch Clark's video below for a demonstration of each of the three moves and details on how many repetitions you need to perform of each one, then give this workout a whirl.
Watch Alexia Clark's resistance band leg workout
Your legs are home to some of the largest muscles in your body, so it stands to reason that leg workouts can lead to plenty of health benefits. Possibly the most obvious among them is that they will strengthen your lower body.
You use your legs daily for everything from sports to simply standing up and getting from A to B, so it pays to keep them healthy. Leg exercises develop muscles around joints like the knee, hip and ankle, making them more robust and less susceptible to injury.
They can also strengthen your bones, work your core and improve your mobility by challenging you to support your bodyweight as you move through set movement patterns. On top of this, they'll boost your metabolism by demanding more from powerful muscles like the hamstrings, quadriceps and glutes.
Clark's workout is a short session which is likely to take you less than 15 minutes from start to finish. This is ideal if you're looking for a time-efficient training session to slip into your hectic schedule.
However, if you have a little more time on your hands, you might want to pair it with this 30-minute no-equipment upper body routine for a comprehensive full-body session.
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