How to pump up your legs at home without iron

Is it possible to pump up legs without weighting

You really need to work with heavy weights to build strength quickly, but it doesn't have to be to build muscle.

According to a meta-analysis of scientific studies, muscle gains equally well when working with heavy weights at low repetitions, and when exercising for 12-40 repetitions with light shells or none at all.

But there is one condition: exercises must be done to muscle failure or close to it. In other words, at the end of the set, you should have no more than 1-2 reps of strength.

To get the muscles tired enough, you can use several options:

Choose challenging exercises. For example, squat on one leg or exclude the relaxation phase.
Add weight. To do this, you will have to buy compact equipment for home training, for example, expander bands with different resistances. You can also make weights from available tools.
Add jumps … Due to the explosive component, the muscles will get tired much faster. A review of research has shown that plyometric exercise is as effective for hypertrophy in novice and amateur as strength training with weights.
Combine movements into supersets … Almost all leg exercises involve opposite muscle groups. For example, when you lower yourself into a squat, the muscles on the back of the thigh tighten, and when you rise, the muscles on the front. Performing two movements on different muscle groups without resting can tire your muscles more and build them up faster.

What exercises will help pump legs without iron

We will list the basic movements that allow you to properly load the muscles without any weighting.

Bulgarian split squats

Effective Exercises: Bulgarian Single Leg Split Squat

The movement pumps the front of the thigh perfectly and provides a good load on the buttocks. Stand with your back to a chair or other low support and place the toe of one leg on it. You can put your hands on the belt or fold them in front of the chest - whichever is more convenient.

Squat down to parallel with the thigh of your supporting leg with the floor. If the heel comes off at the same time, move slightly away from the support. When exiting the squat, make sure that the knee does not curl inward.

Squat pistols

The exercise perfectly loads the hip flexors, quadriceps, adductors, large and middle gluteal muscles, develops joint mobility and a sense of balance.

Raise your straight leg low from the floor and sit down on the other until you are fully bent at the knee joint. Make sure that the heel of your free leg does not touch the floor, and that the supporting leg does not come off it.

Get up from the squat, keeping the knee from twisting inward, and repeat the exercise. You can stretch your arms out in front of you - this will make it easier to maintain balance.

This is a fairly complex movement and it may take you weeks to master it. Fortunately, there are many pistol approach exercises that will also do great work on your hips and glutes. Choose an option for your level from the article below.

Jump squats

This exercise is much more difficult than regular air squats and can hit the quads in as little as 20 reps. For beginners, 10 may be enough.

Stand straight, place your feet shoulder-width apart or slightly narrower, fold your arms in front of your chest or put them on your belt. Squat down as deep as you can keep your back straight and your heels flat on the floor.

Jump up and back down into the squat. Continue in the same spirit.

Jumping lunges

Another plyometric movement that will make your hips burn after 10-20 reps and will pump your glutes beautifully.

Lunge forward, then jump up and switch legs in the air. Land in a lunge on the other leg and continue to alternate between them. Try not to touch the floor with your knee behind your standing leg, so as not to hit.

One-legged glute bridge

This is one of the best back-thigh pumping movements.

Lie on your back, bend your knees and place your feet on the floor. Take one leg off the floor and straighten it - this is the starting position. Then squeeze your buttocks and lift your pelvis as high as possible. Return to starting position and repeat.

To make it harder to move, place your supporting foot on a slight rise, such as on the edge of a sofa. You can also move the supporting leg further from the pelvis - this will also increase the load.

Step up the dais

This exercise is great for pumping both the hips and buttocks.

Stand next to a stable support, climb up on it and go back down, alternating your legs every other time. Make sure that the knee of the supporting leg does not turn inward.

Jumping to the dais

Another plyometric exercise that will pump your hips and calves perfectly.

Make sure the chosen support is stable and will not wobble or move under you. If you have not studied for a long time, pick up furniture no higher than 50 cm. Jump onto the dais and go back in steps. You don't need to jump down to avoid overloading your knees.

Rise on toe

Effective Exercises: Straight Leg Calf Raises

This movement pumps the calf muscles. Rise on your toes and lower back down. If you feel insecure, you can hold onto some kind of support.

To increase the stress on the muscles, place the ball of your foot on a raised area and lower your heel to the floor before lifting it. This will increase the range of motion and the load on the calves.

You can also complicate this and other movements with commercial or homemade compact exercise equipment.

What equipment can you buy or make for home training?

If you are just starting to exercise, bodyweight exercise should be sufficient. But over time, you will have to do more and more reps and approaches to tire the muscles and make them grow in size.

To keep progress from stopping, increase the difficulty of your exercises with the following equipment.

Rubber bands-expanders

Stepping on the expander and sliding the other end of the loop over your shoulders can make movements such as squats, lunges in place, and the Bulgarian split squat more difficult.

If you take a mini-elastic band or wrap the expander twice around the hips just above the knees, you can increase the load on the muscles in lateral steps and spreading the legs while lying on the side. And if you hook the elastic band on a stable support, you will be able to do flexion and extension of the knees.

Since we are talking about training large and strong muscle groups, choose thicker resistance bands: they will provide more resistance and help you pump your legs better.

Weights on the legs

Sand weights that are strapped to your feet will add stress to any plyometric movement.

Bottles of water or sand in the backpack

This is the easiest projectile and will complicate your jumping movements, squats and lunges. Just fill a few bottles with water, put them in your backpack, and place them on your back or chest, depending on the exercise. In the gluteal bridge, you can place a homemade projectile on your hips.

Canister with sand

Another “tool” that will allow you to do the goblet squat is a variation of the exercise in which you hold your weight in front of your chest.

If the canister has a strong and fairly wide handle, you can use it for Romanian single-legged deadlifts and swings - hamstrings and glutes.

Where to get ready-made training programs

If you don't want to compose movements yourself, try ready-made complexes from popular trainers. We will show you three options - choose what you like best, or try everything.

1. Circular interval complex for 20 minutes

This is a workout from bodybuilder, trainer and physical therapist Jeff Cavalier. You can do it without any equipment or add weight.

The complex is performed in an interval format and consists of four circles - 5 minutes each. The first three movements of each circle you perform one after the other at certain intervals:

For beginners - 15 seconds of work, 15 seconds of rest.
For an average level of training - 20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest.
For advanced athletes - 25 seconds of work, 5 seconds of rest.

Thus, this part will take 90 seconds to complete. After that, you rest for 60 seconds and move on to corrective exercises to develop hip mobility. These movements are the same for all circles of the workout - lifting the legs while lying on the side and sliding into a side lunge to stretch the adductors.

You do each of these exercises for 30 seconds per leg. As a result, the corrective part takes 2 minutes, and the whole circle - 4.5 minutes. After that, you can rest for 30 seconds and move on to the next round.

Circle 1

Air squats or weighted goblet squats.
Steps in the gluteal bridge.
Swing with a dumbbell (can of sand) or imitation without weight.

Circle 2

Reverse lunges.
Sprinter's lunges.
Jump squats.

Circle 3

Squats without pause at the top.
Romanian single leg deadlift.
Romanian deadlift with leg back and knee forward.

Circle 4

Transition from lunges to squats without straightening.
Glute bridge with almost straight legs.
Sprinter lunges without straightening.

If you feel that you still have strength, you can repeat this workout from the beginning. Thus, you will spend 40 minutes working on your legs.

2. Training of two supersets and a challenge

This is a small complex from German trainer Alex Lorenz, founder of Calimovement, a resource dedicated to calisthenics.

The workout includes four good leg exercises spread over two supersets. Completes a three-minute complex task designed to finish off your muscles (and challenge your endurance).

Superset 1

Pistol Squats - 4 reps.
Single-leg glute bridge - 8 reps

Do both exercises on one leg, then rest for 60 seconds and repeat the same on the other. After that, take a break for 60 seconds and superset two more times.

Superset 2

Bulgarian split squats - 8 times.
Rise to the toe - 12 times.

Do both exercises on one leg without resting in between, then rest for 30 seconds and do the same on the other leg. Take a break again for 30 seconds and do two more laps.

Finisher

Set a timer for three minutes and do as many jump squats as you can.

It is better not to jump right away until you are completely tired, but to work calmly for all three minutes. To stay strong, take breaks every 15-20 seconds. After a pause, do not stand for long - shake off your legs and continue.

Try to do more every time. If you managed to complete 20 reps in three minutes today, try 21 next time.

3. A set of 10 exercises

This is “leg day” from the THENX app with a calisthenics workout program. In the video below, athlete John Oslager demonstrates her.

In this workout, you do most of the exercises not in time, but in the number of times. Rest between movements for 15 seconds. If you feel you can go on without rest, do it.

The workout consists of the following movements:

Alternating lunges and jump squats - 30 seconds.
Bulgarian split squats - 10 times per leg.
Lunges - 10 times per leg.
Jump squats - 14 times.
Jumping jets - 40 times.
Squats with hands behind the head - 20 times.
Side lunges - 10 times per leg.
Walking sideways in a squat with arms behind the head - 20 steps.
Rise on toes - 15 times per leg.
Holding a static squat - 45 seconds.

When you complete one lap, rest for a few minutes and start over. In total, you need to make three circles.

How often should you practice

Your muscles need time to recover and grow, so don't train every day.

Do leg day twice a week with a break of 1-2 days between sessions. For example, exercise your legs on Monday and Thursday, and do upper body exercises on other days.

If you can only do workouts 2-3 times a week and during this time you need to pump all muscles in general, choose one superset for the front and back of the thigh and include it in your program along with the movements for pumping the upper body.

Alternate supersets to evenly pump all your leg muscles. And don't forget that the main thing is to work until you get tired. If you load your muscles to their fullest, they will grow.