Hey guys! With today’s blog I really wanted to talk about the lower body and how there are many different avenues you can choose to build strong legs; all from the comfort of your homes.

Keep in mind that the most important aspect of building your legs will always be your diet and getting enough protein (usually 1g of protein per pound of body weight) and enough calories daily so that your body will be in an anabolic state (a state of growth). Given that we’re heading into the colder months and most people tend to eat more into the holiday season, that definitely shouldn’t be a problem for most of you, myself included 😉

Once you have the diet part down, you can start to think about which exercises to do that will work your glutes the best even if you don’t have any plates or dumbbells lying around the house. The most important part of any of these exercises I’m about to name is going to be the form and time under tension. With these two things down pat, you’ll see big changes fairly quickly, especially if you’ve been away from the gym in a while.

Let’s first talk about Squats. They are definitely the movement that’s going to give you the most bang for your buck in terms of leg development so it’s no surprise that it’s a foundational movement for what we’re trying to accomplish here. Always make sure you have a wider stance (feet wider than shoulder width) so that you can better access tension in your glutes as opposed to your quads (best for narrow stance). The trick here is to go as low as you absolutely can go and then hold that position for a few seconds. Once a few seconds have passed, squeeze your 🍑 and use the glute muscles to come back to the top of your squat. It’s really that simple. You typically want to find the right amount of time to hold your squat through trial and error until you feel a really nice contraction that’s more glute dominant as opposed to being quad dominant. I would say your best bet is to do 5 sets with minimal breaks (30s-1min) of 15-20 reps. We’re using more reps and lower rest intervals to make up for the lack of weights.

The same formula also applies to Lunges. The major difference here is that your goal is to take longer strides with your feet so that you can access your glutes and once again like the squats, push off the 🍑 and use the glutes to get the next leg to move forward. Side Squats are also really good at activating the glutes as well but make sure to stretch out your inner thighs beforehand so that they don’t get overly tight as you’re performing your reps.

If you do have any resistance bands lying around or are interested in buying them (Amazon has good deals) you can also perform Banded Standing Glute Kickbacks. These are great for truly isolating the glutes but make sure to use a resistance that isn’t too heavy, otherwise you run the risk of only working the hamstrings if your leg can’t kickback far enough.

Try out all these movements as often as your legs allow you (days you have no immediate soreness) and your body will always be in a state of repair to help strengthen and build your glutes, given that you’re eating enough and getting adequate rest.

Thanks for taking the time to read today’s blog, more will be coming soon so stay tuned! Have a great day everybody! 🤙🏼