6 Best Leg Exercises to Do Anywhere In Under 20 Minutes

Leg exercises are notorious for being extremely time-consuming, sometimes lasting more than an hour.

Long gym workouts are not feasible for busy people, who instead skip the body part entirely. That leads to issues down the line, as strong legs are the backbone of an athletic, muscular physique.

In this article, we will examine a few key leg movements you can do with minimal equipment in the confines of your home or office. Make sure to warm up, and do some dynamic stretching before performing these exercises.

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Bodyweight Squats and Other Leg Exercises

Here's a look at six leg exercises you can do in 20 minutes:

1) Bodyweight Squat

Bodyweight squats done for higher reps are good for growing the quads, hamstrings, and glutes. Add extra weight by holding a dumbbell or kettlebell. Advance to one-legged pistol squats once you've progressed enough.

Instructions:

• Stand upright with your feet slightly wider than hip-width.
• Interlock your hands behind your head, with your elbows pointed to each side.
• Bend your knees, and descend into a squat. Squat as deep as you can.
• Explode back upwards. You can slow down the ascent to make the movement tougher.

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2) Lunge

There're a variety of lunges you can do to build your legs. Here, we will focus on the basic front lunge. You can slowly progress to reverse lunges and weighted lunges.

Instructions:

• Keep your core engaged as you stand with your feet hip-width apart.
• Step forward with your right foot, and lower into a lunge. When your right thigh is parallel to the ground, engage your glutes, and push off the floor using your right leg.
• Return to the starting positon. Repeat on the other foot.
• Perform 3-5 sets in a higher rep range.

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3) Single leg deadlift

This is among the best leg exercises to develop hamstring flexibility and overall stability. Start off with your bodyweight, and progress to weighted variations.

Instructions:

• Place your feet shoulder-width apart. Bring your left knee upwards such that it's parallel to the floor.
• Brace your core. Tilt your upper body while extending your left leg behind you. At the end position, the left leg should be parallel to the floor.
• Use your hamstrings and glutes to return to a standing position, with the left leg still bent.
• Complete all the reps on one side before moving to the other.
• Perform three sets of 8-12 reps.

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4) Standing Calf Raise

The calves require direct attention to elicit adequate hypertrophy. Perform 100 reps daily for amazing results.

Instructions:

• Stand upright with your toes on any raised surface like stairs or a box.
• Raise your heels slowly by sqeezing your calves.
• Pause for a second at the top of the movement.
• Lower your heels back to the ground, stretching the calves as much as possible.
• Explode back up to the starting position. Repeat.

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5) Step-Up

Leg exercises are generally infamous for the stress they place on the knee joint. Step-ups are an excellent alternative for those suffering from knee pain.

Instructions:

• Stand with a hip-width stance. Stand close to the box. You can replace the box with any raised surface coming to knee level.
• Place your right leg on the box. Push up using this leg, and stand up on the box, with the left leg still in the air.
• Lower your body till the left leg touches the floor. Complete all reps on one side before working on the other leg.

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6) Glute Bridge

Leg exercises are incomplete without working the glutes. The glute bridge is an excellent movement that strengthens the hips, lower back, and glutes.

Instructions:

• Lie on your back with your knees shoulder-width apart. Place your arms either side of the torso.
• While engaging your abs, slowly raise your hips, and engage the glutes.
• Take care not to arch the lower back.
• Squeeze the glutes for a second at the top of the motion.
• Lower your hips with control. Repeat.

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Takeaway

The aforementioned leg exercises can help you develop serious leg strength and size. Make sure to perform progressive overload, and add in variations to optimize muscle growth.