Standing Dumbbell Leg & Core Workout | Lower Body Strength (No Mat, All Standing!)

Hey everybody, I'm Amy from BodyFit by Amy, and this is your standing dumbbell legs and core workout. This is a quick workout where we are working the entire lower body— quads, glutes, hamstrings, inner outer thighs, and a lot of abs. We're going to do it all from a standing position using dumbbells, and of course I'll give you options to work to your level. Are you ready? Let's do it! Let's start just by getting our muscles warm. So we're going to start with a march and pump those arms. We're going to get the blood flowing through our body, get our body's core temperature up up, get the energy up, and we will get ready to move. You can go ahead and roll those shoulders. We're not going to be working the upper body today, but of course it's always good to get everything moving, everything feeling good. And of course we want to warm up through the back and the spine when we're working lower body as well. So this is all standing, so this warm-up we will keep standing as well. Let's cross those arms to really open up through your back. And add a little step out. Now if you can get into that side lunge, watch what I'm doing here, I'm shifting my weight. That's going to be in our workout, so if that doesn't feel good for you, you can just step out, knees parallel. You can do a little side squat, but if you can, you can lean into it a little bit and we get open up the hips. You also drive those arms up right through there, and then let's hold it here. Just kind of shift your weight side to side. You can even reach if you want to get a little stretch. Through your back. Now this workout has 3 quick circuits. Every move— every circuit has 3 moves that we go through twice. The first time it is 40 seconds of work. Let's drive those arms up to the Y and then hinge, drive the hips to the back. It looks like this. Second time through we get only 30 seconds, so it's going to go by quickly. It's great if you're a beginner and you're learning these, but it's also great if you've been doing this a while and you really want to focus on form and go heavy. I call these back to basic workouts. Really great to be focused on one movement pattern and really be strengthening. I also have an upper body and cardio and core and full body versions of this standing program as well. All right, go ahead, we're going to tap it back, opening up the hips this way. And if you can drop that knee down a little bit more— now we're going to do a lunge in this workout, but I'm going to give you options. So maybe lunges don't feel good for your legs, don't worry, I'm going to give you options. For now just focus on opening up the hips right through here and here.

Two more.

And right here, let's cross those knees. You don't have to get super high. We're going to get some standing core along with this lower body. We're going to get creative. It's going to be some balance stuff, but I love standing core. It's a lot of stabilizing, but sometimes we don't have time, or we're not able to get down on the mat, this is a great way to get your core working as well. All right, so our first exercise— and you can keep these body weight or you can add weight— is going to be that side lunge. So I'm going to step out to the side, I'm going to use two weights, I'm going to sit into that hip and then step in. Then I'm going to take it to that other side. Now again, if you can shift your weight, let your hips shift to the side, and you can hinge a little bit here. If you want to keep it stationary, if that feels better for you, that is option as well. Let's grab those weights. We're gonna start with that again. If you need to modify, just take it to a side squat. You don't have to shift the weight. In 3, 2, 1, step out, shift your weight, push in through. Take it out and here. I love the side lunge, one, because we're moving laterally, which is important for our joint health, for our mobility, because we do so much in forward moving position, but also you can feel, right, you get that extra hip, glutes. You're getting kind of a cross between a squat and a hinge pattern, and sometimes people find this easier than a regular lunge. If not, again, take it to a little side squat. And here, 3, 2, 1, and relax. If you have weights, you can set them down in between, but we've only got 20 seconds. Our next thing is a deadlift. So that hinge pattern that we just did— shoulders are back, we're going to push the hips back to the, the wall behind us and then stand up straight. So it's not a fold forward, it's a hinge pushing the hips back. Here we go. Weights stay close to the front of the legs, stand up straight. We call this shoulders packed, where you're pulling those shoulder blades back. So even when I hinge, I'm not letting those shoulders round, which would put pressure in the lower back. I'm also keeping the weights close to the front of the legs because that's going to help keep my back flat as well. Getting the back of the legs, the hamstrings, the glutes, also connecting with the core at the top. And We are getting a little low back, but in a safe, stable way. 3, 2, 1, and relax. All right, so set one weight down. Now we're going to take it to a squat, but we're going to add some core. So a squat like you're sitting in a chair, and then we're going to add knee to elbow. You don't have to get super far with it, just a small rotation to get the core working. In 3, 2, 1. Sit low and cross. You're not really moving in the arms, you're moving in the torso. You're bringing the knee across, you're bringing the elbows across, but using your torso to do it.

And here, here. Yes.

Dropping it down, crossing it over. If your knee doesn't come off the ground, that's okay. You can still get a little twist for that core. Feel it. One more. Yes, and breathe. All right, give your hands a little break. We're going to do all of that again but for only 30 seconds. So alternate your side lunge deadlift, and then we're going to do that squat and cross knee for your core. All right, we got 30 seconds this time. It's going to go quick, then we'll grab some water. If at any point you need more of a break, just hit pause, take it on your own. Go heavy if you can. Here we go, side lunge, step out of it, shift your weight. And again, if you have two dumbbells, I like to put them on either side Some people— sometimes I do this— will rest a weight here, or you'll just have one weight that comes across the front, or again, no weight. Totally up to you. You do you. Be where you are today in your journey. We've got 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Catch your breath. Shoulders back. This time you can take your feet a little bit wider if you want, but we're going to keep the weights close to the front of the body. Slight bend in the knees, stand up straight in 3, 2, 1. Here we go, and stand up. So you'll notice probably your heart rate's getting up, right? You're feeling the cardio along with the strength workout, especially with lower body. These are the biggest muscles in our body, they are the most metabolically active muscles in our body, so of course they take a lot of energy to work, to move. That's why you're feeling that in your heart rate too. They also take a lot of energy to maintain that muscle. One more and relax. Set one weight down. That's why strength training— muscle is the biggest driver of your metabolism. So if that is something you're working on, your metabolic health, fat loss, weight loss, you want muscle on your body. Here we go, we're going to squat cross knee. You don't have to get as low unless you want to. If you can, I love it. Just like we just talked about, muscles working hard, heart rate working hard. We get a quick breather after this before we go into that second circuit. That one's going to be 3 exercises. And here, breathe. Good, catch your breath. You can set those weights down, rack them up. Let's all grab a quick sip of water.

Woo!

Feeling those legs. Cheers, y'all! All right, we're going to take it to a basic lunge this time, then we're going to add a little curtsy twist to get that core. I'll give you some options as you need them, use them, listen to your body. Let's go for it. All right, team, so this is your regular lunge. So again, You can grab 2 weights, 1 weight, no weight. 1 foot forward. I want you to step back on what we call train tracks, so hip distance apart. And if you can, we're gonna drop it low. If that's hard for you, I want you to do what I call a tap back, here to here. So you're still getting that front leg working. Let's do it, here we go. Right leg stays in front, so it's a reverse lunge. Right leg, leg stays stationary. Left leg is dropping down, and you want to drop down in that knee, but at the same time you can let your body come forward a bit. Again, with those shoulders packed. What I'm not doing is letting myself drop into this, right? I'm letting my chest drop a little while I keep that chest open and proud, just like this. Catch your breath. Take your time. You don't have to go as low as me. Again, if yours is just a tap back, protecting that front knee, you'll get there. Last one, and relax. All right, catch your breath, set those weights down if you need to. This one's going to feel like it goes quicker cuz it's right side, left side, then your third exercise. Same thing here, left leg. Get low if you can, with or without those weights. Step back on the train tracks. Here we go. Here, so hip distance apart, and that's going to help with your balance. So we want to be here, not what we call tightrope, which is here, which is going to throw your balance. It's going to make it harder, right? Sometimes that's even tougher on our knee joints. So again, even if you just are tapping back, you're still coming hip distance or shoulder width apart. And breathe. Right here, 10 seconds.

Breathe.

3, 2, and 1. All right team, grab one weight. So this is a curtsy lunge. We're going to cross behind. Now if that feels weird to your knees or you don't want to get as low, just tap behind. We're going to take the weight by our hip and bring it here. So think of it as a little chop and chop while we step low. A little bit of balance, a lot of core and lower body. Here we go. Start small, and here you're just turning your knees— sorry, turning your shoulders and your torso towards that hip. Now if you can get a little lower with both, go for it. Maybe you want to twist more this way. Maybe you want to make it more of a chop and up. It's going to involve a little bit more arms, so don't feel like you have to do that. So you can tell with these circuits, first 2 exercises we're going a little heavier, back to basics. Third one is where we add our core, we get our heart pumping more for cardio.

Relax.

All right team, catch your breath. We're doing all of that again. Lunge, lunge, curtsy twist. And again, with that twist, we're thinking of here to here to get the core working, but also those hips and glutes. All right, right side with that lunge. Step back if you can, drop it low, push up and out of it. All right, 30 seconds only. Shoulders back, heart rate's up. I know mine too. Step back in 3, 2, 1. Take your time. You do not have to be fast with this movement pattern. In fact, I would prefer that you take it slow and that you get good form and good range of motion. Again, you can let your chest drop a little. Sometimes that helps us keep—

breathe.

Last one.

Relax.

All right, same thing, other side. We're going to take it here. Shoulders back, core engaged, left foot forward in 3, 2, 1. Again, I know we're moving quickly for this workout to keep it short, but if you need to hit pause, hit pause. It's hard because you're working hard. That is something I say in all of my workouts. I know we're really quick to say, oh, I'm so out of shape, this is so hard. No, it's hard because you're doing it. It's hard because you're challenging yourself. That is why we're here. Not in a way that you're going to get hurt or not want to come back, but in a way that it feels tough. One more and relax. All right team, so we are back to that curtsy. Listen, if that felt weird for you You can certainly do this with just body weight. You'll still get that twist, still get that core. If you can add the weight, add it, but don't stress if you felt like you were pulling in your back or it was putting you too off balance. We got one more quick circuit after this. Let's bring it up in the center. Curtsy and twist. 3, 2, 1, and up. Again, you can start by just tapping back, getting a little twist. Push out of that hip. If you can, get all the way low. The curtsy, and really any lunge, is a balance move, so you're going to get core no matter what.

And here. Yes!

3, 2, 2, 1, and relax. All right, quick sip of water, shake all of that out. Let's grab a sip. One more circuit to go, and it's going to be a good one. Cheers, y'all! All right, team, so we are going to start with a little handoff. Now this is where the core comes in. So it is a kickstand deadlift. So it looks like a lunge, but we just push our hips to the back, stand up straight. Now We're going to do it with one weight on one side, which is going to challenge our core. If you want to hand it off, I'll show you what that looks like, but either way, this kickstand deadlift is going to challenge that core. If you want to go heavy with it, go heavy with it. One weight, we got right side, left side. You can also keep this body weight if you need to. So one foot forward, this foot is just in a kickstand outside. Here we go. Hinge. So start with just this. Notice how the one weight is going to put you a little bit off balance. That's where our core is going to work hard, right? And then we got all through the back of the leg, hamstrings, booty. If you want a little extra core, hand it off. If you don't feel safe doing that, just keep it regular. If you want to hand it off right and left here, and if you're someone who's just here to go heavy, to go back to basics, just go heavy. You don't have to do the handoff. You can use two weights. Feel that, right? And up, and here, and relax. Little stretch through that leg, right? So you feel a lot in the back of the leg. That is the goal— that hamstrings, booty. And here, if you want to add a little extra core, you're going to get core just by holding one weight. If you want to hand it off, hand it off. So opposite hand, if your left foot's forward. Right hand has the weight. Here we go. You can just take it here, stand up straight. Back foot is just for a little bounce, just like a kickstand on your bike, right? It's just keeping you balanced. Soft bend in the knees, but it's not a lunge, it's a hinge like that deadlift. Again, if you want to hand it off— yes, only if you feel safe doing so. I don't want anybody dropping that weight, not feeling secure here. 10 seconds. Feeling the booty, I know. 3, 2, and 1. All right team, last one. We're gonna start this without weight. If you want to add the weight second time through, you can. It is a plié squat down low and then a little side knee. So plié, side knee, plié, side knee. You can also make it small, side knee. Join me, here we go. All body weight, pull. If you don't want to go down as low, just go halfway, and you can even just twist here if bringing your knee all the way up is not right for you. So many options. We just want, again, side abs, lots of legs and glutes. Yes, feel those legs working, feel that burn. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and relax. All right team, one more time through. If you want to get fancy with that single leg, only if you've done this before, if you're experienced with it, watch me. Hinge, keep that leg off the ground. You're going to feel a lot of core, you're going to feel a lot of that leg. If that doesn't feel safe for you, keep the kickstand or keep the weight in one hand or both. All right, we got 30 seconds. Kickstand, kickstand with the hand off, single leg or single single leg with the handoff. Any option will do. Front leg doing the work, core for stability. 3, 2, 1. Start with the kickstand, see how you feel. You want to go here or if you want to hand it off, right? That's different than here. You at least have that stability. You may just want to do the single leg, right? I know that is tough. I didn't do that on purpose to show you guys how hard it is, it was just really hard for me. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, shake it out. Yes, back of the legs, get ready for that other side. Kickstand, kickstand, hand off, single leg, single leg hand off, anything in between. Here we go. Start with that kickstand, push the hips to the back, push out of that front leg. If you want to hand it off here, or try the single leg, maybe just start with that. If you want to hand this one off—

woo, burn!

I didn't actually hand it off. That's okay. 3, 2, 1, and relax. Oh man. All right, you can keep just the body weight. You can do exactly what we just did if you want to hold one weight here. Side knee, plié, side knee. This is it, here we go. Really, again, pull your body in so those side abs work, but also stabilizing in the center. Get low, pull it up. Arms don't have to move, right? We're not going for upper body, lower body, core, right? This is it. 3, 2, 1, and relax. Ah, yes team, you did it! Grab a quick sip of water if you want to. That was it. That is your standing—

whoo—

lower body and core. Shake everything out, let that heart rate come down. Are you feeling that? I know I am. All the way through, right? So again, this is a great workout. Let's go ahead and take your knees out here, stretch your back as you stretch the inside of the legs. We're going to keep this cool down short. This is a great workout for beginners. You can really learn that form. You can really work your way up in weight or range of motion, getting lower, maybe working yourself up to something like a regular squat or a full lunge, things like that. Let's take one foot forward Sit back. If you need to grab onto the wall or a bench or a chair, go for that. And again, also a great workout— maybe you need something quick and all standing because you're doing this somewhere where you don't have a mat, or at your office. It's a great lunchtime workout, right? Let's take it back right here. Whatever it is, sit back right here.

Breathe.

This is also a great workout to really challenge yourself on weight. Go heavy because you're only doing one thing at a time. Gentle knee pulls if that's okay for you. And let's put your hands right on top of your legs. I want you to roll through a standing cat-cow right through here. I love all standing workouts. Again, sometimes you just need that Sometimes the thought of getting on the floor feels like too much, but you still want to get it all in. Let's get it done with the core, standing core. Leave me a comment below, leave me a like, don't forget to subscribe to the YouTube channel. So many other workouts where this came from. Thank you so much for being here with me today. One big deep breath in and out. You did it! That was your standing Dumbbell legs and core workout. Great job, everybody!