20-Minute Beginner Leg Workout (At Home, Dumbbells Only)

Hi, I'm Lindsey Baumgren of Nourish Move Love. And we are coming at you with a beginner leg workout. This is all strength for the lower body. We're gonna burn out those legs and I have the awesome Megan with me. She's gonna be showing some modifications along the way, so you can take this at your level. Alright, you guys, let's get started with the warmup. You're gonna go ahead, start. Feet are shoulder width distance apart. Take your hands, place them on your hips and we're gonna push those hips back towards that wall behind us. Looks like this. You're gonna give me a hip hinge, stand tall, lift the calves off the ground and lower. So hip hinge, stand tall, lift, little hip hinge, calf raise action to get us started. We're just warming up the backside of the body here and warming up the calves, the ankles for some good mobility so we can get full range of motion in those squats and in those lunges. Today you'll have lots of options. To take this at your pace, all you're gonna need is a set of dumbbells. I have a set of 20 pound and 15 pound weights. Megan's got some 15s over there. Use whatever you have available to you. All right, you're gonna give me one more hip hinge calf raise. And if you need to take those feet a little bit wider, we're gonna go into squats. So you're just sitting those hips back and down. So you were hinging before hitting the hamstrings and the glutes. Now you're squatting and you're hitting your glutes and your quads, the top of your thighs. You're really driving through those heels. And I'm thinking about pushing my knees out towards my outer three toes. Knees go out, stand tall, drive through those heels to stand you up. Nice full hip extension at the top. You got it right here. Squat for four. Nice work. Go for three. Awesome job. Two. Last one. Nice work. We're gonna do a step back lunge. So we'll go right foot back first. So step back, lunge, hold. Take the arm overhead and just give me a nice side body reach. Opening up this hip flexor. Return. Stand tall. Other leg, step back. Left leg, big stretch. Return. Stand up. Nice lunge stretch, return, stand up. I'm thinking about dropping this back knee to the ground. Nice reach. Then driving through the front heel. Drop the back knee, drive through that front heel to lift me up n reach. Awesome job. We're gonna do one more Each way. Step back. Right. Reach. Nice work. This time, step back. Left. Hold it here. Give me the reach. Now you're gonna take your hands, plant them inside your right foot. Go ahead, find a nice low runner's lunge. If it's more comfortable for you here, you can drop that back knee to the ground. But I'm gonna go ahead, hold right here. And then windmill my right arm towards the sky. Right. Gaze or fingertips? Finger. Gaze follows my fingertips. That's what I'm trying to say right here. Opening up the glutes and the hips so I get greater range of motion. Hold here for three, two, one. Set it down. You're gonna do the same thing. Step out. Other side. Left foot outside, left hand. Big easy twist. Gaze. Follow those fingertips, opening up the hips. Nice. That should feel really good. Awesome job. Replant. Go ahead, step back, find a high plank and push back. Right into down, dog. Go ahead, pedal up those heels again. Getting that mobility in the calves, the ankles. From here you're gonna go down dog hover, bend the knees. Down, dog, hover, bend the knees. Nice little bear crawl action. It's gonna warm up the quads, the top of the thighs. Give me two. Nice. Last one. Awesome job. Push back. Down dog. Stretch it out. Really pedal those heels and then go ahead. Walk your hands back to meet your feet. Nice little forward hang here. Really stretching through that low. Back, back, side of the body. Roll up one vertebrae at a time. When you get to the top, two big shoulder rolls. Up, back and down. Up, back and down. Let's go ahead, do some ham curls. Pull those heels towards those glutes. Nice. There you go. Go. 8, 7, 6. You got it. 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1. Are you warm, Megan? Yes. Nice. This is a short warm up, a short workout, but it's really quick and effective. You guys. Grab a quick sip of water if you need it. Your workout looks like this. You have four circuits. Each circuit has one to two strength training exercises. You're going to do the strength for 40 seconds of work, followed by 20 seconds of rest. And then you're going to do it twice. After that you go into a one minute power or burnout move that you get to take at your tempo. Okay? Add dumbbells or don't. That's up to you. Your first circuit is squats. It's going to be a goblet squat. So one dumbbell. I'm going to go heavy. Try and go heavy if you can. You one dumbbell goblet style. That means the head of the Dumbbell hits my collarbone and my sternum right here. Elbows are tucked in nice and tight. You're going to sit back into a squat. 40 seconds of squats, down, up, goblet style, holding the dumbbell or not. You decide. You ready? We go in three, two. Let's go. So I'm squatting down, up, goblet squats for 20 or for 40 seconds right here. 20 second transition between moves. Nice. Now, if you say you don't have heavy weights, maybe you have two lighter dumbbells. You can always hold those at your side if that feels better for you and you want to try that weight. This is all strength training. Really good for all seasons of life. I am 12 weeks postpartum, right here. A great postpartum workout. Great beginner strength training workout. Foundational moves. Squats, lunges, deadlifts, glute bridges. That's what we're doing today. 10 seconds here. You got it. Nice. Drive those knees towards those outer three toes. Final five, four, three, two, one. Awesome job. From here, I'm gonna keep this goblet style hold. Just my right leg is gonna move. We're gonna add some the squat side step center, pivot center straight to the side, 45 degrees back. Okay? Just your right leg moves. Left leg stays planted. We go in three, two. Let's go. Step right together. 45 together. Side, center, 45. Nice. My left toes stay facing you the entire time. If you're like, why are we doing this 45 degree right? That's called your sagittal plane. I'm sorry, your transverse plane right there. So we go frontal plane, side to side. Transverse plane is a pivot or a twist. This is functional strength training. You guys meant to mimic the moves you do every day. Those pivots and twists, so good for your knees. Strong knees right here. Five. You got it. Come on. Four. Three, two. Stand tall. Nice. We're going to repeat those two moves. Doing the left leg moving on your second move, back to goblet squat. Back to goblet squat. Right, Set it up. Big inhale, big exhale already. Feel that heart rate rising, dumbbell. Collarbone and sternum. We squat in three. In two. Let's go. Goblet squat. Make sure your elbows are falling inside your knees, okay? Really easy to let those chicken wings come out. That weight's gonna pull you forward. Keep it tight. You control the dumbbell. Don't let that weight control you. Elbow should hit inside the inner thighs or the knees. Come on, drive through those heels. Stand tall. Full hip extension. Squeeze those glutes at the top. Nice work. Come on. Last time you do these goblet squats, make it count. You got it. Inhale down. Exhale, push. 10 seconds here. Let's go. All timed intervals. Your pace, your tempo. Finish. Three, two, last one. Stand tall. Nice. Right foot stays planted left. Left foot goes side, center. 45. Center right. Toes stay facing me. All right, we step to the side in ten. Catch that breath. Does my foot stay forward here, Lindsay, or will it turn? Got it. Toes stay pointed forward. Nice point, Megan. We go in three, two. Let's go. Step side together. 45. Nice. So that right foot. Those right toes are going to stay facing me, okay? Strong knees right here. Don't let that knee cave in as you pivot back, side, center. 45. Center, side. Nice. Pulling those inner thighs together each time you stand up tall. Again, timed intervals here. You don't have to go at mine and Megan's pace. We're moving at a pretty quick clip here. Feel that heart rate rising. If you want to slow it down and go heavy, you do that. Come on. You got it. Final five. Nice. Four. And three. Two. Finish. One more, you're out. Nice work. One minute power move. I'm going to take my heavy dumbbell right. Gonna rack it horizontally. I step right push overhead. Left push, overhead. Side to side, squat thruster. Megan's gonna keep it racked right at her chest. No pressing overhead. You pick your pace. Okay? It's one minute. I'm gonna find a pace I can stick with for one minute of work. All right, here we go. Rack it. Elbows are up to me. We're gonna step to our right first. We go in three, two. Let's go. Right push, left push. Side, center, side, center. So this is your one minute move. Okay? The two strength moves. You can go slower and heavier. This one minute, this is a muscular endurance burnout right here. If you need to go lighter, go lighter. One minute to work. No joke, you guys. Come on. Gonna raise that heart rate a little bit right here. You got it. Come on, you're halfway. 30 seconds here. Let's go. Nice work. Stand tall. Pull those inner thighs together. Awesome job, Megan. Stay in it. Right here. Inhale down. Exhale. Push. Tell you what, at 12 weeks postpartum, definitely raising mama's heart rate right here. 10 seconds. Let's go. Let's go. Push. Come on. Final five. Four, three, two, one. Whoo. Dumbbells down, water up. That is circuit number one. Awesome job, Megan. I have five years postpartum. That is still a workout, right? 20 minutes, you guys, if you're gonna give me 20 minutes right here, you're gonna give me a good 20. Okay, we're on to lunges. I'm gonna try and go heavy again. You choose your pace. It's a split lunge. That means my left foot is gonna stay forward, my right foot is gonna stay back. Down on a two. Count up on a one. Down, two. Up on one. That's what it looks like. Okay. It's 40 seconds of work, 20 seconds of rest. Left foot forward, right leg back. You only do each side once. Say, yes, I can. We go in three, two. Let's go, let's go. Down two, up on one. Slow, slow, push. Come on, take it slow on the down. Push on the up. The down is your eccentric motion. Think about driving through that heel, the way down, actually where the muscle building is happening. Control, power. Control, control, power. Think about dropping that back knee to the ground, then driving through that front heel. Front knee doesn't cave in 10 seconds, guys. Come on. Push it here. Yes, you can. Let's go. Come on. Final five. Four, three, two. You're gonna finish one more. I'm gonna go a little bit lighter. We're gonna move. Reverse lunge, lateral lunge. Looks like this. Left leg stays forward. Right leg step back, center, step, side, center. We're gonna move in all planes, you guys. That's good for our knees, good for our minds. Eating my hair. All right, left foot forward, right leg, lunge. In three, two. Let's go. Lunge, stand. Lateral lunge. Stand. Take it back. Drive. Take it side. Let's talk about the muscles we're working. Front glute, front quad, outer glute. Right there of that bent knee. So left leg. Right leg drives me up, left leg drives me up. Right leg drives me up on that lateral lunge. I'm taking these two weights, and I'm framing that outside foot. Megan's got one weight. I have two. You decide your workout. Choose what's going to work for you. Final five. Four, three. We're going to finish two. Give me one more, rock star. Other side. Use those 20s on one leg, so I got to use them on the other. Right? Right leg forward, left leg back. 2. Count down. 1. Count up. Control and power right here. Right foot forward, left foot back. Dropping that left knee to the ground in three, two. Let's go, let's go. Down two, up on one. Lower, lower. Drive. Think about driving through that front heel. Someone told me once, make a fist with that front butt cheek. Whoo. Down two, up on one. Lower, lower. Drive. Starting to feel these 20 pound weights, let me tell you. Whoo. Those legs. Nice. All about the legs right here. Come on, glutes, quads, drive. 10 seconds. Yes, you can drive. This workout is as hard as you choose. Come on. Five, four, three, two, one. You determine. That's what I love, love, love, love about strength training. Got me through pregnancy. Now postpartum. Okay, you're coming back from an injury. Maybe you're starting out. Wherever you at, there's always a way to progress your strength training. Step back, left, Step side, left. We'll stagger a little bit next. We have room. We go in three, two. Let's go. Left leg back center to this side. Center. Only difference. Megan's got one dumbbell. I have two. You got two dumbbells. You're framing that left foot as you step to the side. Okay? Straight up, rib cage to thigh. Shoulders over hips, rib cage to thigh. Those are some cues for you. Come on. Right here. You got it. You only got to do this leg once. Each side wants we drop the weights, we go body weight burnout for a one minute. You got it. Stay with it, guys. Stay with it. Last 5, 4, 3, 2. One more lunge. Because you can. Weights are down nice. One minute burnout. Lunge, knee drive. Okay, Alternating setback, lunge. Megan goes lunge, drive, lunge, drive. I'm gonna add a little hop in between. So lunge, switch, lunge, switch. You decide. Little hop or no hop? It's one minute. Whoo. One minute. Are you ready? Megan's like, why are you breathing so heavy? That talking while I'm working, you guys. Okay, here we go. Step back, lunge. Left leg, right leg, right leg. In three, two. Let's go. I swear I got six hours of sleep last night. I'm just doing my best to keep my right turn my lefts right now. I always say movement for me after baby. More for mom's mental health than anything. It feels good to move. Do something I did before, baby. Makes me feel like me again. Makes me feel strong, right? I get some endorphins. Pumping, always a good thing. But it's got to be quick and effective. That's what this workout is all about. The legs, quick and effective. Come on. Would you know that you are 15 minutes deep into this workout? Come on. Yes, you can. Yes, you can. Let's go. Circuits 3 and 4. Only have one move. Stay with it. One minute of work is hard. I know. We're in it with you guys. We're right here. Next to you. Don't quit. Not yet. Come on. Come on. What would it look like If I said 10 more seconds? Yes, you can. Just keep moving. Right here. Last five, four, three, two, you're out. Walk it off. Shake it off. Nice work, Megan. Why am I hands on knees? It is tough. You guys grab that water. Awesome work. Little sweat towel up in here, too. Okay, guys, Good news. Circuit 3 and 4. You only have one strength move. You do it twice, we're going deadlifts. There's a staggered deadlift. I'm going to use two weights. Megan's going to use one. Right foot forward. Left toe popped 80% in my right front foot. 20 back left toe. I'm hinging at the hips. Hip hinge. Stand tall. Megan can hold the dumbbell that way or just right here in her left hand. Whatever feels comfortable for you. Okay, staggered deadlift. You're working the backside of the body. It's a hip hinge. Initiate with the hips, shoulders down and back. Crush some oranges in your armpits. We go in three, two. Let's go. Hinge, hinge, hinge. Stand tall. I'm thinking about driving through that front heel to stand me tall. Soft bend in that standing leg. Okay? You don't want to lock it out. No locked up joints. Nice. Hinge, hinge, hinge. Think about closing a car door with your booty. Push it back. Booty to wall. Drive through the heel to stand tall. Booty to wall. Drive through the heel to stand tall. You got it. Hinge, hinge, hinge. It is the glutes and hammies, specifically where your hamstring meets your glute muscle. 10 seconds, guys. You really focusing on that front right leg? Last. 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Nice work. You're just simply going to switch out your feet. I'm gonna set the dumbbells down. Roll with those wrists. Okay, Now I got 80 here, 20 here. Hinge. Focusing on that left glute. Hammy right here. Hamstring meets glute. That's my focus. We're getting sweaty up in here. All right, we go in three, two, go. Hinge, hinge, hinge. Nice. And why did I say crush oranges in your armpits? You want to keep those weights as close to your body as possible. The farther the weights go from my body, the more stress I'm going to put on that low back. Especially if you're me, a postpartum mom. You want to keep that core tight, keep that low back strong. Keep those weights tight to the body. You Got it. You're halfway, guys. Halfway here. You only do this move one side each. Come on. Stay with me. Stay with me. Then we got a one minute burnout for you, and it's really fun. Come on. 10 seconds, drive through that front heel to stand you up right here. Functional strength training. How many times do you bend over every day? You got three, two, and one. I'm going down to one dumbbell. Meghan's got one dumbbell. It is a dumbbell swing. Still thinking. Initiate with my hips. Okay. I'm gonna show you from the side so you can see. Megan's gonna hold one dumbbell right here. Hinge, swing hinge. I'm gonna give you an alternating hand swing. Hinge switch at the top, hinge switch at the top. You decide. Okay. Megan's gonna start facing you. I'm gonna start from the side so I can cue you. Okay. If you need to know what it feels like, take that dumbbell. Place the head, the front head at your heels. Hinge over to grab it, pull it forward. Okay? That is what the hip hinge is about. Soft bend the knees. We go in three, two, hinge drive again. It's driving through those heels to stand you tall. It's one minute option. Two hands on that dumbbell right here, which I'm kind of debating doing because I am getting super sweaty. That hand switch is making me nervous. You can hand switch or keep two hands on. I'm going to go two hands on, hinge swing. I'm thinking about not snapping my hips forward, but really thinking about driving through the heels to stand me tall. Now think long neck, shoulders packed down, drive through the heels. Long neck, shoulders packed down, drive through the heels. Just swinging that weight right up to shoulder height. My arms aren't working. What powers the dumbbell is my hips and glutes. If you are a runner, these are your power generating muscles right here. Come on. Yes, you can. You're in the final. 10 seconds. 10 seconds. Let's go, team. Finish strong. You're down to the ground for glute bridges after this. Yes, you can. Last four, three, two, and one. Whoo. Nice work, you guys. Awesome, awesome job. We're down to the ground. Okay, you can take two dumbbells. That's what I'm gonna do. Megan's gonna go bodyweight. It's a glute bridge, guys. I'm flat on my back. Legs are bent at 90 degrees. Closer my heels are to my glutes. Okay, More butt glute action. Farther my heels are. More hamstring action. I want the glutes. I'm gonna take two dumbbells. Rest one on each hip. Glute bridges for 40 seconds. You guys, it's this and a hold. That's all you got left. Say yes, I can. Here we go. Knees are in line with hips. We go in three, two. Let's go. Lift and lower. Lift and hover. My butt never touches the ground. There is is constant tension on my glutes and my hammies. Yes, you got it. Lift and hover. Weights are no weights. You could always take the heads of the weights right here to the hip bones if that feels better for you. Lift. Come on. Come on. Lift. You got it. Feeling those glutes? Yes, I am. But what would it look like if I said 15 seconds? Then you hold at the top. I'm dropping the weights. You're going to hold for 30 seconds. Yes, you can. Final five, four, three, two. Hold it here. Just hold it here. I'm dropping those weights I'm holding here. Option A, hands are at my sides. Option B, you want to make it harder. Add some instability. Hands go overhead. Come on. Woo. Those glutes should be shaking. I know mine are. Yes, they are. Come on. Yes. Keep it lifted. Squeeze, squeeze. Come on. You got this. Yes, you can. Can you lift one inch higher for the final ten? Nine. Eight. You got this. Seven. Stay with it. Six as you can. Five. Four. Three, two, one. Take it down. Holy bananas. Glutes are nice and shaky. You guys. We are gonna stay right here to stretch it out. Legs go long. I'm gonna pull my right knee to my chest right here. Left leg long. Right knee to my chest. Now take that right knee slightly out towards that right armpit, opening up those inner thighs right there. That should feel good. Bring it back to center. Kick the right leg. Long option to walk up the calf shin. The sweaty, the sweaty calf. That's how you know you had a good workout. Point the toe, flex the foot. Point the toe, flex the foot when your shin is sweating. It was a good strength day. Nice. Right there. One more. Awesome. Now you're gonna take the bent knee to the chest and you're gonna take that right leg across the body. Nice outer glute stretch. That's what I was waiting for all day today. Right there. This stretch right here. Okay. Right elbow, right shoulder stays connected to the mat. Right knee drops down towards the ground. Across the body. Same thing. Other side, guys. Bring it. Both legs go long. Big inhale, exhale. Pull that left knee to the chest. Pull the Left knee towards that left armpit. Nice little inner thigh stretch right there. Awesome job. Bring it back to center. Left leg up in the air. Option to climb up towards the calf shin. Flex the foot, point the toe. Flex the foot, point the toe. Nice. Two more just like it. Last one. Nice. You're gonna pull that knee to the chest and you're gonna guide that left knee across the body. Left shoulder. Okay. Stays connected. Left elbow stays connected to the ground. Leg comes across. Nice outer glute stretch right there. That should feel really good for all those lateral lunges we did today. Awesome job. All those side step squats. I'm so stinking proud of you. Nice work. Bring it back to center. Cross your ankles. Roll yourself up to a seated position. We'll finish the with one final butterfly stretch for the inner thighs. You guys absolutely crush this workout right here. Soles of the feet to touch. Take your right hand to your left foot, left hand to your right foot. Now think about rounding out. Tucking the chin towards the chest. And now reverse it. Spread the chest apart slightly hinge forward. You are so awesome. Thank you for doing this beginner leg day with us. If you loved it, you got to check out beginner arms. You can find it all@nourishmovelove.com have a great day. Thanks so much for crushing legs with me today. If you enjoyed the workout, do me a favor, drop a subscribe to our YouTube channel here and you gotta check out our beginner arm workout right here. Or you can find all of our beginner workouts in this playlist right here. Have a great day.