20-Minute LEG WORKOUT with Dumbbells (Lower Body Strength)

If you're looking to build strength in the lower body, this workout is for you. We've got a quick and effective 15 minute leg workout that is absolutely going to destroy the lower body. Of course, you can get more quick and effective home workouts just like this one when you hit. Subscribe to my YouTube channel. Hi, you guys, I'm Lindsey Baumgren of NourishMove Love, and I'm joined by the amazing Rachel, who will be offering modifications throughout today's quick and effective lower body workout. All you're going to need are a set of dumbbells. We're going to work through seven exercises, spread out through 15 minutes. There's going to be some isometric holds built in and it's going to be no repeats, which you love. All you need are dumbbells. We've got anywhere from 30 to 20 pounds today. We are going heavy because it's quick and effective legs. And we're going to add a mini loop resistance band to the first three exercises. Totally optional. Grab your weights. Let's get this lower body warmed up and jump in. You ready to do this? Let's do it. Let's go. Let's do it. We're gonna start with some hamstring scoops. So you're gonna kick out right heel up to the ceiling. Big scoop, step back, left toes up to the ceiling, scoop. Nice. You're nice. And lengthening through the back of the leg there. Thinking about lengthening through that hamstring muscle hinging at the hips as you scoop up towards the sky. Nice. One more each way. Big scoop. Last one here. And then we're gonna bring those feet nice and parallel and go right into squats. You're gonna drop down and up. We're just walking you through some of the moves you're gonna do today. Very functional. We're gonna do squats, deadlifts, lunges, lateral squats. It's gonna be a perfect leg workout that is like, so timely.

You can get it done in 15 minutes.

Yes. Go. Four. You're gonna hold at the bottom in three. Nice work. Two. And hold it here. Just hold it here. Isometric hold for eight, seven, six. You got it. We're gonna go to lunges in four, three, two. Stand up. Right foot forward. Left foot steps back on train tracks. Split lunge. Down and up, down and up. Driving through this front heel. Shoulders are stacked over hips. Working glutes and quads. Focusing on this front right leg for two more. Nice. Last one. Drop and hold. Drop and hold. Just hold. Hold it Here, back. Left knee, left, left knee. It's hovering off the ground, you guys. Hovering off the ground. Hands are going to plant right here. You're going to step down. Nice Spiderman stance here. And then you're going to windmill that right arm up towards the ceiling. Nice stretch here. Can you drop that right elbow down towards the mat? Open up. Open it back up. Nice. Set it down. Switch. Right or left foot outside left hand. Easy twist. Gaze follows fingertips. Drop the elbow. Nice work. Bring it back up and switch. One more time. Right foot outside right hand. Nice big stretch here, opening up the hips so you can get deeper into those squats and lunges. Drop the elbow. Plant the hand. Step back. Left foot outside left hand. Last time here. Big sweep. Drop the elbow. Nice. You're gonna walk this foot in between your hands. And then you're gonna drop right into that lunge. Take it down and up. Left foot forward, right foot back this time. Nice work. Give me four isometric hold in three and two and drop. Hold, hover, hover. Five, four, three, two, one. Drive up. Let's go for some high knees. High knees. High knees are March for 8, 7, 7, 6. You got it. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Take it nice and wide. Right here. Lateral squats. You're gonna hit side, center, side, center. Driving off this bent knee. Nice work. Feet are planted, toes face me or slightly out. Chest up. Eyes up. 4, 3, 2 and 1. Are you warm, Rachel? Nice and warm. Nice and warm. Quick warmup. Grab your water, quick sip. Grab your band if you wanna put it on for the first three moves. All squats to start off with, we're going to go heavy. Band is 6 inches above the knees, never on the knee joint. I'm going to grab that big 30 pound weight. If you don't have a heavy weight, feel free to take two at your sides. You're going to go into squats. We're going to go goblet squat. One dumbbell racked at the chest. Points of contact are collarbone and sternum. Elbows are tucked in. Elbows are going to fall between my knees. You're going to drop into a goblet squat for 40 seconds. All right, 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off, but not really because the 20 seconds is going to be an isometric hold. We're going to start with just jumping right in. 40 seconds of goblet squats, you drop into a squat in three, two. Let's go. So it's down and up. Goblet squat. Got that band on? So I want you to think about driving your Knees into the band. Knees should be tracking whether or not you have a band on towards those outer three toes. Chest up. Eyes up. Right here. Inhale down. Exhale. Drive up. I like to think about driving up through my shoelaces or the middle of my foot. Nice toe splay. Nice solid base driving up. Awesome job, you guys. One rep at a time. Nice. You got about 10 more seconds here and then you're gonna drop into an isometric hold for 20 seconds. You're just gonna hold for 20 seconds. You're there in five, four, five, three, two, one. Drop. Hold for 20. Drop. Hold for 20. Hold right here. You can push the weight back into the heels. Wiggle your toes if you can sit into it. Holding here. Elbows are off those inner thighs. Weight is here. We're gonna go into power. I go goblet squat. Jack. Rachel goes side to side. You're there in four, three, two, one. Up, down, up. Wide at the bottom, narrow at the top. You can take up the impact and go side to side. You're here for 40 seconds. 42nd. Yes, team. Come on, come on. You get a 20 second break after this move. Okay? I'm actually going to give you a rest here. Nice work. Wide at the bottom, narrow at the top. Come on. You're going to give me 15 minutes. I want a good 15 minutes. 20 down, 20 to go. Let's go. Power up. Inhale down. Power up. Nice work keeping tension on that band. Come on. What would it look like If I said 10, nine, eight. You got this. Seven. Stay with it. Five, four, three, two, one. I know I skipped six on that one. I skipped six counting.

I wasn't going to comment. I was going to let you have that one.

Rest for 20. Pick that weight back up. One more round of squats. 3. Pulse at the bottom. Stand up. Hold at the bottom. Stand up. Grab your weight. Final sets of squats in three, two. Let's go. Pulse. One, two, three. Hup. One, two, three. Hop. Come on. You guys know this. Here at NML, if you show up for 15 minutes, it's never an easy 15 minutes, right? We're here to push you, encourage you. I always say 10 minutes is better than zero, 15 is better than zero. But if you're going to give me 15 minutes of your time, I take that seriously, guys, I'm here to make you work.

Come on.

We're going to make use of it. You got 10 more seconds here. You got one more isometric squat hold. I think I only did two. Sorry. One, two, three. Up on one. One two, three. Stand up. Drop for 20 and you're out. Hold this squat for 20 seconds. 20 seconds and you're done with squats. The band comes up, you stand up, you stand up in 10, 9, 8. It burns. 7. Stay with it. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. Holy banana. Who said you couldn't get a good one?

I saw the shoe outline and Lindsey said, oh, 40 on, 20 off. And I said, the 20 is not really off though, is it?

No, no. Secret's out. It's not. All right, we're gonna go into split lunges. Band comes off. Woo. It's getting spicy in here, Rach. Switch it to 25. Split lunge means my legs or my feet stay planted. Right foot forward, left toes back. One or two weight weights. 40 seconds. Down, up we go in three, two. Let's go. And like Rachel said, the 20 seconds isn't really 20 seconds off here. Yep.

You know what I like, though? That no repeat, but it's similar variations. So you're still getting that fatigue without repeat.

Yeah. You basically just did like three and a half, four minutes of squats. Right. Even though they were all slightly different. Come on. 20 seconds here. Option to hold the weights or drop them. I'm going to drop them. You're going to go into an isometric lunge. Hold for 20 seconds and then we're going to add power. Are you catching the tempo? Here we go. Strength, isometric power. Sip. Come on. 5, 4, 3, 2. You can drop them or hold them. Come on, get low. 20 seconds, isometric lunge. Hold right here. Sit in the fire. How close can you get? This left knee to the ground from here. In 10 seconds we go power. I go single leg plyo lunge, leaving the foot, leaving the ground here. If I can reach. Rachel has your mod knee drive in three, two. Let's go. Tap. You can hardly get off the ground after that. Come on, come on. You go right from that isometric hold into power for 40 seconds. This is going to burn. Find a tempo you can stick with for 40 seconds. You get a 20 second recovery after this, guys. 20 second recovery. Come on. 20 down, 20 to go. Up. Drive up. Legs and glutes on fire. What would it look like if I said final 10, final 10. Let's go. Up, up. Come on. Finish last. 5, 4, 3, 2. You're out. Holy banana. Rest for 20. Same thing. Other side. Left foot forward, right leg back.

I swear, the quicker the workout, the harder it is. Like, Yep, you're getting the intensity. It's just in 15 minutes or in 30 minutes.

Yeah, we just take out the rest. Never easy leg day. Left foot forward, right foot back. 40 seconds of lunge in three, two. Let's go. Come on. Down, up. You're here for 40, you hold for 20, you explode for 40. Wrap your mind around it. And then break it down one rep at a time. Come on. I always say my husband and I live our life in 5 minute intervals. I live my workouts in 1 minute reps. Just get through the next rep. Sometimes you get a good five minutes. Sometimes it's a really tough five minutes. I think we're entering a tough one right here. Come on. 10 seconds. Drop the weights. Isometric hold. You can keep the weights if you want. In four, three, two. Drop them. Here we go. Hold it. 20 seconds. Drop, hover, hold. Getting this back, knee close to the ground. You're in the fire. You shake it out with power. You explode in 10, 9, 8. Can you drop one more inch? Yes, you can. For 5, 4, 3, 2. Let's go. Come on. 40 seconds of power. 40 seconds of power. Let's go, let's go. That 20 second break. It's on the other side of this move. It's on the other side of this move. And then we go. Double leg move. Okay, last single leg move. Right here. Come on, come on. Yes, you can. 20 down, 20 to go. Up. Let's go, team up. Come on. Barely feels like I'm getting off the ground, but I'm doing it. Final 10. Final 10. 9, 8. You got this. 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. Lindsey leg day never disappoints. Liv was part of our YouTube community, commented and said, this is my go to workout for a busy mom like me. I've been following you guys for four to five years, and you've made me fall in love with fitness again. That is our goal, Rach.

I'd love to hear it.

Make you love fitness. We're here to be better. Wives, moms, friends, daughters, community members. Right here. One percent better. Every day, you guys. All right, let's go. Deadlift. Two heavy weights. Or you can take one and hold each head of the dumbbell. I'm gonna go 225s. Want that one. Deadlift. Kick your butt. Kick your butt where your feet land. That's your stance. Hip hinge, you're hitting the hamstring. Hinge, hinge, hinge. Stand tall. You're there for 40 seconds. Crush some oranges in your armpits. Activate your lats. We go in three, two. Let's go. Chance to catch Your breath right here. When I say crush oranges in your armpits, all right? I mean, activate your lats. Pull your shoulders down towards your hips. That's going to keep the weights tight to the body. If you feel yourself dipping into your low back, it's likely because you're not crushing some oranges in your armpits. Strong back starts at the shoulders. Shoulders all the way down. Now I'm pushing those hips back towards that wall behind me. We got this. And then we go right into power. For the hips and hammies, we're going to go into a dumbbell swing. Dumbbell swing. Nice work, guys. Come on, finish it. You're in the final. 5, 4, 3, 4, 2. I think we got one more because we love deadlifts around here. Nice. You can drop down to one weight. You can put both hands on it, or you can alternate your swing. You're going to hinge, drive, Kettlebell swing, dumbbell swing. You got a kettlebell, you can grab it. You're adding power to that movement, that hip hinge you just did. Add some power in three, two. Let's go. Hips back, stand tall. Hips back, stand tall. Not overextending at the top, right? Number one error I see in swings is this. Hips disengage. It's straight up. I'm not overextending at the top. I stand straight up, right? I like to think of a string on my head. It goes here. Takes me straight up. The string does not go back. Go straight up. Come on, Drive through those heels to stand you tall. Nice work, nice work. 10 seconds, guys. Come on. This is your power. We go back to strength in 5, 4, 3, 2. And rest, recover. For 20 calf raises, I just don't think we do them enough. And I love calf raises, so good for my runners out there. You're doing a run today. Perfect 15 minute leg workout. To add on calf raises, you can hold one weight or two at your sides. Calf raises in three, two. Let's go. Lift to the toes, roll back to the heels. When you get to the top of that calf raise, I want you to squeeze and hold for a second. Lower with control. Hold lower with control. Maybe even go down, two, up. Nice. You see how hard it is to go back? Slow. Down two, up, down two. Really splay those toes. Big toe to pinky toe. Nice toe splay in your shoes. Or you could do this barefoot. Nice work. Lower with control.

Calf raises because it's so important, but I know I'll skip it if it's.

Not in the Workout totally same for me. Three, two, and one. Dropping down to one weight. You're going to hold it right at your chest. Lateral squat. You got two moves left, guys. This and glute bridges. Toes face me or slightly out. You're going to hit side, center, side center. It's a lateral squat. My feet stay planted. Lateral lunge would be where my feet move. Hit right. In three, two. Let's go. Bend into that right knee. Drive up, bend left, drive up. So you're transferring the load side to side, hitting that outer glute med, outer hips, your abductors, right. Nice work. Awesome job. You can slightly hinge forward as you drop. I like to think rib cage to thigh. Rib cage to thigh. Rolling to the outer edge of my foot. Rolling to the outer edge of my foot. That's where the weight is going. And then driving off. Roll to the outer edge, drive off. 10 seconds here and you hit the ground for your final move. It's a glute bridge. Nice work, guys. Yes. You got it. Last 3, 2, and 1. Option to throw that band back around the knees if you want to. Six inches above the knees. Totally optional glute bridge option to throw one heavy or two heavy weights on those hips. Okay. Knees are bent at 90. Hips. Lift, glute bridge in 3, 2. Let's go. Lift and hover. Lift and hover. That band is just there to remind me of the tension I want on my legs. Everything's turned on here. Never disengaging at the bottom. Squeeze at the top. Lower with control. Squeeze lower. Control. Think power up. Control down. Power up. Control down. Nice. If you're not feeling this in your glutes, draw those heels closer to your glutes. Maybe you want to work more hamstring. The farther the heels are from the butt, the more hamstring you're gonna get. 10 seconds here and then you have one final 20 second isometric hold. This is it, guys. Hold high. In three, two. Just hold and squeeze. Lift your highest point and hold from here. Tension on the band and tension on the glutes. Hold those hips nice and even. Yes, you can. 10 more seconds. 10, 9, 8. You got this. 7, 6. Stay with it. 5, 4, 3, 2. Lower with control and you're out. 15 minute legs. I don't know about you, Rach, but that did not disappoint. No.

Quick and sweaty.

Quick, sweaty, yes. You want a good leg day in 15 minutes. This is your go to. Just like Liv said. This is her go to right. We're gonna stay right here. Legs are gonna go out. We're gonna go for those hamstrings we got in those deadlifts and swings. Big inhale up. I'm sitting on my sit bones. My butt bones hinge forward. Think about drawing your toes towards your face, pushing your hips back towards the wall behind you. Now collapse and reach for those toes. Calf, shin, ankle, whatever you can reach for. Big inhale through the nose. Big open mouth. Exhale. Lengthen through those hamstrings. Back the legs. Do it again. Big inhale through the nose. Big exhale, lengthen. Awesome job. Nice work. From here, you're going to take right ankle and cross it over left knee. You're going to draw left knee up into a seated figure four stance. Here. Fingertips are facing away. Shoulders are rolled back. Shoulders are out of the ears. Sit up. We're hitting those outer glutes, those outer glutes that we got today with that band on. And those squats, as well as split lunges and lateral squats. Nice work. You can hold here. Option. If it feels good for you, you're going to drop your legs over to the left. Take your right elbow, and can you reach it for the ground? If you felt those deadlifts in your low back, this should be a good release. Good release for your low back. Nice work. Back to center. Legs kick out. Left ankle comes over right knee. Again, seated figure 4. Sit up nice and tall here. You feel that outer glute stretch. You should feel that right here. Nice work. Sit up nice and tall. Big inhale. Draw a little bit closer. Draw that knee in. Option. Stay here. Option. Drop to the right. Left elbow comes around to the mat this time, twisting through that spine and releasing that low back. Awesome job. Nice work. Come back to center. Come into a butterfly stretch. You're gonna go right here. Soles of the feet to touch. Sit up nice and tall in those hip bones. Roll the shoulders back. Drop the knees toward the. Towards the mat. Big inhale through the nose. Big open mouth. Exhale one more time. Big inhale through the nose. Big open mouth. Exhale, and you are out of here. You can stay in. Stretch. Get those quads. Get those hip flexors. Awesome job, Rach. So proud of you for showing up. If you want more workouts just like this, make sure you hit that subscribe button. Or if you want more accountability and support, hit that join button and become part of our YouTube community. We'd love to see you there. We have 3,000 women sweating with us every day. More workouts, more accountability, and more support to help you hit your fitness goals. Have a great day. Awesome job crushing leg day. If you loved it hit subscribe to my channel. I've cued up another quick workout you might enjoy here. Otherwise, I'd love for you to join me on a two week strength challenge you can do at home. It's all in this playlist right here. 100% free. Have a great day.