12 Best Bodyweight Leg Exercises and a Simple Workout Plan

Your legs and hips contain some of the biggest muscles in your body: the quadriceps on the front of the thigh, the hamstrings at the back, the glutes and the calves. You can train all of them at home with no equipment, as long as you pick exercises you can make harder over time.

The American College of Sports Medicine’s 2026 position stand reviewed 137 systematic reviews covering more than 30,000 participants. It found that equipment type did not consistently change results, and that home-based resistance training improves strength (Currier et al., 2026). So bodyweight training is a legitimate way to build leg strength. What matters is choosing good exercises, working hard enough, and doing enough sets each week.

Below are 12 bodyweight leg exercises with form cues and a plain account of what the research does and does not say about each one, followed by a simple 2-day plan. If you want a longer list for one muscle group, see bodyweight quad exercises, hamstring exercises and bodyweight calf raises.

How Bodyweight Leg Training Works

Without weights, the way you make a leg exercise harder is by changing the exercise. A two-leg squat becomes a split squat, a split squat becomes a one-leg squat, and a flat-ground step becomes a higher step. That is called progression, and it is the main reason this page lists several versions of each movement pattern.

Two things from the research are worth knowing before you start. The first is depth. A systematic review of six training studies, four of them on the legs, concluded that training through a full range of motion benefits lower-body muscle growth compared with partial range of motion (Schoenfeld and Grgic, 2020). Go as deep as you can control.

The second is the knees. Researchers had seven weight-trained men do parallel squats with a load equal to their body weight, once with the knees free to move past the toes and once with a barrier blocking them. With free knees, knee torque was higher (about 150 versus 117 N·m) and hip torque was far lower (about 28 versus 303 N·m). The authors concluded that good joint loading may require the knees to move slightly past the toes (Fry et al., 2003). Letting your knees travel forward over your toes is normal, as long as your heels stay on the floor.

12 Best Bodyweight Leg Exercises

1. Bodyweight Squat

The squat is the base movement for most of the other exercises on this list. The squat research above used a load equal to body weight, so it is the closest lab match to this exercise: the lifters let their knees travel forward as their hips moved back (Fry et al., 2003). Start here if you are new to training, and move on to the harder variations below when 15 to 20 clean reps feel easy. That rule of thumb is a practical suggestion, not a researched number.

How to do it

1. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart and your toes turned out slightly.
2. Brace your abs and keep your chest tall.
3. Bend your knees and hips together and lower until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor, or as deep as you can go with your heels flat.
4. Let your knees travel forward over your toes in line with your feet.
5. Push the floor away and stand tall, squeezing your glutes at the top.

Make it easier or harder: squat to a chair to control depth, or slow the lowering phase to make each rep harder.

2. Sumo Squat

A wide stance with your toes turned out is a comfortable squat for many people, but it is not a special inner-thigh or quad exercise. That is what one study of back squats (not sumo squats specifically) suggests. Six experienced lifters squatted at three stance widths while eight thigh muscles were measured, including the adductor magnus on the inner thigh. Only gluteus maximus activity differed, and it was higher at the widest stance with no load and with 70 percent of 1RM. The other muscles did not differ significantly (Paoli et al., 2009). With only six participants, treat that as a hint rather than a rule. Use the sumo squat when it feels better on your hips, and expect some extra glute work.

How to do it

1. Stand with your feet wider than your shoulders and your toes turned out to a comfortable angle.
2. Keep your chest up and your core braced.
3. Bend your knees and hips to lower until your thighs are about parallel to the floor, keeping your knees in line with your toes.
4. Push through your feet to stand.

3. Forward and Reverse Lunge

Two details change what the lunge does. The first is trunk position. In 10 healthy adults, lunging with the trunk leaned forward increased hip extensor effort and raised gluteus maximus and biceps femoris (a hamstring) activity compared with an upright trunk. Leaning back instead of forward changed nothing significant (Farrokhi et al., 2008). The second is step length. In 20 people doing 12-rep-max forward lunges, lower-body muscle activity was generally greater with a long step than a short step, and with a stride than with no stride (Escamilla et al., 2025). The quadriceps, gluteus maximus and gluteus medius all showed high to very high activity. In practice, a slight forward lean shifts more work to your glutes and hamstrings, and a longer stride asks more of almost every leg muscle. I could not find research showing that staying upright shifts the work to the quads.

I could not find research that compares forward and reverse lunges directly. Pick whichever you can control best. Many people find stepping back easier to balance.

How to do it

1. Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart and your hands on your hips.
2. Step forward, or back for a reverse lunge, with a comfortable stride.
3. Lower until your front thigh is about parallel to the floor and your back knee is close to the ground. Your front knee can travel forward over your toes.
4. Push through your front foot to return to the start. Alternate legs or finish all reps on one side.

4. Lateral Lunge

The lateral lunge moves you side to side, which most of the other exercises here do not. I could not find a controlled study comparing its muscle activity with the squat or the forward lunge, so I will not claim it works any specific muscle better. It is a useful variety move because it trains one leg through a deep bend while the other leg stays straight.

How to do it

1. Stand tall with your feet together and your hands in front of your chest.
2. Take a big step out to one side and push your hips back as you bend that knee.
3. Keep the other leg straight and both feet flat and pointing forward.
4. Push through the bent leg to return to the middle, then repeat on the other side.

5. Step-Up

Step-ups are one-leg training, and a sturdy bench or stair is all the equipment you need. In the study that compared the lateral step-up with the forward lunge and a one-leg squat, all three exercises had the highest muscle activity in the vastus lateralis and vastus medialis (the outer and inner quads), followed by the gluteus medius and gluteus maximus (Muyor et al., 2020). The researchers noted that these exercises are commonly done with body weight. In that study, the 20 active participants used a load of 60 percent of their 5-rep max, so the exact percentages would differ with body weight alone. It also tested a lateral (side-on) step-up. I could not find a similar comparison for the forward step-up shown here, so treat the finding as a guide.

How to do it

1. Stand facing a bench, box or sturdy stair that is about knee height or lower.
2. Place your whole foot on top and push through that heel to stand all the way up.
3. Lower under control rather than dropping down.
4. Finish all reps on one side, then switch.

Make it easier or harder: use a lower step to make it easier. Use a higher step, or slow the lowering phase, to make it harder.

6. Bulgarian Split Squat

With your rear foot raised on a bench, each leg carries a bigger share of your body weight than in a two-leg squat. It is also not a pure quad exercise. When 20 resistance-trained men did Bulgarian split squats at 35 percent of their 1RM and back squats at 70 percent, both exercises turned out to be hip-dominant, and the split squat placed less demand on the knee (Mackey and Riemann, 2021). The split squat used half the relative load, so part of that difference comes from the lighter weight. Working one leg at a time is also no disadvantage for muscle size: a meta-analysis of nine studies found no difference in muscle growth between unilateral and bilateral training. Strength followed specificity, so one-leg training improved one-leg strength more (Kassiano et al., 2025).

You may have heard that the front knee should never pass your toes in this exercise. The squat research above does not support a strict rule like that, and I could not find research showing that letting the front knee travel forward is harmful here. Let it move forward as long as your front heel stays down.

How to do it

1. Stand a stride or so in front of a bench, facing away from it.
2. Rest the top of one foot on the bench behind you.
3. Lower straight down until your front thigh is about parallel to the floor and your back knee is close to the ground.
4. Push through your front foot to stand. Finish all reps on one side, then switch.

7. Single-Leg Squat (Pistol Squat)

Of the three exercises in the Muyor comparison, the one-leg squat produced higher muscle activity than the lateral step-up and the forward lunge in every muscle measured except the rectus femoris (Muyor et al., 2020). It is also a hard exercise. A full pistol squat takes strength, balance and ankle mobility that many people need a long time to build, so reaching it is a goal, not a starting point. The paper calls it a monopodal squat, and I could not confirm it was taken to full pistol depth, so read the result as a guide to one-leg squatting in general.

How to do it

1. Stand on one leg and extend the other leg in front of you, or hold it just off the floor.
2. Reach your arms forward for balance.
3. Sit back and down on the standing leg as far as you can control.
4. Drive through your whole foot to stand.

Make it easier: squat to a bench or chair on one leg and touch it lightly, then lower the seat height over several weeks. Hold a doorframe or a sturdy pole for balance.

8. Glute Bridge and Single-Leg Bridge

The bridge is a simple way to train your glutes without weights, because you lie on the floor and have no balance to manage. Once the two-leg version feels easy, lift one foot, straighten that leg, and do it on one leg. Researchers who measured 28 healthy adults during five single-leg bridge positions found that bending the bridge leg’s knee to 135 degrees instead of the usual 90 degrees cut biceps femoris (hamstring) activity from about 75 percent to about 23 percent of maximum effort, while gluteus maximus and medius activity stayed similarly high (Lehecka et al., 2017). If your hamstrings cramp during a single-leg bridge, bring your heel closer to your buttock so the knee bends more.

How to do it

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart.
2. Press through your heels and lift your hips until your body forms a straight line from shoulders to knees.
3. Squeeze your glutes at the top without arching your lower back.
4. Lower slowly and repeat.

For more glute work, see resistance band glute exercises.

9. Nordic Hamstring Curl

The other exercises on this list use the hamstrings as helpers. This is the one that loads them directly. A meta-analysis of 15 studies and 8,459 athletes found that training programmes that included the Nordic hamstring exercise had about half the rate of hamstring injuries (van Dyk et al., 2019). A later reanalysis kept only the randomised trials and concluded that the injury-prevention evidence is inconclusive, with a conditional recommendation at best for soccer (Impellizzeri et al., 2021). Both sets of research concern injuries in athletes, not muscle growth in general trainees, so treat the Nordic curl as a hard hamstring exercise, not a proven injury shield.

It is also advanced. Many people cannot lower their whole body under control at first, so start with a shorter range and use your hands to catch yourself.

How to do it

1. Kneel on a soft surface and have a partner hold your ankles, or hook your heels under a sturdy sofa or low bar.
2. Keep your body in a straight line from your knees to your head and your hips extended.
3. Lower your chest toward the floor as slowly as you can control.
4. Catch yourself with your hands, then push off the floor to return to the start.

For more options, see hamstring exercises for mass and strength.

10. Jump Squat

The jump squat is mainly a power exercise. A meta-analysis of 25 studies found that lower-body plyometric training for 4 to 12 weeks produced small to moderate improvements in jump height, sprint time and lower-body strength in healthy adults, recreationally active or athletes (Oxfeldt et al., 2019). In one trial, 36 moderately trained men did jump squats three times a week for eight weeks with loads that let them move at 90 percent or more of their maximum power. Their maximal force, jump height and 50 m sprint time improved more than in a control group of 32 men (Vanderka et al., 2016). That trial used added load, so the bodyweight version is a lighter version of the same idea.

Jumping puts more impact through your joints than the other exercises here. If you are new to training, build a base with squats and lunges first. That is a practical suggestion, not something I found tested in the research.

How to do it

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Squat down to a quarter or half squat depth, keeping your chest up.
3. Jump up as fast as you can.
4. Land softly on the middle of your feet, bend your knees to absorb the landing, and reset before the next rep.

11. Standing Calf Raise

The calf has two main muscles, the gastrocnemius and the soleus. In a standing calf raise your knee is straight, which gives the gastrocnemius a larger role than it has when the knee is bent, while the soleus works whatever the knee position (StatPearls, leg posterior compartment). To make bodyweight enough, do them on one leg or from the edge of a step so your heels can drop below your toes.

How to do it

1. Stand tall with the balls of your feet on the floor or on the edge of a step. Hold a wall for balance.
2. Rise onto your toes as high as you can.
3. Pause for a moment at the top.
4. Lower your heels slowly, below the step if you are on one.

For more options, see calf exercises.

12. Squat-Hold Calf Raise

Holding a half squat while you raise your heels bends your knees, which changes the work between the two calf muscles. In 30 healthy men doing plantar flexions on a dynamometer, the activity of the medial gastrocnemius was 35 percent lower with the knee bent to 90 degrees than with the knee straight (Kovács et al., 2024). A 12-week trial of 14 adults showed a similar pattern for growth. Seated, knee-bent calf-raise training grew the gastrocnemius far less than standing training, while the soleus grew about the same (Kinoshita et al., 2023). The squat-hold raise itself has not been tested directly. Treat it as a variation and not a replacement for the standing raise, which trains both calf muscles.

How to do it

1. Lower into a quarter to half squat and hold that position.
2. Keep your knees bent and lift both heels as high as you can.
3. Lower your heels under control without standing up.

How to Train Your Legs Without Weights

How Many Sets Per Week

The ACSM 2026 position stand concluded that muscle growth improves with higher training volume, at least 10 sets per muscle group per week, and with eccentric overload. The same reviews found that growth was not consistently affected by training to failure, by loads anywhere between 30 and 100 percent of your one-rep max, or by training frequency when total volume was matched (Currier et al., 2026). A separate meta-regression of 67 studies and 2,058 participants found that gains rise as volume rises, with diminishing returns (Pelland et al., 2026).

That makes about 10 hard sets per week for your quads and glutes a sensible starting target, split across two sessions. Add sets gradually if you recover well.

Reps and Effort

Bodyweight sets often feel light for the legs, but the load research is reassuring for muscle size. A meta-analysis of 21 studies in which every set was taken to failure found similar muscle growth with low loads (60 percent of 1RM or less) and high loads (above 60 percent), although heavy loads produced bigger gains in 1RM strength (Schoenfeld et al., 2017). So if an exercise feels easy, switch to a harder version, or do more reps and finish close to failure.

For strength, the ACSM review found that gains were larger with loads of 80 percent of 1RM or more. For many people, bodyweight leg exercises will not get that heavy, so if your goal is maximum strength you will eventually want added weight. For a start, a range of 8 to 15 reps per set is a practical suggestion and not a number taken from the research.

How Long to Rest

Researchers assigned 21 resistance-trained men to rest either 1 minute or 3 minutes between sets for eight weeks, with everything else equal. The 3-minute group gained more thickness in the front of the thigh and more squat strength (Schoenfeld et al., 2016). For hard leg sets, resting two to three minutes is a better default than rushing.

How to Progress

When you can do the top of your rep range on every set, move to a harder version of the exercise. For example, go from the two-leg squat to the split squat, then to the one-leg squat. You can also slow the lowering phase, or hold a backpack filled with books. The ACSM review did not find that time under tension consistently changed results, so use a slow tempo as a way to make a set harder and not as a goal.

Warm-Up and Cool-Down

A short warm-up of easy marching, leg swings and a few bodyweight squats to a comfortable depth is a practical way to get ready. No trial I could verify supports one exact routine. A cool-down is optional. A review of the research found that active cool-downs are largely ineffective for most recovery markers and do not appear to prevent injuries or reduce muscle soreness (Van Hooren and Peake, 2018). Stop when you are done and move on with your day.

A Simple 2-Day Bodyweight Leg Plan

This plan trains your legs twice a week, in line with the ACSM’s finding that strength improves with at least two sessions a week. It gives about 12 hard sets a week for the quads and glutes, and fewer for the hamstrings and calves, so add sets there if those are your priority. Do it on non-consecutive days, such as Monday and Thursday. Rest 2 to 3 minutes between sets.

Day	Exercise	Sets	Reps
Day A	Bodyweight squat	3	10 to 15
Day A	Reverse lunge	3	8 to 12 per leg
Day A	Glute bridge or single-leg bridge	3	10 to 15
Day A	Standing calf raise	3	12 to 20
Day B	Step-up or Bulgarian split squat	3	8 to 12 per leg
Day B	Sumo squat	3	10 to 15
Day B	Nordic hamstring curl	3	3 to 8
Day B	Single-leg standing calf raise	3	12 to 20 per leg

Take each set close to failure, stopping a rep or two before your form breaks down. When a version feels easy, move to the next harder one from the list above. The rep ranges are practical suggestions. The Nordic curl has a lower range because it is hard to do. If you want to train power too, add a few sets of jump squats at the start of Day A while you are fresh. The ACSM review found that power improved with low to moderate volume, no more than 24 total repetitions (reps times sets).

If you want to train other muscles at home, see bodyweight exercises with images and ways to work out at home without equipment.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best bodyweight leg exercises?

There is no single best one. In the muscle-activity research above, the one-leg squat, step-up and lunge all worked the quads and glutes hard, so a mix of squats, lunges and a bridge covers most of your legs. Add a hamstring exercise and a calf exercise so nothing gets missed.

Can I build leg muscle without weights?

Yes, for most people, especially beginners. The ACSM found that equipment type did not consistently change results, and most of the reviews it analysed looked at novices. Low-load training with every set taken to failure produced similar muscle growth to heavy training (Schoenfeld et al., 2017). The limit comes later: for maximum strength, heavier loads work better.

Do bodyweight leg exercises help with weight loss?

They burn energy, but there is no spot reduction. A meta-analysis of 13 studies and 1,158 participants found that training one limb did not reduce fat in that limb more than in the other (Ramírez-Campillo et al., 2022). In 11 adults who trained one leg for 12 weeks, whole-body fat mass fell but not in the trained leg (Ramírez-Campillo et al., 2013). To lose fat, you need an overall calorie deficit, and you can estimate yours with the weight loss calorie calculator.

How often should I train legs at home?

At least twice a week. The ACSM review links strength gains to two or more sessions a week. The meta-regression on volume and frequency found that the effect of frequency on muscle growth was compatible with negligible when volume is matched, so you can split your weekly sets across two or three days.

Are these exercises good for beginners?

Yes. Start with the squat, the glute bridge, the step-up and the reverse lunge. Leave the pistol squat, Nordic curl and jump squat until you have a few weeks of training behind you.

How do I make bodyweight leg exercises harder?

Move to a harder version, add reps, finish sets closer to failure, slow the lowering phase, or hold a loaded backpack. The one-leg versions in this list are the biggest step up.

References

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