Lower Body Circuit Blast to Tone Your Legs

Target the muscles in your hips, butt, and legs

Circuit training can be an effective tool when you are short on time or want to spice up your regular training routine. Some people like to divide their workouts into upper and lower splits during the week. Use this lower body circuit to get a quick workout targeting all of the muscles in your hips, butt, and legs.

Don't forget to perform additional training in your week that targets the rest of your body. A circuit workout may not build muscle or strength most effectively, but it is a great way to change up your routine, adding variety and keeping your muscles active.

What You Need for this Workout

You will need a barbell for the first move, although you can use dumbbells instead. For the others, you will use dumbbells and an exercise ball. You may want to have an exercise mat for the floor moves. You can do this workout at home or the gym.

Instructions for the Lower Body Circuit Blast

  • Begin with a warm-up of light cardio, such as treadmill, elliptical or exercise bike. This will get your blood moving and will also warm up your lower body muscles.
  • Perform each exercise one after another with little or no rest. This will help maintain a higher heart rate through the workout.
  • Beginners, perform 1 set of 12-16 reps of each exercise, one right after the other, for one circuit.
  • Intermediate/advanced, perform 1 set of 10-16 reps of each exercise, one after the other, for 2-3 circuits.
  • Use heavy enough weight so that you can ONLY complete the desired number of reps

Leg Circuit Workout

The following workout will provide step-by-step instructions for the following exercises:

  • Deadlift
  • Single-leg deadlift
  • Squat
  • Plie squat
  • Bulgarian split squat
  • Hamstring roll
1

Deadlift

Verywell / Ben Goldstein

You can do the deadlift with a barbell or dumbbells.

  1. Stand with feet hip-width apart.
  2. Hinge from the hips and lower your upper body, keeping your chest up.
  3. Grasp the bar overhand with hands slightly wider than shoulder-width. The bar should be grazing your shins, close to your body.
  4. Push through your feet to raise, squeezing your glutes at the top. Maintain a straight back.
  5. Keep the bar or weight close to the legs throughout the movement.

Targets: glutes, hamstrings, and lower back.

2

Single-Legged Deadlift

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Watch Now: How To Do a One-Leg Deadlift

  1. Hold a pair of dumbbells in your hands with an overhand grip.
  2. Step left foot back and rest lightly on the toe of your back foot for balance.
  3. Hinge from the hips with a flat back.
  4. Lower the weights as far as you can without rounding the back and push back to start. Keep the weights to your sides or close to your body in the front.
  5. Repeat for all reps and switch sides. 

Targets: glutes, hamstrings, and lower back.

3

Squat

SquatOverheadPress
Claire Cohen
  1. Stand with feet hip-width apart, feet a few feet in front of a barbell, or hold a pair of dumbbells by your sides or loaded on your shoulders.
  2. Step under the bar and set the bar on your shoulders keeping your core braced. The bar should be on your upper back muscles, and your knees should be slightly bent. (If not, the bar is too high, readjust)
  3. Inhale. Straighten your legs to lift the bar off the rack. Step out from the rack, if using, by two steps.
  4. Hinge at the hips and bend your knees as though sitting in a chair, keeping your back straight, core engaged. Exhale while lowering.
  5. Lower to where your mobility allows and inhale.
  6. Push through your feet to return to the starting position.

Targets: glutes, quads, hams, and calves. 

4

Plie Squat

Brunette woman exercising at home
Bill Diodato/Getty Images
  1. Hold weights above shoulders or on upper thighs and stand with feet wider than shoulders, toes at 45-degree angles.
  2. Keeping knees in line with toes, slowly lower into a squat.
  3. Back straight, abs in knees behind toes.
  4. Press through your feet to return to the starting position. Maintain a straight back and engaged core.

Targets: quads, glutes, hamstrings, and inner thighs.

5

Bulgarian Split Squat

Verywell / Ben Goldstein

  1. Kneel down on the floor with a bench or chair behind you. You should be close to the bench.
  2. Place one foot on top of a bench, the other foot flat on the floor in front of you.
  3. Stand up by pressing your front foot into the floor, squeezing your glutes at the top.
  4. Lower back to the starting position with a straight back and engaged core.

Targets: hamstrings, glutes, quads, and hip flexors. 

6

Hamstring Roll

  1. Using an exercise ball, place heels or calves on a ball and slowly lift the butt up, tightening the abs, body in a straight line from shoulders to feet.
  2. Squeeze back of legs and roll ball towards butt, keeping abs tight and torso in a straight line (don't sag).
  3. Roll the ball back to the starting position slowly with control.

Targets: abdominals, back, hamstrings.

By Paige Waehner, CPT
Paige Waehner is a certified personal trainer, author of the "Guide to Become a Personal Trainer," and co-author of "The Buzz on Exercise & Fitness."