People often think of the barbell or heavy gym equipment like the leg press when they hear the phrase “leg day.” Most people don’t think of dumbbells first, which is to be expected. Heavy lifts are important if you want to build muscle, and it’s hard to do that with anything but tools, trap bars, and barbells. However, if we’re talking about extra exercises to fix muscle imbalances or to add more intensity to your training so that your legs get stronger, dumbbells are a great tool with a lot of uses.
Here, we’ll talk about how dumbbells can help you work out your lower body and what the best dumbbell leg exercises are that you should start doing. Read on to find out more.
1. Dumbbell Split Squat
Since dumbbell split squats are an exercise that affects just one side of the body at a time, they will help you fix any imbalances between your legs. This will improve your performance all around, but especially your squats. Since split squats focus on the quads, they help improve leg drive, which is important when standing up from a squat. If you want to squat or deadlift more weight, or if you just want stronger thighs and glutes, this is one exercise you need to do.
Keep your chest up and your shoulders down as you hold one or two dumbbells in the position of your choice.
Position one leg in front of the other (ensure that hip, knee and ankle of one leg are in a straight line with each other), stepping forward to give yourself enough distance between feet. Lower your back knee to lower yourself towards the ground, push back off the front leg to raise yourself back up.
2. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
The dumbbell Romanian deadlift is similar to the one with a barbell, but it has less weight and more ways to hold the dumbbells. By changing how you hold the dumbbells, you can work the muscles you want to work in different ways. You can do a dumbbell deadlift if you don’t have a barbell or want to try something different with your Mirafit dumbbell ranges; it’s ideal for adding into any routine at any time.
Stand up straight with your feet hip-width apart and your toes pointing forward. Hold one or two dumbbells in front of your quads.
Keeping your back straight and your shoulders relaxed, lower your arms until the dumbbells are just below your knees.
Stop for a moment, then tighten your hamstrings and glutes to stand back up.
3. Dumbbell Goblet Squat
Goblet squats are a great way to work on your squat form, improve your hip mobility, and strengthen your front core. Since the weight is in the front, it encourages you to keep your torso straight, which lets you squat effectively and deeper. The dumbbell goblet squat will aid your deadlifts and barbell squats by making your hips move better. Also, it’s a great way to work your quads, which is why even professionals like to do it on leg day to add more volume.
Set your feet hip width apart and hold one dumbbell with both hands at chin height (so that it hangs in front of your chest).
Squat down, keeping your chest up and your shoulders down.
Pause, then push your feet into the floor and squeeze your glutes to stand up straight.
Set up again and do reps.
