It can be hard to train at home, especially if you don’t’ have much equipment. The good news is that you don’t really need anything apart from your own body and motivation to move it through space. Any equipment you may have is just a bonus and can also be worked into the training.

 

Here is a routine for your legs, butt, abs and core which you can do at home. Enjoy!

 

 

Warmup

 

10 x Step-Burpees. *

20 x Stationary, Alternating Lunges. **

5 x Pushups, then going into a Plank Hold for 20 seconds. Repeat for three sets. ***

20 x Deep Squats.

 

Notes:

* the step burpee is like a normal burpee, except you step in and out of the plank position, instead of jumping with both feet at once. Go for full frontal contact with the ground.

** If 20 lunges are too many for you, then simply reduce. It’s just a warmup. The same goes for the squats.

*** The pushups can be from your feet or your knees. Go as low as you can. The planks are on the forearms.

 

 

Circuit

 

1. 15 x Balance Lunges, each leg. First one side, then the other.

 

Step back into a lunge, as you come up back to a standing position, continue moving the stepping leg forward into a raised knee position, so that you are only standing on the working leg. Do not touch the ground as you step back and repeat.

If you have dumbbells at home, then you can hold them for extra intensity. If this is too challenging for the balance, first check whether your core is activated and you’re not going too fast, otherwise you can make it a bit easier by stepping back into the lunge without the knee raise after you come back up.

 

 

2. 15 x Military Sit-Ups.

 

Lay on your back with your feet flat on the ground and with your knees bent. Place your hands on your upper thigh, with straight arms, and sit up until your wrists get to the tops of your knees and no further. If you can’t go full range then just go as high as you can. Move your shoulders back to the ground.

 

 

3. 30 x Squats (10 x bottom to midway, 10 x midway to standing, 10 x full range).

 

You can hold weights for the squats if you have them.

 

 

4. 20 x Stepping Planks.

 

Adopt a plank position on your forearms, then take a big step to the side, tapping your toe to the ground, without transferring your bodyweight to the step. Bring the leg back to the original position and alternate. Keep your abs and butt squeezed to minimise hip swivel.

 

 

5. 20 x Single-Leg Romanian Deadlifts. 10 x one leg, then the other.

 

This one you must take slow and keep your abs on, otherwise you will lose balance. Keep your chest and hips square to the ground, and do not cross your moving leg behind the standing one, as you go down into the movement. Hold a dumbbell in your hand, on the same side as the standing leg for added intensity.

 

 

6. 15 x Reverse Crunches.

 

Keep your hips tucked in and your abs on, especially at the start and finish of this movement in order to prevent your lower back from arching. If you feel discomfort in your lower back at this stage of the exercise, then start/finish at a leg angle closer to 45 degrees.

 

 

7. 15 x Reverse Laying Leg Curls

 

This one works well with a smooth floor and an old t-shirt which has been folded a few times. Lay on your back with your legs straight (knees can be slightly bent) and your heels resting on the t-shirt. Lift your hips off the floor and then drag your heels towards your butt. Extend back to the starting position and lower your hips.

 

You can make this harder by using only one leg to do the movement. To make it easier you can do hip thrusts while experimenting with different angles of knee bend.

 

 

8. 20 x Circle Planks

 

Adopt a plank position on your forearms. Perform the same movement as the above step plank, but instead of stepping back in, make a big semi-circle back to the start position.

 

 

9. 20 x Glute Circles

 

Adopt an all-fours position, then rest your forearms on the floor and your knees directly below your hips. Extend one leg out to the side in the same way as the step plank, keep your leg straight and your hips relatively square to the ground as you use your butt to trace a big circle over to the outside of your other leg, and back. Make this harder by using ankle weights.

 

 

10. 15 x Knee-Up Crunch

 

Lay on your back with your knees bent and feet off the floor, so that there is a 90-degree angle at your hips. Try to keep your legs still as you sit up and try to touch your feet with your fingers.

 

 

This circuit can be taken at your own pace as required. Make it harder by minimizing the rest periods between exercises and turning it into an AMRAP circuit (as many rounds as possible within a given time, like 10, 15 or 20 minutes).

 

Let me know how you found this routine and don’t forget to stretch after!

 

 

–Lucien