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Lower Body Strength & Glute Sculpt
Training focus: Lower body strength development targeting glutes, quads, hamstrings, and calves
Performance goals: Muscle activation, lower-body toning, hip stability, and functional strength
Training context: Structured home session designed to build power and definition in the legs
Training style: Compound and isolation movement circuit
Equipment: 27.5lb adjustable dumbbells
Production: This training video is produced by Fitsentive, in collaboration with our brand, for guided at-home lower-body training.
Leg Builder
Step-ups
A powerful unilateral exercise for building strong, defined glutes and quads. This movement improves balance, coordination, and functional strength while targeting each leg individually.
Target: Glutes and Quads
About the Exercise
Step-ups are an excellent unilateral exercise that primarily targets your glutes and quadriceps while also engaging your core stabilizers. This movement is crucial for developing lower body strength, improving balance, and correcting muscle imbalances between your left and right sides. By performing the exercise one leg at a time, you create maximum muscle engagement and ensure both legs develop equally. Step-ups are perfect for building functional strength that translates directly to daily activities and athletic performance.
Step-by-Step Tutorial
Follow each step carefully to perform the movement correctly.
1
Step 1
Place one foot flat on a secure bench or box that allows your knee to reach a 90-degree bend.
Note
Step up by pressing through the heel of your elevated foot until you are standing tall on the box.
Caution
Control your descent back down and avoid pushing off the floor with your trailing foot; let the working leg do the job.
Calf Builder
Calf Raises
An effective isolation exercise for building strong, defined calves. This movement targets both the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles, helping you develop powerful, well-shaped lower legs.
Target: Calves (Gastrocnemius and Soleus)
About the Exercise
Calf raises are one of the most effective isolation exercises for developing the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles. This movement specifically targets the back of your lower legs, helping you build muscle mass, improve lower leg strength, and enhance overall lower body aesthetics. When performed with proper form and full range of motion, calf raises create maximum muscle engagement, leading to faster growth and better definition. This exercise is essential for anyone looking to develop balanced, powerful legs and create that athletic, well-proportioned physique.
Step-by-Step Tutorial
Follow each step carefully to perform the movement correctly.
1
Step 1
Stand while holding a dumbbell in one hand on the side you are working, allowing your heel to drop slightly off a step or block.
Note
Press up onto the ball of your foot as high as possible, using a slow, controlled movement.
Caution
Keep a slight bend in your knee and focus on achieving a full range of motion, squeezing your calf at the top and stretching it at the bottom.
Glute Builder
Hip Thrusts
The ultimate glute-building exercise for developing powerful, sculpted glutes. This movement creates maximum glute activation, helping you build strength, size, and definition in your posterior chain.
Target: Glutes
About the Exercise
Hip thrusts are widely considered one of the most effective exercises for developing the glute muscles. This movement specifically targets your glutes through a full range of motion, creating maximum muscle engagement and activation. By driving your hips upward against resistance, you engage your glutes in a way that few other exercises can match. Hip thrusts are essential for building glute strength, improving hip stability, and creating that strong, athletic posterior chain. This exercise is perfect for anyone looking to develop powerful, well-defined glutes.
Step-by-Step Tutorial
Follow each step carefully to perform the movement correctly.
1
Step 1
Sit with your upper back supported against a bench and a barbell or dumbbell placed across your hips.
Note
Drive your hips up to the ceiling until your body forms a straight line from your shoulders to your knees.
Caution
Keep your chin tucked toward your chest and focus on a full glute squeeze at the top, not hyperextending your lower back.
Leg Builder
Curtsy Lunges
A dynamic unilateral exercise that targets your glutes and quads from a unique angle. This movement improves balance, coordination, and functional strength while building powerful, defined legs.
Target: Glutes and Quads
About the Exercise
Curtsy lunges are a unique variation of the traditional lunge that targets your glutes and quadriceps from a diagonal angle. By stepping your foot behind and across your standing leg, you create a different muscle activation pattern that challenges your glutes and inner thighs more intensely. This exercise is excellent for building lower body strength, improving balance and coordination, and developing a well-rounded, powerful physique. The unilateral movement pattern also helps identify and correct muscle imbalances between your left and right sides.
Step-by-Step Tutorial
Follow each step carefully to perform the movement correctly.
1
Step 1
Step one foot diagonally behind and across your standing leg, as if doing a curtsy.
Note
Lower your back knee toward the floor while keeping your hips square and your chest upright.
Caution
Ensure the knee of your front leg tracks over your ankle and do not let your torso twist toward the side.
Posterior Chain
Romanian Deadlifts
A fundamental compound exercise for building strong hamstrings and glutes. Essential for posterior chain development, this movement improves flexibility, strength, and overall lower body power.
Target: Hamstrings and Glutes
About the Exercise
Romanian deadlifts (RDLs) are one of the most effective exercises for developing the hamstrings and glutes. This movement emphasizes the eccentric (lowering) phase, creating maximum muscle engagement in your posterior chain. By hinging at your hips while maintaining a flat back, you stretch and strengthen your hamstrings through a full range of motion. RDLs are crucial for building hamstring strength, improving hip mobility, and creating a balanced, powerful lower body. This exercise is essential for anyone looking to develop a strong posterior chain and prevent injury.
Step-by-Step Tutorial
Follow each step carefully to perform the movement correctly.
1
Step 1
Stand with a slight bend in your knees and slowly hinge at your hips, pushing your glutes backward.
Note
Lower the weight only until you feel a deep stretch in your hamstrings, keeping the weights close to your legs.
Caution
Keep your back completely flat and straight throughout the entire movement; rounding your back is a common and dangerous mistake.
Leg Builder
Split Squats
A powerful unilateral exercise for building strong, defined quads and glutes. This movement improves balance, coordination, and functional strength while targeting each leg individually.
Target: Quads and Glutes
About the Exercise
Split squats are an excellent unilateral exercise that primarily targets your quadriceps and glutes while also engaging your core stabilizers. This movement is crucial for developing lower body strength, improving balance, and correcting muscle imbalances between your left and right sides. By performing the exercise one leg at a time, you create maximum muscle engagement and ensure both legs develop equally. Split squats are perfect for building functional strength that translates directly to daily activities and athletic performance.
Step-by-Step Tutorial
Follow each step carefully to perform the movement correctly.
1
Step 1
Start in a staggered stance with one foot forward and the other foot placed well behind you.
Note
Drop your back knee straight down toward the floor, maintaining an upright torso.
Caution
Stop when both knees are bent at about 90 degrees, and avoid letting your front knee track past your toes.
Glute Builder
Glute Bridge
An effective bodyweight exercise for activating and strengthening your glutes. Perfect for beginners and advanced athletes alike, this movement helps build a strong posterior chain and improve hip stability.
Target: Glutes
About the Exercise
Glute bridges are a fundamental exercise for activating and strengthening the glute muscles. This movement is excellent for beginners learning proper glute engagement, as well as advanced athletes looking to warm up or add volume to their glute training. By pressing through your heels and lifting your hips, you create maximum glute activation while also engaging your core stabilizers. Glute bridges are perfect for building glute strength, improving hip stability, and creating a strong foundation for more advanced lower body exercises.
Step-by-Step Tutorial
Follow each step carefully to perform the movement correctly.
1
Step 1
Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor, about hip-width apart.
Note
Press through your heels to lift your hips off the floor until your shoulders, hips, and knees align.
Caution
Focus on powerfully squeezing your glutes at the top and do not over-arch your lower back.
Inner Thigh Builder
Sumo Squat
A powerful variation of the traditional squat that targets your inner thighs and glutes. This wide-stance movement creates maximum muscle engagement in your adductors while building strong, defined legs.
Target: Inner Thighs (Adductors) and Glutes
About the Exercise
Sumo squats are an excellent variation of the traditional squat that emphasizes your inner thighs (adductors) and glutes. By taking a wide stance with your toes pointed outward, you create a different muscle activation pattern that targets muscles often neglected in standard squats. This exercise is perfect for building inner thigh strength, developing powerful glutes, and creating a well-rounded, balanced lower body. The wide stance also allows for a deeper range of motion, increasing muscle engagement and flexibility.
Step-by-Step Tutorial
Follow each step carefully to perform the movement correctly.
1
Step 1
Stand with your feet much wider than hip-width apart and your toes pointed outward.
Note
Lower your hips straight down as if sitting in a chair, pushing your knees outward in line with your toes.
Caution
Keep your chest up and ensure your knees do not collapse inward as you descend and ascend.
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