10-Minute Lower Body Workout
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[MUSIC PLAYING]
So just go down as far as you can and is comfortable. Over time, you can work up to going down further so that eventually, your thighs, your upper legs, will be parallel to the ground. You can keep your hands in front of you, by your side, at your hips, whatever's comfortable. I kind of like them right here. All right. Five more seconds.
Switching to reverse lunge. Slowly, back with your right leg, we're going to alternate. Back with your left leg. You want to concentrate more on going down instead of back. Go down far enough so that your knees are just right above the floor. And again, keep it nice and slow. You can even just go down this far. It's fine. You can work up as you get more used to it, as your muscles get stronger.
All right. 15 more seconds. You can speed up as you get more warmed up. It's still very controlled movement. All right. The last one. We're going to do what's called a stiff-legged deadlift. For this one, it's a good idea to have a set of very light dumbbells. Right in front of you, feet shoulder width apart. Slowly lower, back up. Let me turn to the side so you can see. You want to keep your back nice and flat. If your back ever starts to curve like that, put down the weights, take a break.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
On this exercise, you're really hitting the back of the legs, the hamstrings, whereas on the first two, it was more the front of the leg. The quadriceps. Five more seconds. All right. Put down one of the dumbbells. We're going to do what's called the dumbbell swingthrough. Put it down on the floor. Squat down. Just gently raise it up into the air.
Here, again, you're hitting your hamstrings, but you're also hitting your hips and your inner thighs. You shouldn't swing the weight up with your arms. Just let the momentum, going down and back up, bring the weight up. Never any jerky movements. Nice and slow and controlled. Again, reaching back with the butt. All right. A couple more. One more. All right. Now we're going to take it down to the floor. Called the glute bridge. Feet flat on the floor. Slowly raising your hips up into the sky. On this one, you're obviously getting your glutes, your gluteus maximus, your butt muscles, but also your hips and even your core. You want to keep your core nice and tight. I like actually lifting my toes up off the ground a little bit to keep the focus on my heels. We're getting ready to be done with this round. We're going to do all that again. Five more seconds. One more time.
All right. Back up for the body weight squat. If you want, you can do this with dumbbells, but you know, wait till you get ready for that. Wait till actually doing it with your body weight is pretty easy. Remember, feet shoulder width apart. Reach back with your butt. Knees never past your toes. Nice and slow. When you're ready, you can even raise up on your toes just a little bit. We always include a squat in a lower body workout because it really hits everything. Your thighs, and even your calf muscles, even your shins, the front part of your lower leg.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
All right. Five more seconds, then we're going to reverse lunge. All right. Alternating. Right leg back. Left leg back. Here, too, when you're ready, you can grab a set of very light dumbbells, hold them by your side if you'd like. But really, when you take this exercise nice and slow, you don't even really need any weights.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Second round might burn just a little bit more. All right. 15 more seconds. Couple more. All right. Now grab those dumbbells for the stiff-legged deadlift. Slowly lower it down. Keep your neck nice and soft. You want to be Looking forward and slightly down. The weight should come probably just below your knees. Now hold it for a second. Back up nice and slow. And again, keep your back very straight. If it starts rounding over, stop. Five more seconds.
Then we're onto the dumbbell swing-through. Last one. Put one of the dumbbells down.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Grab it at the end. Squat down. Slowly raise it up. And remember, it should raise up from the force of you standing up, squatting down and up, not from your swinging with your arms. Remember to reach back with that butt. In fact, raise your toes in your shoes so that your great toe, your big toe, is hitting the top of your shoe. Then you'll keep the focus on your heel, which takes the pressure off your knees. Five more seconds.
Now we're going to head down to the floor. For the glute bridge. Now, if you're ready-- when you're ready-- you can do one leg at a time. And you can do a couple on one side, a couple on the other. Just stick with two feet for now, two legs, till you're ready. At the top, kind of squeeze your butt, your glute muscles. We're almost done. You should be good and warmed up and sweaty at this point. You can speed them up just a little bit. 15 more seconds.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Last one. All right, guys. That was a great 10-minute lower body workout. Stretch it out a little bit, make sure you're ready to go, and have a great day.
MICHAEL SMITH
All right, guys, we're going to start with a body weight squat. Put your feet about shoulder width apart, and slowly lower your butt down to the ground. Back up very slowly. You want to really go slow at first, especially if you're not good and warmed up. The most important thing here. Reach back with your butt. Because when you look down, you do not want your knees to go past your toes. So just go down as far as you can and is comfortable. Over time, you can work up to going down further so that eventually, your thighs, your upper legs, will be parallel to the ground. You can keep your hands in front of you, by your side, at your hips, whatever's comfortable. I kind of like them right here. All right. Five more seconds.
Switching to reverse lunge. Slowly, back with your right leg, we're going to alternate. Back with your left leg. You want to concentrate more on going down instead of back. Go down far enough so that your knees are just right above the floor. And again, keep it nice and slow. You can even just go down this far. It's fine. You can work up as you get more used to it, as your muscles get stronger.
All right. 15 more seconds. You can speed up as you get more warmed up. It's still very controlled movement. All right. The last one. We're going to do what's called a stiff-legged deadlift. For this one, it's a good idea to have a set of very light dumbbells. Right in front of you, feet shoulder width apart. Slowly lower, back up. Let me turn to the side so you can see. You want to keep your back nice and flat. If your back ever starts to curve like that, put down the weights, take a break.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
On this exercise, you're really hitting the back of the legs, the hamstrings, whereas on the first two, it was more the front of the leg. The quadriceps. Five more seconds. All right. Put down one of the dumbbells. We're going to do what's called the dumbbell swingthrough. Put it down on the floor. Squat down. Just gently raise it up into the air.
Here, again, you're hitting your hamstrings, but you're also hitting your hips and your inner thighs. You shouldn't swing the weight up with your arms. Just let the momentum, going down and back up, bring the weight up. Never any jerky movements. Nice and slow and controlled. Again, reaching back with the butt. All right. A couple more. One more. All right. Now we're going to take it down to the floor. Called the glute bridge. Feet flat on the floor. Slowly raising your hips up into the sky. On this one, you're obviously getting your glutes, your gluteus maximus, your butt muscles, but also your hips and even your core. You want to keep your core nice and tight. I like actually lifting my toes up off the ground a little bit to keep the focus on my heels. We're getting ready to be done with this round. We're going to do all that again. Five more seconds. One more time.
All right. Back up for the body weight squat. If you want, you can do this with dumbbells, but you know, wait till you get ready for that. Wait till actually doing it with your body weight is pretty easy. Remember, feet shoulder width apart. Reach back with your butt. Knees never past your toes. Nice and slow. When you're ready, you can even raise up on your toes just a little bit. We always include a squat in a lower body workout because it really hits everything. Your thighs, and even your calf muscles, even your shins, the front part of your lower leg.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
All right. Five more seconds, then we're going to reverse lunge. All right. Alternating. Right leg back. Left leg back. Here, too, when you're ready, you can grab a set of very light dumbbells, hold them by your side if you'd like. But really, when you take this exercise nice and slow, you don't even really need any weights.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Second round might burn just a little bit more. All right. 15 more seconds. Couple more. All right. Now grab those dumbbells for the stiff-legged deadlift. Slowly lower it down. Keep your neck nice and soft. You want to be Looking forward and slightly down. The weight should come probably just below your knees. Now hold it for a second. Back up nice and slow. And again, keep your back very straight. If it starts rounding over, stop. Five more seconds.
Then we're onto the dumbbell swing-through. Last one. Put one of the dumbbells down.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Grab it at the end. Squat down. Slowly raise it up. And remember, it should raise up from the force of you standing up, squatting down and up, not from your swinging with your arms. Remember to reach back with that butt. In fact, raise your toes in your shoes so that your great toe, your big toe, is hitting the top of your shoe. Then you'll keep the focus on your heel, which takes the pressure off your knees. Five more seconds.
Now we're going to head down to the floor. For the glute bridge. Now, if you're ready-- when you're ready-- you can do one leg at a time. And you can do a couple on one side, a couple on the other. Just stick with two feet for now, two legs, till you're ready. At the top, kind of squeeze your butt, your glute muscles. We're almost done. You should be good and warmed up and sweaty at this point. You can speed them up just a little bit. 15 more seconds.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Last one. All right, guys. That was a great 10-minute lower body workout. Stretch it out a little bit, make sure you're ready to go, and have a great day.
