Guide to Tabata workouts
Dumbbells are a great piece of kit to help build muscle and improve your strength, which is why our gyms are equipped with a range of dumbbells up to 50kgs. When it comes to training legs (or compound movements), barbells would be most people's first choice, but if you're short on time, or prefer to get a workout just using a single piece of kit, dumbbells can be just as good in getting an effective workout, without the hassle of waiting for or setting up equipment.
If you're used to training heavy with a barbell loaded with plates, you can still ensure a challenging workout by increasing the reps and sets, slowing down the tempo and reducing rest time in-between sets.
Over this year, with the pandemic and with gyms having to close across the country, we've had to adapt our training. Some of us might still be training outdoors or at home, and some of us may be back in the gyms. However you're keeping active, we hope that this one-kit workout which requires limited space, can help inspire you for your next leg workout.
Watch the exercises demos below and bookmark it to try later.
LEG WORKOUT USING DUMBBELLS
This 45 minute leg workout is designed to help build your leg muscles and improve your lower body strength by targeting the quads, hamstrings and glutes.
Choose a weight that suitable for you for the rep ranges in the workout. Feel free to modify the workout to suit your needs and ability.
Before you do this workout, make sure to warm up properly beforehand.
- Dumbbell Goblet Squat | 8-12 reps.
When performing the goblet squat, think about controlling the movement down when you sit into a squat and driving your legs up to get back up to standing.
- Dumbbell RDL| 8-12 reps.
A tip when doing RDLs would be to imagine there's an wall behind you and you want to push your hips back towards to touch the wall.
- Dumbbell Glute Bridge| 8-12 reps.
To make sure that you're activating your glutes in a glute bridge, try positioning your legs so that when you hips are lifted, your knees are at a 90 degree angle and see how this feels. If you don't feel your glutes switching on you may find you have to shift your feet forward or back a bit to find the right position for you.
- Dumbbell Lateral Walk | 6 reps (per side)
When you're doing your lateral walks, imagine there's a line just above your head and you want to stay low and follow that line without shifting up and down to much.
End this workout with a cool down and some light stretching targeting the legs.
If you're not sure how to perform any of the moves above and would like more guidance, you can ask a personal trainer in the gym - they'd be more than happy to help you.
Also check out our Exercises library with video guides and step by step instructions for exercises targeting the legs.
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