Bodyweight leg workout: a no-equipment session and how to keep it hard

A bodyweight leg workout is the leg half of training at home with nothing to lift. The work is making each set hard enough to count. This page has a session with five slots from easy to hard, what the trials found and where two of them disagree, and how to progress without weights. It's about training, not the scale.

The squat has its own page, and the full-body version of this is the bodyweight workout. If you have dumbbells, the leg day workout has a dumbbell session. I'm a fitness coach, not a doctor; if you have a health condition or a joint that bothers you, check with your doctor first.

What the trials found

• Progressing bodyweight squats, in young women. In a trial of sedentary young women (average age about 20), 36 were recruited and 13 finished: 6 did bodyweight squats that progressed through 10 levels from two legs to one, and 7 did barbell back squats at 60% to 80% of their max, twice a week for 6 weeks after 2 weeks of getting used to the movements. Groups were chosen through a course-selection system, not randomly assigned. Knee strength measures rose from before to after in both groups, and the barbell group had more significant within-group changes (6 measures against 3 for bodyweight). Between the groups there was no significant difference, which in 13 people doesn't show the two are equal. Glute and calf (gastrocnemius) muscle thickness rose in both groups; thigh (rectus femoris) thickness rose significantly in neither, though in the bodyweight group the result was right at the line (p = 0.05). There was no non-training comparison group, and diet wasn't controlled.¹
• The same squat every day, in older adults. In 25 community-dwelling older adults (average age about 78), one group did 100 low-intensity bodyweight squats a day at home for 4 months and a control group kept to its daily activities. Neither group improved on muscle strength, muscle thickness or the physical tests; the only change was a drop in how fast low-threshold motor units fired in the squat group.²
• Effort when the load is light. In 25 untrained men doing one-leg knee extensions with a light load for 8 weeks, sets taken to failure (about 34 reps) grew the quadriceps' cross-sectional area, and sets stopped at about 20 reps showed no significant growth.³
• Which versions feel harder. In 15 recreationally active adults (average age 28, with at least a year of lifting) who did 90-second bouts of six bodyweight squat variations, the jumping squat had the highest effort ratings and a higher peak heart rate than four of the other variations (deep, wall sit, uneven and unstable); its difference from the single-leg squat was not significant. The wall sit's effort rating for the working muscles was higher than the deep squat's.⁴

The first two point different ways: strength and thickness measures rose from before to after in young women who progressed their bodyweight squats (with no non-training group to compare against), and most measures didn't move in older adults who repeated the same low-intensity squat daily against a control group. The trials differ in age, dose and design, so I'm not picking a winner. My own inference, not a finding of either trial, is that the older adults' squat didn't get harder over the 4 months, and that bodyweight legs need the version to keep getting harder and the sets to end close to failure. That fits the light-load study.

The session: five slots, easy to hard

Pick one exercise per slot. The versions are practical choices, not study protocols.

Finish with a wall sit if you like. Jumping squats are covered in plyometric exercises; they're a higher-impact option than anything in the table.

How to run it (practical):

• 2 sets of each exercise for the first two weeks, then 3.
• 8 to 20 reps a set. If a set is easy at 20, move to the harder version and drop back toward 8.
• Stop each set with 0 to 2 reps left, since the light-load study found effort mattered. Reps in reserve explains how to judge it.
• Rest 1 to 2 minutes between sets.
• Twice a week on days that aren't back to back. The young-women trial ran twice a week.¹

How to keep it hard

Roughly in this order (practical):

1. Add reps up to 20 a set.
2. Slow the lowering to three or four seconds, or pause at the bottom. Time under tension covers it.
3. Move to the harder version in the table, the way the young-women trial moved from two legs to one.¹
4. Add a set.
5. Write it down: the version, the reps and how many you had left.

When even the hardest version you can do well runs past 20 reps, it may be time for a weight. A goblet squat is the usual first step, and the leg day workout has the dumbbell version.

Where it fits in your week

Two leg sessions a week, with upper-body days in between, is a simple shape (practical). If you do other leg work, such as running, put the hardest leg session on a day you're fresh. How often to train has more on the week.

Common questions

Can you build leg muscle with bodyweight exercises?

In one small trial, glute and calf thickness rose from before to after in young women who progressed their bodyweight squats, with no non-training group to compare against,¹ and a light load grew the quadriceps in another trial when sets went to failure.³ In older adults, 100 of the same low-intensity squat a day for 4 months did not improve muscle thickness or strength against a control group.² Those results are from different people doing different things.

Which bodyweight leg exercise should I start with?

I don't rank them. The table has one per slot, from easy to hard. Start with the version where you can finish 8 to 12 clean reps and still feel the set.

How many reps should I do?

As a practical range, 8 to 20 a set, stopped with a rep or two left. In the 8-week light-load study, about 34 reps to failure grew the quadriceps and about 20 stopped short showed no significant growth.³

What do I do with no stairs or couch?

Use a sturdy step, a low bench or a thick book stack for step-ups, and a chair for sit-to-stands. Skip the Bulgarian split squat until you have something stable to put your back foot on.

What if something hurts?

Stop, and ask a doctor or physical therapist about it. I'm a fitness coach, not a doctor.

If you'd rather not plan it alone

A bodyweight leg session is easy to write down; knowing when to move up a version and how it fits with the rest of your week is the harder part. Coaching is the version built around your starting point, with a weekly call to adjust. Coaching to build muscle explains how it works, and apply is where you tell me where you're starting.