The Best Dumbbell Exercises for Your Legs

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of the barbell. Often, it’s just my first instinct on strength days at the gym to just head to the barbell platform and get to work. But as I’ve pointed out in the past few posts of this series, that’s not always possible.

We have so many fitness tools available to us nowadays, each with its pros and cons, so it’s important that we remain open-minded about the tools we use to get stronger and fitter. Besides, why limit ourselves when there are so many fun and creative ways to move our bodies?

There’s a place for everything in our gym routines, dumbbells (here are our fave ones to use) included. So this week, I’ll continue my mission to revive these unassuming pieces of equipment by talking about some simple ways to work your legs.

The Best Dumbbell Exercises for Your Legs

As I mentioned in my previous post for your glutes, using dumbbells will force your whole body — especially your legs — to stabilize differently than with a barbell. The weight distribution is completely different and there’s a ton more movement that you have to control, which translates to far more demand being placed on your stabilizer muscles — super awesome if you’re someone who’s prone to injury.

Additionally, using dumbbells to perform single-leg work (as I’ve included in the circuit below) will also help you create better balance in your body. Since we all tend to have one leg that is stronger than the other, by working each leg independently we can start to bridge any strength gap between lefty and righty.

Check out this circuit for those days when you wanna hit your legs hard:

Check out this video or below to see a demo of each move featured in this post.

Have I convinced you yet to revisit the dumbbells? If you’re shopping for dumbbells to use at home, we love these so much that we’re an affiliate. —Alison