Best Lower Body Exercises for Women: Leg and Glute Workout Routines for Home and Gym Training

The best lower body exercises for women aren’t just about appearance—they’re essential for strength, balance, and longevity. Whether you’re working out at home or in the gym, this guide includes routines and expert-approved moves to help you build a strong, capable lower body.
Not sure which exercises you should include in your leg workouts? Wonder no more! We reveal the eight essential exercises you need for a strong, capable, attractive lower body.

Ask most men to name the most important exercises and they’ll probably say something like bench presses or biceps curls. That’s because, when it comes to fitness and aesthetics, men often focus their attention and energy on their upper body.

Consequently, a lot of male exercisers have well-developed arms, chests, shoulders, and backs, but their legs show the results of too little lower-body training.

In contrast, women are usually more interested in working on their hips and legs, and this is VERY good news!

Lower body exercises provide a wide range of benefits (that a lot of men miss out on!) including:

Increased strength. Muscle strength decreases with age and lack of exercise. Weak legs will significantly impair your ability to perform many everyday tasks. If you want to enjoy life to its fullest for as many years as possible, you need to develop a surplus of strength so you can afford the inevitable loss that comes with getting older.

Elevated resting metabolism. Your legs contain close to 50% of your total muscle mass. Developing these muscles will raise your resting metabolism, increase your daily energy expenditure, and make it easier to manage your weight. 

Increased bone density. Like most physical attributes, bone density declines with age. To make matters worse, bone loss accelerates during menopause. The hips, spine, and wrists are especially at risk. Lower-body strength training is a fantastic antidote to bone loss because, as well as building stronger muscles, it also strengthens your bones.

Improved endurance and more energy. Many of life’s most demanding activities involve your legs, from walking to climbing stairs to lifting and carrying heavy objects. The better conditioned your legs are, the less tiring these activities become. Imagine how good it will feel to get to the end of the day and not feel worn out!

More shapely legs. There is nothing wrong with caring about your appearance and exercising your legs will improve both muscle shape and tone. And don’t worry about building large, unsightly legs; women are not hormonally equipped to build massive muscles.

Better balance. Balance tends to decrease with age, which is one of the reasons older people are more prone to falls. Many of the best lower body exercises will help preserve or even improve your balance as they strengthen and sculpt your muscles.

Improved mobility and flexibility. Muscles and joints tend to stiffen up with age and lack of use. Lower body exercises like squats and lunges involve large ranges of motion which will maintain your suppleness and keep you feeling young.

In short, lower body training is good for everybody’s body. However, it can be tiring, which is why it’s crucial to build your workouts around the most effective exercises.

The 8 Best Lower Body Exercises for Women

Your time and energy are valuable resources, so don’t waste them on ineffective workouts. Instead, get more bang for your buck by including the following exercises in your lower body training. Each one comes with a host of benefits, so you’ll only need a small handful of exercises to make your leg training dreams come true.

1| Booty Band Goblet Squat

Squats are often called the king of exercises, and that’s a title they deserve. Booty band goblet squats are arguably the most comprehensive leg exercise around as they work almost every muscle in your lower body.

Steps:

1. Place a short resistance band around your legs, just above or just below your knees.
2. Step out so your feet are about shoulder-width apart. Push your knees out against the band and brace your core.
3. Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell in front of your chest (optional).
4. Bend your legs and squat down without rounding your lower back. Descend as far as comfortable. Keep pressing your knees out.
5. Stand back up, reset your core, take a breath, and repeat.

2| Reverse Deficit Lunge

Lunges are a popular exercise, but most people tend to do the conventional forward version. That’s an acceptable exercise but this variation is more knee-friendly, targets your glutes and hamstrings more effectively, and makes it easier to adopt and maintain good posture.

Steps:

1. Stand with your feet together on a 4 to 6″ high platform or step.
2. Hold a dumbbell in each hand (optional).
3. Take a large step back, bend both legs and lower your rearmost knee down so it’s just below the level of your front foot.
4. Push off your back leg and return to your platform.
5. Do your next rep with the opposite leg.
6. Continue alternating sides for the duration of your set.

3|Romanian Deadlift

What makes this exercise Romanian is a hotly debated topic, but what all fitness professionals agree on is how effectively it works the glutes, hamstrings, and lower back. Romanian deadlifts are also a great way to improve that all-important mobility and flexibility.

Steps:

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent. Hold a dumbbell in each hand or use a barbell as preferred.
2. Hinging from the hips, lean forward and reach down your legs until you feel tension in the backs of your thighs. Take care not to round your lower back.
3. Stand back up, take a breath, and repeat.

4| Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift

Conventional Romanian deadlifts are an excellent exercise, but they lack one thing: balance! Moving from two legs to one means you must work harder to stabilize your hips and concentrate on maintaining your footing. In addition, this single-leg variation increases glute and outer thigh engagement.

Steps:

1. Stand with your feet together and your knees slightly bent.
2. Shift your weight over onto one foot.
3. Hinging from the hips, lean as far forward as you can without rounding your lower back.
4. Simultaneously extend your other leg out behind you for balance
5. Stand back up and repeat.
6. Do this exercise with or without weights as preferred.

5| Banded Hip Thrust

No gym? No problem! You can get a great leg workout at home using nothing more than your body weight and a loop-type resistance band. This exercise targets your glutes and hamstrings and, as an added benefit, puts very little stress on your lower back.

Steps:

1. Sit on the floor and lean your back against a sturdy bench or chair. You could even use your sofa.
2. Place your band around one foot, over your hips, and then around your other foot.
3. Lean back, drive your feet into the floor, and lift your hips up until they form a straight line between your knees and shoulders.
4. Lower your butt back to the floor and repeat.

6| Leg Press

Leg press machines are commonplace in most gyms. They provide an effective way to work your legs without having to do squats. Although, if you look closely, you’ll see that the joint action is very similar – they’re squats in disguise! However, leg presses are usually much easier to learn and master.

Steps:

1. Load the machine at your gym with the appropriate amount of weight.
2. Sit on the machine so your lower back and butt are pressed firmly into the seat.
3. Place your feet on the footplate so they’re between shoulder and hip-width apart.
4. Straighten your legs and release the weight catchers.
5. Bend your legs and lower the weight until your knees are bent to around 90 degrees. Take care not to round your lower back.
6. Extend your legs, stopping just short of locking your knees.
7. Continue for the desired number of reps.

Please note that not all leg press machines work the same way. If in doubt, ask a trainer or instructor how to use the machine in your gym.

7| Bulgarian Split Squat

Bulgarian split squats are an excellent exercise for building leg strength, hip mobility, and balance. They also load one leg more than the other, making them challenging without having to lift additional weight. Consequently, this is a great movement for both gym-goers and home exercisers. 

Steps:

1. Stand with your back to a low bench, sturdy chair, or stool. Bend one leg and place the top of your foot on the platform behind you.
2. Hop forward into a split stance.
3. Keeping your torso fairly upright, bend both legs and lower your rearmost knee down to within an inch of the floor.
4. Stand back up and repeat.
5. Switch legs and do the same number of reps on the other side.
6. Do this exercise next to a wall or handrail if you need help balancing.

8| Wall Clamshell

Clamshells are a very effective glute exercise. However, it’s also very easy to cheat to make them easier and less effective. Doing them with your butt and back pressed against a wall forces you to use a much stricter technique, making every rep much more beneficial.

Steps:

1. Lie on your side with your back and butt flat against a wall. Bend your legs so the soles of your feet are also touching the wall. Rest your head on your lowermost arm.
2. Lift your top knee up and out, opening your hips like a clamshell.
3. Lower your leg and repeat.
4. Turn around and do the same number of reps on the opposite side.
5. Put a booty band around your knees to make this exercise more challenging.

Lower Body Home and Gym Workouts for Women

While any of these exercises will help strengthen and condition your lower body, you’ll get much better results if you follow a structured workout plan. While you could design your own, we’ve saved you the time and created a lower-body home and gym-based workout for you to try.

But, before you start either workout, make sure you prepare your muscles and joints for what you are about to do by warming up.

The best way to do this is by following this proven sequence:

• 5-10 minutes of easy cardio, e.g., brisk walking, cycling, jogging, jumping rope, etc.
• 2-3 dynamic lower body stretches, e.g., leg swings, hip circles, cat/cow, waist bends, etc.
• 1-2 sets of easy bodyweight squats, lunges, or step-ups to get your blood pumping and mobilize your joints.

Ready? Then let’s get to work!

Home Workout

Do this workout 2-3 times a week on non-consecutive days, e.g., Monday, Wednesday, Friday, or Tuesday and Saturday. Ideally, it should be paired with a similar number of upper-body workouts. Weights are optional for this workout, but you can use any heavy handheld object in place of dumbbells or barbells.

	Exercise	Sets	Reps	Recovery
1	Single-leg Romanian deadlift	2-4	10-12 per leg	45-90 seconds
2	Booty Band Goblet Squat	2-4	15-20	45-90 seconds
3	Banded Hip Thrust	2-4	15-20	45-90 seconds
4	Wall Clamshell	2-4	10-12 per leg	45-90 seconds

Please note that the reps quoted are for guidance only. Adjust them up or down based on your current fitness.

Gym Workout

As for the home workout, you should perform this routine 2-3 times per week on non-consecutive days. Use weights that leave your muscles feeling tired within the prescribed rep range while still maintaining good form.

	Exercise	Sets	Reps	Recovery
1	Romanian Deadlift	2-4	12-15	45-90 seconds
2	Reverse Deficit Lunge	2-4	10-12 per leg	45-90 seconds
3	Leg Press	2-4	12-15	45-90 seconds
4	Bulgarian Split Squat	2-4	10-12 per leg	45-90 seconds

Please note that the reps quoted are for guidance only. Adjust them up or down based on your current fitness.

Closing Thoughts

Lower body training is critical for women of all ages. It can help ward off the strength, muscle, and bone loss that accompanies aging while improving your balance and making many everyday activities less tiring.

In addition, it can make losing or maintaining your weight much easier. And before you ask, while cardio DOES work your legs, the overload is not usually enough to rack up the benefits of lower body strength training. Cardio improves cardiovascular (heart and lung) fitness, which is no less critical, but needs to be paired with strength training if you want to develop the best possible level of all-around