Glutes and legs at home without jumping
A calm home routine for glutes and legs: good for beginners who want to work the lower body without jumping. A mat and a chair are all it takes.
Level: Beginner, easy pace
What you need
Kit and conditions
exercise mat
chair
How to use it
About this exercise
This is one exercise broken into consecutive steps rather than a mixed circuit. Watch the technique, follow the cues and build the movement up gradually. If a phase feels too hard, start with a smaller range and a calmer rhythm — understanding the mechanics matters more than getting it perfect first time.
Steps
Technique, frame by frame
Squat to a chair
Stand in front of the chair with your feet hip-width apart or a little wider and your toes turned out slightly. Send your hips back as if to sit and lower until you just brush the seat. Keep your back flat, chest open and knees tracking over your toes, then stand back up.
Cue
To make it easier, stay higher and rest two fingers on the back of the chair.
Glute bridge
Lie on the mat with your knees bent and your feet planted hip-width apart, arms along your sides. Breathe out and lift your hips, squeezing your glutes, until your body forms a straight line from shoulders to knees. Do not push past that line at the top, and lower slowly.
Cue
Keep your heels firmly planted and start the movement from your glutes, not your lower back.
Reverse lunges
Stand tall with your hands on your hips or out in front for balance. Step one foot back and lower until both knees are bent to a comfortable angle. Keep your front knee tracking over your foot and your torso close to upright, then push back to the start.
Cue
If balance is hard, take a shorter step back and go only halfway down.
Standing glute kickback
Stand beside a wall or the back of a chair for light support. Shift your weight onto one leg and sweep the other softly back, without turning your hips. Keep the range small and controlled: the leg travels back from the glute and your lower back stays flat. Squeeze at the top, then return.
Cue
Do not swing the leg high: control and glute work matter more than range.
Pulsing half squat
Set your feet shoulder-width apart, bend your knees slightly and settle into a shallow half squat. Keep your torso upright, your weight through the whole foot and your heels down. Pulse gently up and down through a small range, holding the same depth throughout.
Cue
Keep the range small: the legs still work and the technique stays solid.
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