Six of the Best Dumbbell Exercises to Build a Better Lower Body

Do two sets of 10 reps.

1. Squats.  Squats are known by lifting enthusiasts as the “King of All Leg Moves”.
   1. Place your feet a little wider than shoulder width apart.
   2. With your chest and chin lifted, drop your hips as if sitting in a chair.
   3. This move should be performed slowly with or without weights.
2. Reverse Lunges. Reverse Lunges are often the lunge preferred by many because it places less stress on the knee as compared to its sister move, the front lunge.
   1. With chin and chest lifted, step back big enough to feel a stretch in the hip of the back leg.
   2. Keep your chest up throughout the entire move.
   3. Use the front leg to bring your feet together. (do not push off of the back leg)
   4. Always make sure your front knee does not go past your toes.
3. Side Lunges. Side Lunges target all of the same muscles of the Squats and Reverse Lunges with an added target of the inner thighs.
   1. Step out to the side big enough to where your other leg is straight.
   2. Be sure to sit back in your glute as if to sit in a chair with your chest lifted.
   3. Push with your lunged leg to come back to center.
4. Plies. Plies are performed to target the thighs, glutes and inner thighs.
   1. With your chest lifted and your chin up, drop your hips straight down toward the floor.
   2. Your toes should be pointed out and your knees should cascade over your toes.
5. Curtsey Lunges. Curtsey Lunges work all of the muscles of all of the exercises above and add the work of the outer thighs and hips. Many people like these to focus on the stubborn saddlebag area of the hips/upper thighs.
   1. Stand with your feet directly under your hips and cross a leg behind the other as if to “Curtsey” to royalty.
   2. Keep chest and chin lifted and keep the weight in your front leg.
   3. Use your front leg to bring your feet back to the starting position.
6. Praying Frog Squats. Frog squats are done without weights and combine the hip movement of the squat and the Deadlift(not given here due to degree of difficulty). This move targets the glutes and the back of the legs.
   1. Stand with feet wide apart.
   2. Lower into a squat and lean slightly forward with your hands in front of you in a praying position.
   3. Keeping your upper body still (and not changing planes at all) lower your hips down and up: pulsing hips drops.

Carpe Diem!

Conclusion

In this blog post, we learned about six of the best dumbbell exercises to build a better lower body.  We also learned that those exercises are Squats, Reverse Lunges, Side Lunges, Plies, Praying Frog Squats.

About CoffeyFit

We hope you have found this blog post helpful. Coffeyfit offers Core/Abs and Stretch sessions on DVD and streaming platforms. Go to coffeyfit.com to see more workouts. If you would like to learn more about fitness and our products to help you stay healthy, check out our shop or join our online discussions on Facebook and Instagram. We have tons of stuff you can download. Check out our downloads page for APPS, Documents and DVD Downloads.

Please add your comments in the comment section below. We would love to hear your feedback as it helps us grow our blog and help more people achieve their fitness goals.