Having a strong lower body will aid everyday tasks, whether that involves walking, getting out of a chair, or while performing various forms of exercise such as cycling or squatting with a barbell. You don't have to dedicate all of your weekly fitness time to the lower body; instead, you can fit this 20-minute dumbbell routine to train your legs and glutes into your weekly fitness regime.
Anyone who is newer to resistance training may be put off training with a barbell or other lower body machines but you can still get similar results from a dumbbell leg workout if you continue to progress up the weights the more you train. A pair of the best adjustable dumbbells are well suited to this approach as you are able to change the load of these weights to what suits your strength abilities.
The short session, created by fitness instructor Mikala Czubak (who is best known online for her workouts as Fitbymik), involves back-to-back compound sets. For this workout style you will complete intervals of 45 seconds, followed by 30 seconds of another move, followed by 15 seconds of rest.
Watch Fitbymik's 20-minute lower body dumbbell workout
If you're short on time this workout is a convenient one to pick up. This is because it uses compound moves, a type of exercise that engages multiple muscle groups simultaneously so that you can complete more exercise in less time. The added bonus is that it will also help you burn calories fast. Calories burn quicker when multiple muscles and joints are in use.
It's not uncommon to experience a plateau in your fitness. We've all felt a lull at some point or another, whether that's because we can't commit as much time as we thought we could to a training plan or because we aren't seeing or feeling results quick enough. This is where progressive overload is good to adopt into your training.
Progressive overload involves increasing the weight, frequency, or number of reps in your resistance training. Essentially, this process 'overloads' your muscles and encourages your body to repair and build new muscle fibers. If you go the other way with your training and progress too fast, you risk injuring yourself or bringing on unwanted fatigue.
However, don't be alarmed if you do experience pain or tension in your legs and glutes after a weighted lower body session. DOMS, which stands for delayed onset muscle soreness, is a muscle pain brought on by working out and most of the time is a sign that you have worked your body enough that your muscles are adapting to your training. Using one of the best foam rollers to massage your muscles after a workout can help to lower the symptoms and aid your recovery.
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