Home Leg & Glute Workout: No Gym, No Excuses
By Jon Klipstein, U.S. Army Combat Veteran & Founder of Die Tryin Co., and Jenna Fiscus, Die Tryin Co. Athlete & Coach
Protocol verified by Jenna Fiscus, Die Tryin Co. Athlete & Coach.
Note: this video is from our UXO Supplements era — we've since rebranded to Die Tryin Co. Same team, same standards, same athletes.
NO GYM, NO EQUIPMENT, NO EXCUSES
Gym closed for the holiday? Traveling? New year, no membership yet? None of it matters. Jenna built this entire leg, glute, and ab session for your living room floor — no machines, no barbell, not even a set of dumbbells required.
Her added weight of choice in the video is, genuinely, her dog. Funny, but the point is real: you don't need a loaded bar to make bodyweight training hard. You need something to hold and the will to push a set to the point it actually burns. Here's the full circuit.
THE HOME WORKOUT AT A GLANCE
Run the whole thing as a circuit, 3 rounds, resting only as needed:
| Exercise | Reps | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Curtsy squat | 12–15 / side | Glutes, inner thigh |
| Standing hip abduction (side leg raise) | 15 / side | Glute medius |
| Squat + rear leg lift (standing kickback) | 12 / side | Glutes, hamstrings |
| Squat jumps (add weight) | 15 | Legs, power |
| Glute bridge / hip thrust (weight on hips) | 20 | Glutes |
| Russian twist (hold weight) | 20 / side | Obliques |
| Seated in-and-out (tuck & extend) | 15 | Abs |
| Superman (raise arms & legs) | 15 | Lower back, posterior chain |
HOW THE MOVES FIT TOGETHER
The lower-body block stacks three planes most home routines miss. The curtsy squat drives the glutes and inner thigh through a crossover, the standing hip abduction isolates the glute medius (the muscle that builds the side-glute shelf), and the squat-to-rear-leg-lift finishes with a kickback that hammers the glute-hamstring tie-in. Then you raise the intensity: squat jumps add power, weighted glute bridges overload the hip thrust pattern, and the core trio — Russian twists, seated in-and-outs, and Supermans — covers rotation, flexion, and extension so you're not just crunching one direction. For the loaded gym version of this lower-body work, our best leg exercises guide picks up where this leaves off, and Jenna's gym leg & glute day goes heavier.
USE ANY ADDED WEIGHT
Bodyweight gets you far, but adding load is how you keep progressing once the moves get easy. You don't need equipment — you need something to hold:
- A loaded backpack (books, water bottles)
- Two gallon jugs or large water bottles, one per hand
- A kettlebell or single dumbbell if you have one
- Or, like Jenna, a cooperative pet who's down to be held through a set of hip thrusts
The principle doesn't care what the weight is — only that there's enough of it to make the last few reps a fight.
YOU CAN ABSOLUTELY BUILD AT HOME
The "I need a gym to make progress" excuse doesn't hold up. A 2021 network meta-analysis on training load found that when you take a set close to failure, muscle growth is essentially load-independent — light loads (think bodyweight and household objects) build muscle just as well as heavy ones. The one place heavy loads still win is maximal strength, so a home circuit like this is built for muscle and conditioning rather than a new one-rep max. Push these sets until the target muscle is genuinely cooked and the living-room workout does its job. Want a full-body version for the same no-gym situation? Jenna's holiday full-body circuit covers it, and no gym, no problem has more at-home options.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can I really build muscle without a gym?
Yes. Research shows that when you train close to failure, bodyweight and light loads build muscle just as well as heavy weights. You may need higher reps to get there, but the growth is real — the gym mostly wins on maximal strength, not size.
How many rounds should I do?
Three rounds of the full circuit is a solid session. If you're short on time, two hard rounds still count; if you want more, add a fourth or slow the tempo to make each rep harder.
What if I don't have any weight to add?
Start with pure bodyweight and just push the reps until the muscle burns. A loaded backpack or two water jugs covers it once bodyweight gets easy — no equipment purchase required.
How often can I do this workout?
Two to three times a week, with a rest day between, is plenty for glutes, legs, and abs. Pair it with some walking or light cardio and you've got a complete at-home routine.
Do I need a dog?
Strongly recommended, not required. Any added weight works — the dog is just Jenna's preferred (and most enthusiastic) option.
READY TO GEAR UP?
No gym, no problem — your living room is enough. Recover and refuel with vanilla Post Iso, back your training with creatine monohydrate, or take the quiz to build a stack around your goals. And use Jenna's code BODYSHOP for 10% off.
ALWAYS FORWARD.
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