Now that November is finally here are any of you beginning to get anxious about the holiday season (and the snow)? Not only am I worried about the usual holiday parties and get-togethers, but this year I am aiming to do blogmas for the very first time. It is amazing how much planning and organization goes into the this before it has even begun. But hopefully, all of the pre-work will make it a successful blogmas, unlike my attempts in the past.

But that being said, I am incredibly excited for the rest of November and December. The holiday spirit is really beginning to pick up and that means lots of activities and events are going to beginning popping up all around me, plus all of the baking.Food and holidays aside, I have been having a lot of fun these past couple of days coming up with new fun workouts for all of you that will be coming out over the course of the next couple of weeks.

Although I have kept a lot of the muscles in my legs from my soccer days, I still like to do some type of strengthening routine for them every week, especially in fall and winter. 

A lot of people think the reverse of this and say that summertime is more important for your legs because they are being shown off with swimsuits and shorts. But unlike shorts, a pair of tight jeans are not as forgiving as a pair of loose shorts. Legs are also that one area that I get a weird sort of satisfaction after I do a really intense workout and can feel it almost immediately.

As most of you know, I don’t always like to put up posts that include ‘traditional’ gym equipment. Not only because I find those routines rather boring and people tend to phone it in if they are on a machine, but a lot of the times people do not have access to the different equipment or simply don’t want to go all the way out to the gym especially when the snow is coming down in sheets.

So this week I really wanted to dig deep into the vaults of my mind and pull out some of my favorite moves that I have stored back there for a truly good at home workout.

Only requirements:

No gym.

No equipment.

You may need a wall or a chair for balance on a few of these moves but I figured that can’t be counted as equipment. Who would? Walls and chairs are everywhere. You can even use a friend if they are willing to let you lean on them. For this workout, I didn’t hold back with any difficulty levels on this moves so if you do need something for balance, don’t try to power through and end up hurting yourself. Take it slow and find your groove before you really start to push.

Because I don’t want to bore you all to tears with this workout, I did not include any traditional squats. I know, they are an oldie but a goodie. I usually do squats as something all on their own, but if you would like to, feel free to add them somewhere into the workout. However, you may want to wait until you have run through the workout once before you make the decision to make it harder.

*If you would like these moves more difficult, do not use any support and up the level of reps and sets you do for each move.

THE MOVES YOU MAY NOT KNOW

Pistol Squats

*Although I am including it, a pistol squat is one of the hardest moves to do. If you need to, feel free to use something for support or to keep yourself balanced.

Place your feet so they are Roughly Shoulder Width apart. Lift your left foot up from the ground slightly before straightening your leg in front of you. Slowly lower yourself until your butt almost touches the ground and your left leg is parallel to the ground. Raise yourself back up without letting your left leg drop and repeat. Once finished with the set, switch to the other leg.

Lateral Lunges

Stand with your feet roughly shoulder width apart. Step your right leg out to the side at a comfortable distance, making sure your left leg has straightened out. Slowly bend your right leg as you would perform a squat. Straighten up, step your legs back to your starting position before repeating the move on the other side. Continue alternating legs each time.

Donkey Kicks

Get onto the ground on all fours. Keeping your knee at a 90-degree angle, lift your leg backward until your thigh is almost parallel to the floor. Slowly lower it back to the starting position before repeating the action. Repeat this action with the same leg for the designated number of reps before switching to the other leg.

Glute Bridge

Lay on your back, with your hands at your side, and bend your knees until your feet are flat on the ground. Push off the ground with your feet so your butt is in the air and your body forms a straight line. Hold for a second before lowering your torso back to the ground and repeating.

Leg Raises

Lay on your back with your arms at your side and your feet together. Keeping your feet together, lift up both of your legs until they are perpendicular to your body (or as high as you can raise them). Slowly lower them back to almost touching the ground before repeating.

Leg Circles

Lay on your back with your arms at your sides. Lift one leg up until it is perpendicular to your body and draw a circle with your foot. Repeat until you complete the number of reps before switching to your other leg.

THE WORKOUT:

3 x 10 Pistol Squats (on each leg)
4 x 25 Donkey Kicks (on each leg)
30 second Wall Sit
4 x 20 Calf raises (Each leg individually + Legs together)
3 x 10 Lateral Lunges (on each leg)
30 second Wall Sit
4 x 25 Glute Bridge
3 x 20 Lunge Jumps
30 second Wall Sit
3 x 10 Leg Raises
3 x 20 Leg Circles (on each leg)
30 second Wall Sit

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