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Exercises

Dumbbell lower body exercises: squat, hinge, lunge, thrust and carry

Published October 19, 2026

The best dumbbell lower body exercises cover five movements: a squat (goblet squat), a hinge (dumbbell Romanian deadlift), a single-leg exercise (reverse lunge or Bulgarian split squat), a hip thrust or glute bridge, and a calf raise. Those five train your quads, hamstrings, glutes and calves in about 15 hard sets. Add a dumbbell swing, snatch or suitcase carry when you want power, conditioning, or core work on the same day.

  1. Goblet Squat Quads, Glutes
  2. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift Hamstrings, Glutes
  3. Dumbbell Reverse Lunge Quads, Glutes
  4. Bulgarian Split Squat Quads, Glutes
  5. Dumbbell Hip Thrust Glutes
  6. Single-Leg RDL Hamstrings, Glutes
  7. Dumbbell Swing Glutes, Hamstrings
  8. Dumbbell Standing Calf Raise Calves
  9. Dumbbell Suitcase Carry Abs, Quads

Squat: quads and glutes

A squat bends both knees and hips together, which makes it the base of any lower body session. With dumbbells, holding one weight at your chest is the easiest way to squat deep and upright.

Squat, quads and glutes

Goblet Squat

Quads, Glutes

One dumbbell held at your chest counterbalances you, so you can squat deep with a straight back from your first session. It is the lower body exercise to learn first and the squat every plan here builds on.

How to do it

  1. Hold one end of a dumbbell against your sternum, elbows tucked down, feet slightly wider than your hips.
  2. Take a breath, brace, and lower your hips between your heels.
  3. Go down until your thighs pass parallel or until your back starts to round, whichever comes first.
  4. Push through your whole foot to stand, and exhale at the top.

Cues

  • Elbows brush the knees at the bottom
  • Chest stays tall
  • Knees track over the toes

Common mistakes

  • Rising onto your toes at the bottom: widen your stance a little and sit back slightly more.
  • Letting the knees cave as you stand: spread the floor with your feet.

Swap for: Dumbbell Squat, Heels-Elevated Goblet Squat, Dumbbell Front Squat

Build a session with Goblet Squat

Hinge: hamstrings, glutes and lower back

A hinge pushes your hips back with the knees only slightly bent, so the hamstrings stretch under load and the lower back holds your spine still. These are also the answer to training your lower back with dumbbells: the back muscles work hard to stay flat without ever bending under load.

Hinge, hamstrings and glutes

Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

Hamstrings, Glutes

The Romanian deadlift loads the hamstrings in a long stretch, which is where they grow best, and it trains your lower back to hold your spine still under load. With dumbbells it can go heavy without a barbell or rack.

How to do it

  1. Stand tall with a dumbbell in front of each thigh, feet about hip-width, knees soft.
  2. Push your hips back, sliding the dumbbells down the front of your legs while your back stays flat.
  3. Stop when you feel a strong stretch in your hamstrings, usually around mid-shin.
  4. Drive your hips forward to stand back up, squeezing your glutes at lockout.

Cues

  • Hips back like closing a car door
  • Dumbbells skim the legs
  • Neck in line with the spine

Common mistakes

  • Bending the knees more as you go down: that turns it into a squat. Keep the knee angle almost fixed.
  • Chasing the floor with a rounded back: stop where the stretch is and your back is still flat.

Swap for: Single-Leg RDL, Dumbbell Good Morning, Dumbbell B-Stance RDL

Build a session with Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

Hinge, one leg at a time

Single-Leg RDL

Hamstrings, Glutes

Hinging on one leg makes a light dumbbell heavy for the hamstring and glute of the standing leg, and the balance demand trains the small hip muscles that keep your knee and pelvis steady. A great choice when your dumbbells are too light for two-leg Romanian deadlifts.

How to do it

  1. Stand on one leg with a slight bend in that knee, a dumbbell in the opposite hand.
  2. Hinge forward at the hip, letting your free leg rise behind you in line with your torso.
  3. Lower until your torso is close to parallel with the floor or until your hamstring stops you.
  4. Pull yourself back up by driving the standing hip forward, then repeat. Finish the side, then switch.

Cues

  • Hips square to the floor
  • Back leg and torso move as one
  • Reach the dumbbell toward the floor, not forward

Common mistakes

  • Opening the hip of the raised leg toward the ceiling: point the toes of the back foot at the floor.
  • Rushing the reps to stay balanced: a slow pace is easier to balance, not harder.

Swap for: Dumbbell B-Stance RDL, Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

Build a session with Single-Leg RDL

Hinge, staggered stance

Dumbbell B-Stance RDL

Hamstrings, Glutes

With your back foot resting on its toes beside the front heel, most of the load goes to the front leg, but the back foot keeps you steady. It sits between a regular and a single-leg Romanian deadlift, so you can load one leg heavily without fighting for balance.

How to do it

  1. Stand with one foot flat and the other a half step back on its toes, heel up, dumbbells hanging at your sides.
  2. Keep about 80 percent of your weight on the front foot.
  3. Hinge at the hips with a flat back, lowering the dumbbells along the front leg until your hamstring is fully stretched.
  4. Stand back up by driving the front hip forward, then switch the stance after the set.

Cues

  • Back foot is a kickstand
  • Hips back, chest long
  • Front knee soft, not bent deep

Common mistakes

  • Shifting weight onto the back foot as you tire: keep it light enough that you could lift it.
  • Twisting toward the front leg: keep both hips facing forward.

Swap for: Single-Leg RDL, Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

Build a session with Dumbbell B-Stance RDL

Hinge, lower back and hamstrings

Dumbbell Good Morning

Hamstrings, Lower Back

With the dumbbells at your shoulders instead of in your hands, the load sits far from your hips, so a light weight works your lower back and hamstrings hard. It is the hinge to use when your grip or dumbbells are the limit.

How to do it

  1. Hold a dumbbell on each shoulder, or one held across your upper chest, feet about hip-width.
  2. Soften your knees and push your hips back while your torso tips forward with a flat back.
  3. Lower until your torso is close to parallel with the floor or your hamstrings stop you.
  4. Drive your hips forward to come back up to standing.

Cues

  • Hips back first
  • Long, flat spine
  • Weight in the heels

Common mistakes

  • Rounding your upper back to get lower: the range ends where your back stops being flat.
  • Going heavy too soon: the long lever makes small dumbbells feel big. Start light.

Swap for: Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

Build a session with Dumbbell Good Morning

Lunges and split squats: one leg at a time

Single-leg work doubles the load on each leg with the same dumbbells, trains balance, and exposes a weaker side. Lunges that step back or across lean toward the glutes; split squats with a short stance lean toward the quads.

Single-leg, quads and glutes

Bulgarian Split Squat

Quads, Glutes

Raising the back foot puts almost all the work on the front leg, so it stays hard with modest dumbbells for years. Lean slightly forward for more glute, stay upright for more quad.

How to do it

  1. Rest your back foot, laces down, on a bench and step the other foot forward a long stride, dumbbells hanging at your sides.
  2. Sink straight down until the front thigh nears parallel and the back knee nearly touches the floor.
  3. Drive up through the front foot.
  4. Finish every rep on one leg before switching. Start with your weaker leg.

Cues

  • Most weight on the front foot
  • Straight down, straight up
  • Steady torso angle

Common mistakes

  • Bouncing off the back foot: it only keeps you balanced.
  • Wobbling side to side: widen your stance so your feet are not in line.

Swap for: Dumbbell Split Squat, Dumbbell Reverse Lunge

Build a session with Bulgarian Split Squat

Single-leg, glutes and quads

Dumbbell Reverse Lunge

Quads, Glutes

Stepping back keeps your front shin steep and your weight on the front heel, so it trains the glute and quad of the front leg while staying easy on the knees. It needs no bench and very little space.

How to do it

  1. Stand tall with dumbbells at your sides.
  2. Step one foot back and drop the back knee toward the floor, front shin close to vertical.
  3. Pause just short of the floor.
  4. Push through the front heel to bring the back foot forward to standing, then alternate legs.

Cues

  • Front heel heavy
  • Back knee down, not back
  • Tall between reps

Common mistakes

  • Pushing off the back foot: it should be almost weightless.
  • Stepping back too narrow and losing balance: leave a hip-width gap between your feet side to side.

Swap for: Bulgarian Split Squat, Step-Up

Build a session with Dumbbell Reverse Lunge

Single-leg, outer glutes

Dumbbell Curtsy Lunge

Quads, Glutes

Stepping the back leg behind and across makes the front glute control your hip as it rotates in, which trains the side of the glute that straight-line lunges miss. Keep it light and controlled.

How to do it

  1. Hold dumbbells at your chest with elbows bent, feet hip-width.
  2. Step one leg behind and across the other, as if crossing into a curtsy, and lower both knees.
  3. Stop when the front thigh is close to parallel and the back knee is near the floor.
  4. Drive through the front foot to return, and repeat on the other side.

Cues

  • Front knee over the front foot
  • Hips stay facing forward
  • Slow cross, strong push

Common mistakes

  • Crossing so far back that you twist your hips and knee: a short cross is enough.
  • Letting the front knee cave inward: keep it in line with the toes.

Swap for: Dumbbell Reverse Lunge, Dumbbell Lateral Lunge

Build a session with Dumbbell Curtsy Lunge

Single-leg, side to side

Dumbbell Lateral Lunge

Quads, Glutes, Adductors

A step to the side trains the quads and glutes of the bending leg while the inner thigh of the straight leg works and stretches. It covers the side-to-side movement every other exercise here skips.

How to do it

  1. Stand with feet together, holding the dumbbells by your thighs.
  2. Take a wide step to one side and sit your hips back over that foot, keeping the other leg straight.
  3. Lower until the bending thigh is close to parallel, with dumbbells either side of the front knee.
  4. Push back to the start and alternate sides.

Cues

  • Sit back, not down
  • Straight leg stays straight
  • Both feet point forward

Common mistakes

  • Bending forward instead of sitting back: the chest stays up and the hips move.
  • Letting the heel lift on the bending leg: shorten the step until it stays down.

Swap for: Dumbbell Curtsy Lunge, Goblet Squat

Build a session with Dumbbell Lateral Lunge

Hip thrusts and glute bridges

These move the hips with almost no knee travel, so the glutes do the lifting without the quads or lower back taking over. They are also where your glutes can handle your heaviest dumbbell, laid across the hips.

Bridge, glutes under the heaviest load

Dumbbell Hip Thrust

Glutes

With your upper back on a bench and a dumbbell on your hips, the glutes lift the load in their fully shortened position, and you can use your heaviest dumbbell here. It is the strongest direct glute exercise you can do with dumbbells.

How to do it

  1. Sit down with a bench behind you and your shoulder blades against its edge, a dumbbell resting across your hip crease.
  2. Plant your feet about hip-width, shins vertical at the top.
  3. Push the floor away with your heels until your hips rise level with your knees and shoulders.
  4. Squeeze your glutes for a second at the top, then lower your hips toward the floor and repeat.

Cues

  • Chin tucked, ribs down
  • Shins vertical at the top
  • Squeeze, then lower

Common mistakes

  • Arching your lower back to get the hips higher: stop where your glutes lock out.
  • Feet too far out: the hamstrings take over. Move them in until your shins are vertical.

Swap for: Dumbbell Glute Bridge, Single-Leg Hip Thrust

Build a session with Dumbbell Hip Thrust

Bridge, glutes from the floor

Dumbbell Glute Bridge

Glutes

The floor version of the hip thrust, for when you have no bench. The range is shorter, so use slow reps and a long squeeze at the top to make up for it.

How to do it

  1. Lie face up, feet flat and close to your hips, with a dumbbell across your hips held with both hands.
  2. Press your heels into the floor and lift your hips until your body makes a line from knees to shoulders.
  3. Hold the top with a hard two-second squeeze.
  4. Lower slowly until your hips almost touch the floor, then lift again.

Cues

  • Press through the heels
  • Ribs stay down
  • Long squeeze at the top

Common mistakes

  • Pushing from your lower back: you should feel it in the glutes, not the spine.
  • Resting on the floor between reps: stop an inch above it to keep tension.

Swap for: Dumbbell Hip Thrust, Single-Leg Glute Bridge

Build a session with Dumbbell Glute Bridge

Bridge, one glute at a time

Single-Leg Hip Thrust

Glutes

Lifting with one leg doubles the load on that glute, so a single dumbbell is plenty. It also shows quickly whether one side is doing more than the other.

How to do it

  1. Set up as for a hip thrust with your upper back on a bench and a dumbbell across the hip of the working leg.
  2. Lift the other foot off the floor, knee bent.
  3. Drive through the planted heel to lift your hips level until your torso and working thigh are in line.
  4. Pause, lower under control, and finish the side before switching.

Cues

  • Hips level, not tilting
  • Drive through the heel
  • Pause at the top

Common mistakes

  • Letting the hip of the raised leg drop: keep the pelvis level throughout.
  • Using the raised leg for momentum: keep it still.

Swap for: Dumbbell Hip Thrust, Single-Leg Glute Bridge

Build a session with Single-Leg Hip Thrust

Calves

Squats and lunges barely train the calves, so they need their own exercise. Stand on a step so your heels can drop below your toes.

Calves

Dumbbell Standing Calf Raise

Calves

Two dumbbells and a step under your feet are all your calves need. The step lets your heels drop below your toes for a stretched start.

How to do it

  1. Stand on the balls of your feet on a step, dumbbells by your sides, heels hanging off.
  2. Lower your heels until the calves are fully stretched, and pause there.
  3. Push up onto your toes as high as you can with straight knees.
  4. Hold the top briefly, lower slowly, and repeat.

Cues

  • Pause in the stretch
  • Up through the big toe
  • Knees straight

Common mistakes

  • Bouncing at the bottom: the tendon does the work. Pause.
  • Doing it flat on the floor: you lose the stretched half of each rep.

Swap for: Dumbbell Seated Calf Raise, Single-Leg Calf Raise

Build a session with Dumbbell Standing Calf Raise

Power and carries: swings, snatches and loaded walks

Fast hip extension and loaded walking train the lower body the way sport and daily life use it. They are full-body compound exercises that raise your heart rate, so they fit at the start of a session for power or at the end as conditioning.

Power, explosive hip hinge

Dumbbell Swing

Glutes, Hamstrings

A swing trains the hamstrings and glutes to extend the hips fast, which builds power and raises your heart rate in the same set. It is the conditioning tool of a dumbbell lower body session.

How to do it

  1. Hold one dumbbell by one end with both hands, feet wider than your shoulders.
  2. Hinge back so the dumbbell swings between your thighs, forearms brushing your inner legs.
  3. Snap your hips forward hard so the dumbbell floats up to chest height, arms straight and relaxed.
  4. Let it fall back between your legs, hinge to absorb it, and go straight into the next rep.

Cues

  • Hips throw, arms follow
  • Stand tall and squeeze at the top
  • Hinge, not squat

Common mistakes

  • Lifting the dumbbell with your arms: the hips send it up; the arms only hold on.
  • Squatting down instead of hinging back: keep the shins steep and push your hips toward the wall behind you.

Swap for: Kettlebell Swing, Cable Pull-Through

Build a session with Dumbbell Swing

Power, floor to overhead in one move

One-Arm Dumbbell Snatch

Shoulders, Glutes

The snatch starts as a jump and ends with the dumbbell locked out overhead, so your legs and hips produce the speed and your upper body only guides it. It is a fast, total-body compound for power and conditioning.

How to do it

  1. Stand with feet about shoulder-width, the dumbbell standing between your feet, and squat down to grip it with one hand.
  2. Drive through your legs and hips explosively, as if jumping, pulling the weight up tight along your body.
  3. As it passes your chest, punch your arm up and drop under it so the dumbbell lands overhead with a straight arm.
  4. Lower it to your shoulder, then back to the floor, and repeat. Switch hands each set.

Cues

  • Jump, then punch
  • Dumbbell close to the body
  • Lock out overhead

Common mistakes

  • Pulling with the arm first: the legs start it; the arm only steers.
  • Letting the dumbbell arc away from you: it should rise in a straight line close to your body.

Swap for: Dumbbell Swing

Build a session with One-Arm Dumbbell Snatch

Carry, legs, grip and core

Dumbbell Suitcase Carry

Abs, Quads

Walking with one dumbbell at your side forces your trunk and hips to resist leaning, while your legs and grip carry the load. It finishes a lower body session with core work that needs no extra exercise.

How to do it

  1. Pick up one heavy dumbbell and hold it at your side with a straight arm.
  2. Stand tall with your shoulders level.
  3. Walk with short, steady steps without leaning toward or away from the dumbbell.
  4. Set it down after the distance, switch hands, and walk back.

Cues

  • Shoulders level
  • Tall like a string pulls your head up
  • Short, quiet steps

Common mistakes

  • Leaning away from the dumbbell to balance it: that is the movement you are training to resist.
  • Letting the dumbbell bump your leg: keep it just off the side of your thigh.

Swap for: Farmer's Walk

Build a session with Dumbbell Suitcase Carry

Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in. Open one in the session builder to change a pick, price it from a recent set, and add it to RIRLift.

Session 1

A pair of dumbbells and a bench, two lower body days

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets27 a week
  • Per workout~35 min
  • EquipmentDumbbells

You train an upper/lower split at home or in a gym with dumbbells and a bench, and you want two lower body days that cover every muscle.

Day A leads with a squat and a hinge, Day B with a hip thrust and a single-leg hinge, so each day has its own main lift and nothing is trained hard twice in a row. Each day adds a single-leg exercise and a calf or lateral exercise. Main lifts run at 2 reps in reserve for clean form; the rest at 1. Day A is 14 hard sets and Day B is 13.

Lower A
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Goblet Squat1 warm-up set firstHeaviest dumbbell you own. 4 × 8–12 2 2 min
Dumbbell Romanian DeadliftStop at mid-shin. 3 × 8–12 2 2 min
Bulgarian Split SquatPer leg. 3 × 8–12 1 90 s
Dumbbell Standing Calf RaiseOn a step. 4 × 10–20 1 1 min

Open Lower A in the session builder

Lower B
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Dumbbell Hip Thrust1 warm-up set first1 s squeeze at the top. 4 × 8–15 2 2 min
Single-Leg RDLPer leg. Opposite hand. 3 × 8–12 1 90 s
Dumbbell Reverse LungePer leg. 3 × 8–12 1 90 s
Dumbbell Lateral LungePer side. 3 × 8–12 1 1 min

Open Lower B in the session builder

How to run it
Do Lower A and Lower B on two days each week, with your upper body days in between. Warm up with one light set of each session's first exercise.
How to progress
Add reps until every set reaches the top of its range at the target reps in reserve, then move up one dumbbell size. On single-leg exercises, add reps on the weaker side first.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

20 minutes, one pair of dumbbells, no bench

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets42 a week
  • Per workout~25 min
  • EquipmentDumbbells

You have about 20 minutes, one pair of dumbbells and floor space, and you want to train your lower body three times a week.

Short sessions work if every minute has work in it, so the exercises are paired: a swing with a reverse lunge, then a glute bridge with a curtsy lunge, then calves. Pairing a power move with a strength move keeps the heart rate up without either one getting sloppy. Swings stop at 2 reps in reserve to keep the snap; everything else at 1. About 11 hard sets in 20 minutes.

Lower 20
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
A1 Dumbbell SwingSuperset with reverse lunges. 3 × 12–20 2 30 s
A2 Dumbbell Reverse LungePer leg. 3 × 8–12 1 1 min
B1 Dumbbell Glute Bridge2 s squeeze at the top. 3 × 12–20 1 30 s
B2 Dumbbell Curtsy LungePer side. 3 × 8–12 1 1 min
Dumbbell Standing Calf RaiseOn a step or stair. 2 × 12–20 1 45 s
How to run it
Do the session three times a week on non-consecutive days. Go through each pair back to back, rest the time shown, and repeat for all sets.
How to progress
Add reps first. When every set reaches the top of its range, shorten the rest by 15 seconds before going heavier.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

One heavy dumbbell only

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets30 a week
  • Per workout~40 min
  • EquipmentDumbbells

You own a single heavy dumbbell, such as a 20 to 32 kg one, and want a full lower body session out of it.

One dumbbell limits two-handed exercises, so this plan uses the moves that need only one: the goblet squat, a single-leg Romanian deadlift held in the opposite hand, a single-leg hip thrust with the dumbbell on the working hip, the snatch for power, and a suitcase carry. The snatch comes first while you are fresh and stays at 3 reps in reserve so speed never drops; strength exercises stop at 1 to 2. That is 15 hard sets.

One-Dumbbell Lower
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
One-Arm Dumbbell SnatchPer arm. Fast, crisp reps. 3 × 5–8 3 90 s
Goblet Squat3 s down. 4 × 8–15 1 90 s
Single-Leg RDLPer leg. Opposite hand. 3 × 8–12 1 90 s
Single-Leg Hip ThrustPer leg. Couch or bench. 3 × 10–15 1 1 min
Dumbbell Suitcase CarrySteps per hand. 2 × 20–40 2 1 min
How to run it
Do it twice a week. Use a couch or sturdy chair for the hip thrust if you have no bench. Walk the carry for about 20 steps a hand per set.
How to progress
With a fixed dumbbell, add reps until you reach the top of every range, then slow the lowering to three seconds. On the carry, add steps until you reach 40 per hand.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

What are the best dumbbell lower body exercises?

The goblet squat, the dumbbell Romanian deadlift, the Bulgarian split squat or reverse lunge, the dumbbell hip thrust, and the standing calf raise. That is one exercise for each movement, and together they train every muscle in your lower body.

How do you target your legs with dumbbells?

Choose the exercise by the muscle: squats and short-stance split squats for quads, Romanian deadlifts for hamstrings, hip thrusts and reverse lunges for glutes, and calf raises for calves. Then take each set close to failure, ending 1 to 2 reps short. Single-leg versions make light dumbbells heavy enough.

Are 4 exercises enough for leg day?

Yes, if they cover a squat, a hinge, a single-leg exercise and either a hip thrust or calf raise. Three to four hard sets each, twice a week, is around 24 to 32 weekly sets for the lower body, enough for most people to grow.

What are the 5 best leg exercises with dumbbells?

Goblet squat, Romanian deadlift, Bulgarian split squat, hip thrust, and standing calf raise. The pair-and-bench plan on this page is built around them.

How do you train your lower back with dumbbells?

With hinges: the Romanian deadlift, the single-leg Romanian deadlift, and the good morning. In each, your lower back holds your spine flat while your hips move, which is how it works in daily life. Two to three hard sets a week is enough on top of squats and lunges.

What are some good compound exercises with dumbbells?

For the lower body: the goblet squat, Romanian deadlift, Bulgarian split squat, reverse lunge, swing, and one-arm snatch. The snatch and swing also train your upper body and raise your heart rate, and the suitcase carry adds grip and core.

Can you build your lower body with dumbbells only?

Yes. Muscle grows from hard sets near failure, not from barbells. Single-leg exercises and slow tempos keep dumbbells hard for a long time; you only run out when your heaviest pair stops making 20 single-leg reps hard.