# Legs and Glutes Without Any Gear

A simple lower-body session covering squat, single-leg, and hinge patterns using nothing but bodyweight.

- URL: https://formaroutines.com/routines/legs-and-glutes-without-gear/
- Duration: About 7 min
- Admin slug: legs-and-glutes-without-gear

## Before you start

Move gently and stop if you feel sharp pain, dizziness, numbness, or symptoms that feel unsafe. This routine is general fitness guidance, not medical care.

## Exercises

### 1. Bodyweight Squat

2 sets · 12 reps · 30s rest

Go only as deep as you can keep the heels down and the chest tall. Depth improves on its own.

#### Steps
- Stand tall with feet shoulder-width apart and your toes pointed slightly outward.
- Brace your core, lift your chest, and extend your arms straight out for balance.
- Sit your hips back and down as if lowering into a chair, keeping your weight in your heels.
- Lower until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor, with knees tracking over your toes.
- Keep your chest tall and your spine neutral throughout the descent — no rounding at the bottom.
- Drive through your heels to stand back up, squeezing your glutes hard at the top of the rep.

#### Cues
- Sit between the heels.
- Chest stays tall.
- Drive up evenly.

#### Common mistakes
- Letting the knees cave inward, which weakens the squat and loads the knee joint badly.
- Squatting straight down instead of sitting the hips back, which puts all the work on the knees.
- Lifting the heels off the floor at the bottom, which kills balance and reduces glute drive.
- Cutting the depth short and squatting only halfway — robs the lift of glute and quad work.

### 2. Forward Lunge

2 sets · 8 reps · 30s rest · both sides

Step forward, pause a moment, then push back to standing. Hold a wall for balance if you need it.

#### Steps
- Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart, hands on your hips or relaxed at your sides.
- Step forward with one leg into a long stride, landing softly on the heel and rolling onto the foot.
- Lower your back knee straight down toward the floor until both knees form roughly 90-degree angles.
- Keep your torso upright with your front knee tracking over your front foot at the bottom.
- Push through the front heel to drive yourself back up and step the front foot back to the start.
- Alternate legs each rep or finish all reps on one side before switching, depending on the program.

#### Cues
- Step and settle.
- Front knee over foot.
- Push back tall.

#### Common mistakes
- Letting the front knee cave inward, which strains the knee and shifts work away from the glutes.
- Taking too short a step forward, forcing the front knee to push way past the toes and stressing the joint.
- Leaning the torso forward over the front leg, which loads the lower back instead of the legs.
- Slamming the back knee into the floor instead of stopping just above it under control.

### 3. Bodyweight Deadlift

2 sets · 10 reps · 25s rest

Push the hips back with a long spine and feel the hamstrings load. Keep the range short and comfortable.

#### Steps
- Stand tall with feet hip-width apart, arms hanging loose at your sides, and your core lightly braced.
- Push your hips back as if closing a car door with your butt, letting your knees bend just slightly.
- Hinge forward at the hips with a flat back and let your hands slide down the front of your thighs.
- Lower until you feel a strong stretch in your hamstrings and your torso is roughly parallel to the floor.
- Drive through your heels and squeeze your glutes hard to stand back up to a tall position.
- Lock out at the top by squeezing the glutes — do not lean back, just stand fully upright.

#### Cues
- Hips travel back.
- Spine stays long.
- Squeeze to stand.

#### Common mistakes
- Squatting down instead of hinging back, which removes the hamstring stretch entirely.
- Rounding the lower back as you bend forward, which is the exact pattern a hinge teach should fix.
- Bending the knees too much, which turns the lift into a half-squat instead of a clean hinge.
- Hyperextending the back at the top instead of finishing in a tall, neutral standing position.