An At-Home Lower-Body Resistance Band Workout From a Certified Personal Trainer

Resistance bands are a great strength training option when you don’t have the time or motivation to get up and go to the gym but still want to work out. Being portable, suitable for beginners to advanced exercisers, and inexpensive, resistance bands are a fantastic option for your at-home workouts.   

Let’s say you look at your workout program, and it’s a lower-body day, but you only have 30 minutes before you need to get ready for work. Well shoot. How can you get a great butt workout in just 30 minutes? 

Don’t worry: We have a lower-body resistance band workout for you and it’ll work your gluteus muscles along with the rest of your lower-body musculature with a variety of exercises. Here, we’ll go briefly into the different resistance bands, the best resistance band lower body workout, and descriptions of the leg exercises you’ll be doing. 

 Ready to build some sexy legs with bands? Then let’s go. 

 RELATED: A Complete Guide to Using Resistance Bands

Types of Resistance Bands for Lower-Body Workouts

There are three main types of resistance bands for your resistance band leg workout: ooped, handled, and mini bands are practical for your lower body workouts.

Long-Loop or Handled

Long-looped bands are usually 40 to 41 inches long, around 80 to 82 inches in total circumference. The beauty of these bands is that they are flat, easy to loop around your feet or upper body, and will stay in place during your lower- and upper-body exercises. Being looped, they can easily attach to a secure anchor point to train your body from various angles and you’ll hold one end of the band in your hand(s) for most exercises. 

Handled resistance bands are tubular, hollow in the middle, and usually 48 inches long, excluding the handles. They have the same benefits as a looped band, but the handles make these bands easier to hold than looped bands. Some lifters find looped bands uncomfortable to grip but not so with handled bands. 

Mini Band

Mini bands are typically 9-inch flat looped bands that are great for targeting the muscles of your thighs, glutes, and shoulders. You can loop them around your ankles, knees, and wrists to train the smaller muscles of the hips, shoulders, and glutes. These versatile bands are used for strength and balance and are added to exercises to give extra resistance, like around the knees during a barbell squat. 

RELATED: What Is Resistance Training?

Lower-Body Resistance Band Workout

This training will be performed in a circuit to save time and provide cardiovascular benefits. How many circuits you perform depends on how much time you have to train.  The rep range is a suggestion and can be changed to better suit your training goals. Here will focus on the glute, quadriceps, and hamstring muscle groups. 

Between the bands and your body weight, you’ll get a workout that will make you feel the burn. 

 1A. Banded Squats 12-15 reps

1B. Fire Hydrants 15-20 reps per side

1C. Banded Glute Bridge 12-15 reps

1D. Banded Deadlift 8-12 reps

1E. Kickbacks 15 reps on each side

1F. Lateral Banded Walk 15 reps on each side

 Rest a little between exercises and two minutes at the end of each circuit. 

How to Do Lower-Body Resistance Band Exercises

Here are the lower body exercises you’ll perform for the band workout above. The exercises are a mix of mini band and looped banded exercises; you’ll have a choice for some.  

Clamshells

Muscles Targeted: Gluteus maximus and gluteus medius

How to Do It: 

1. Place the mini band above your knees and lie on your side, propped up by your forearm with your knees bent at a 90-degree angle and your feet together. 
2. Squeeze your glutes to get your lower back straight and in a neutral position. 
3. Stay on your side and lift your top leg as high as possible. 
4. Pause at the top, slowly lower down, reset, and repeat.
5. Complete all repetitions on one side before switching.

Trainer Tip: Avoid using momentum when lifting your leg to ensure you feel your glutes working. 

Fire Hydrants

Muscles Targeted: Gluteus medius and anterior core

How to Do It: 

1. Place the mini band above your knees and get down on all fours with your hands shoulder-width apart.
2. With your hands underneath your shoulders and knees above your hips, lift your leg to the side.
3. Go as far as you can while keeping the lower back neutral (don’t arch it).
4. Return to the starting position, keeping your knee above the ground, and repeat.
5. Complete all the reps on one side before switching. 

Trainer Tip: Don’t tilt to one side when performing this exercise, because more range of motion is not better in this case. 

Glute Kickbacks

Muscles Targeted: Glute max, hamstrings, and lower back 

How to Do It: 

1. Place a mini band around your ankles and stand facing a wall at arm’s length.
2. Put your hands flat on the wall and soften the working knee.
3. Kick the left foot back, feeling a contraction in your glutes and hamstrings. 
4. Avoid leaning too far forward.
5. Return to that starting position with your foot off the ground and repeat for reps.
6. Finish all your reps on one side before switching to the right foot. 

Trainer Tip: Placing your hands on a wall gives you more stability, giving you a stronger muscle contraction in your glutes. 

Banded Squats

Muscles Targeted: Glutes, quads, hamstrings, calves, and anterior core 

How to Do It: 

1. Place the band under the middle of both feet and get in your starting squat position.
2. If you’re using a looped band, bring the band up over your upper arms with your elbows at shoulder level. If using a band with handles, bring the handles to shoulder height behind you.
3. Squat down until you reach your preferred squatting depth, keeping your shoulders down and chest up.
4. Stand up and finish with your glutes at lockout. Reset and repeat. 

 Trainer Tip: Don’t be shy to perform high reps for a muscle and heart pump. 

Banded Glute Bridges

Muscles Targeted: Glutes, hamstrings, and lower back

How to Do It: 

1. There are two ways to do this exercise. One is placing a mini band above the knees, and another is using a looped band that you put underneath both feet and place the band around your hips. 
2. Lie supine with your back on the floor, feet on the ground, and knees bent.
3. Extend your hips towards the ceiling until you reach full lockout. Be sure to feel it in your glutes and not your back. 
4. Pause, lower back down to the starting position, and reset and repeat. 

Trainer Tip: Add a three to five-second pause in the top position to put more muscle-building tension on the glutes. 

Banded Leg Lifts

Muscles Targeted: Hip flexors, quads, and glutes

How to Do It: 

1. Lie face up on the ground, with both legs straight, and loop the resistance band over the middle of your foot on your right leg.
2. Pull on the band until you feel the resistance in the working leg.
3. With the other leg straight and your back flush with the ground, raise the leg until the sole of your foot is facing the ceiling.
4. Lower down until your heel is on the ground, reset, and repeat. 

Trainer Tip: Don’t hurry through this exercise. Lower up and down with control to feel your leg muscles working.  

Lateral Banded Walk

Muscles Targeted: Gluteus minimus and medius (this exercise is sometimes called a monster walk)

How to Do It: 

1. Place a mini band around your ankles or a band underneath the middle of your feet.
2. Position your feet hip-width apart with your toes pointed forward and keep a soft bend in your knees.
3. Take a small step to your left and pick up your right foot to keep your feet hip-width apart.
4. Do all your reps to one side, then repeat to the other. 

Trainer Tip: It is essential to have both on your feet facing forward the entire time to feel the glute magic. Take only small steps to make this exercise more effective. 

Banded Deadlift

Muscles Targeted: Glutes and hamstrings

How to Do It: 

1. Place a looped band underneath the middle of both feet, grip both sides and stand up straight.
2. Keeping your chest up and shoulders down, push your hips back while feeling muscle activation in your hamstrings. 
3. When your hands reach knee height, hinge back up, and squeeze your glutes at the end of the movement. 
4. Reset and repeat for reps.

Trainer Tip: Hinge back slowly to keep your muscles under tension longer.

RELATED: How to Squat With Resistance Bands

Lower-Body Resistance Band Workout: Q&A

Shane McLean, CPT

Shane McLean is a certified personal trainer who’s worked with a wide variety of clients, from the general population all the way to ex-Navy Seals and college athletes. When he isn't training in his garage gym, he's drinking copious amounts of coffee while spreading the good word about health and fitness.

Further reading

How to Use Protein Powder: Creative Ways to Hit Your Daily Needs

by Caine Wilkes, OLY, USAW-L1

Tired of the same old protein shake? Check out some simple and creative ways on how to use protein powder. Read more

Why You Should Join a Fitness Community – Even if You Workout from Home 

by Cooper Mitchell

Even if you workout from home there are many reasons why you should join a fitness community. Here are a few Read more

Sole F80 vs F85: Small Differences Favor Different Users

by Stacey L. Nash, CPT

Resistance bands are a great strength training option when you don’t have the time or motivation to get up and go to the gym but still want to work out. Being portable, suitable for beginners to advanced exercisers, and inexpensive, resistance bands are a fantastic option for your at-home workouts.   Let’s say you look at your workout program, and it’s a lower-body day, but you only have 30 minutes before you need to get ready for work.  » Read more about: An At-Home Lower-Body Resistance Band Workout From a Certified Personal Trainer  » Read more

Tips to Understanding Your Target Heart Rate

by Shane McLean, CPT

What is target heart rate, and how do you calculate it? We answer your questions. Read more