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If you’re working out at home or in a hotel gym, or the power rack is just occupied, you’re going to need a solid lower-body dumbbell workout in your arsenal. This circuit from trainer Jeremy Scott, creator of the Men’s Health Action Hero Jacked fitness series, will leave your legs quaking.
Here, Scott shows exactly how to hammer your quads, glutes, and hamstrings in three fundamental moves. You’ll be able to make strength and size gains with the series—not too shabby for a routine you can do just about anywhere.
First, you’ll crank out 10 dumbbell goblet squats. Focus on keeping an upright torso and your weight evenly distributed through your heels and balls of your feet. Don’t let your heels raise from the floor. If they start to lift off, shift your weight and consider not lowering quite as far into each rep. (The same pointers apply to the third exercise, too.)
Next up, you’ll perform 10 reps of dumbbell deadlifts. Make sure that you move slowly and controlled at all times, just like Scott does here. You also might notice that he goes crazy low with each rep, with his shoulders descending far below his hips at the bottom of each rep. You’ll want to be a bit more discerning when you take on the move. Focus on keeping your back straight, and descend until your torso is parallel to the ground or your back begins to round, whichever comes first.
For your third and last exercise, bottom-loaded squats, you’ll complete a full 20 reps. For a grip that will last you for the whole series, hold the weight with the fingers of both hands clasped around the handle and squeeze as hard as you can. In this exercise, you won’t rise all of the way to lockout with each rep. This is to both keep from whacking yourself in the crotch and increase your legs’ amount of time under tension.
Perform all three exercises, resting for a minute between each one, and then repeat the circuit for a total of five rounds.