This knee friendly leg workout is for the days your knees want a break but your glutes and hamstrings still want to work hard. 🔥
Strong Legs, Happy Knees, Done in 35 Minutes
No squats. No lunges. No jumping. Just 35 minutes of focused lower-body strength designed to build stronger glutes and hamstrings while giving your knees a break from deep bending.
We start standing with heavier bilateral hinge movements so you can really challenge the posterior chain. From there, we move into targeted single-leg work and booty band exercises to train each side independently and fire up the side glutes.
Then it’s down to the floor for a concentrated glute circuit before finishing with a short, spicy burn.
If your knees aren’t loving traditional leg days right now, or you simply want another way to train your lower body, this knee friendly leg workout is a seriously effective option.
Grab your dumbbells, mini band and something sturdy to hold onto, and let’s get into it.
What You’ll Gain From This Knee Friendly Leg Workout
- ✔️ A complete lower-body workout in 35 minutes, including warm up and cool down
- ✔️ Zero squats, zero lunges and zero jumping
- ✔️ Heavy hinge work to build strength through your glutes and hamstrings
- ✔️ Single-leg exercises to challenge balance, stability and side-to-side strength
- ✔️ Booty band work to target your outer glutes and smaller stabilising muscles
- ✔️ A focused floor circuit and short finisher to completely fatigue the glutes
Workout Overview
| ⏱ Duration | 35+ minutes including warm up and cool down |
| 🔥 Calories | I burned around 259 |
| 🏋️ Equipment | Light, medium and heavy dumbbells, mini band, chair or wall |
| 💪 Focus | Glutes and hamstrings |
| 📊 Level | All levels, fully scalable |
| 🎯 Format | 3 blocks plus a finisher, 2 rounds each |
Why This Knee Friendly Leg Workout Format Works
Heavy hinge work builds serious lower-body strength. You don’t need squats and lunges to train your legs effectively.
Hip-hinge movements such as RDLs, good mornings and deadlifts place more emphasis on the glutes and hamstrings while requiring less deep knee flexion than traditional squat-based exercises.
Because the first block uses both legs together, you can generally handle more load and focus on building strength while you’re still fresh.
Bilateral first, unilateral second. Once the heavier work is done, we shift into single-leg exercises.
Training one side at a time makes it much harder for your stronger side to take over and adds an extra balance and stability challenge.
The booty band work then targets the outer glutes and hip muscles that don’t always get as much attention during the heavier lifts.
Using a chair or wall for support is encouraged. The goal is to load the muscles you’re trying to train, not win a balance competition.
Floor work lets you focus purely on the glutes. Once we hit the floor, balance is taken out of the equation and the focus shifts entirely to glute contraction.
Frog pumps, weighted bridges and banded movements give you a chance to really slow things down, squeeze hard and accumulate more time under tension without adding extra stress through the knees.
Then we finish with a short 20/10 block so you can push hard without turning this knee friendly leg workout into an endurance marathon.
The Full Knee Friendly Leg Workout
Complete each block of this knee friendly leg workout for 2 rounds using the work and rest intervals listed.
Warm Up
1️⃣ Butt Kicks
2️⃣ Hamstring Sweeper
3️⃣ Lateral Leg Swing (L)
4️⃣ Lateral Leg Swing (R)
5️⃣ Plank Walk Out
Block 1 | Standing Posterior Chain · 2 Rounds · 45s work / 15s rest
1️⃣ RDL | 12.5kg/27.5 lbs
2️⃣ Good Morning | 12.5kg/27.5 lbs
3️⃣ Sumo Deadlift | 20kg/42 lbs
4️⃣ Hinge Swing | 8kg/17.5 lbs
Block 2 | Standing Unilateral + Booty Band · 2 Rounds · 35s work / 15s rest
1️⃣ Single Leg Deadlift (L) | 8kg/17.5 lbs
2️⃣ Single Leg Deadlift (R) | 8kg/17.5 lbs
3️⃣ Standing Abduction (R) | 8kg/17.5 lbs
4️⃣ Standing Abduction (L) | 8kg/17.5 lbs
5️⃣ Banded Donkey Kick (L)
6️⃣ Banded Donkey Kick (R)
Block 3 | Floor Glute Burn · 2 Rounds · 40s work / 15s rest
1️⃣ DB Frog Pumps | 20kg/42 lbs
2️⃣ DB Banded Glute Bridge | 20kg/42 lbs
3️⃣ Fire Hydrant Kick (L)
4️⃣ Fire Hydrant Kick (R)
Finisher · 2 Rounds · 20s work / 10s rest
1️⃣ Banded Glute Bridge Abduction
2️⃣ Banded Glute Bridge Hold
10 secs rest
3️⃣ Reverse Plank Crunch
4️⃣ Reverse Plank Hold
10 secs rest
Workout Complete 🔥 I burned 259 calories
Exercises Worth Calling Out
Sumo Deadlift. This is the heaviest movement of this knee friendly leg workout and a great place to challenge yourself.
The wider stance shifts plenty of work into the glutes, hamstrings and inner thighs without requiring the deep knee bend you’d get from a squat.
Think about pushing the floor away as you stand, keeping your core braced and finishing each rep by squeezing the glutes rather than leaning backwards.
Single Leg Deadlift. This is where balance, stability and side-to-side strength really come into play.
Keep your hips square to the floor and think about reaching your back leg long as the dumbbell lowers. If balance is limiting how much you can challenge the working leg, use the chair or wall.
More stability usually means better glute and hamstring loading.
DB Frog Pumps. Short range. Big glute burn.
Bring the soles of your feet together, allow the knees to fall out and place a dumbbell across your hips. Drive the hips up, squeeze hard at the top and control the lowering phase.
Don’t rush these. The squeeze is the exercise.
Trainer Tips
- ✔️ Set out your dumbbells, mini band and chair before you press play: 15 seconds of rest disappears quickly
- ✔️ During hinge movements, think hips back rather than body down
- ✔️ Keep a soft bend through the knees instead of turning your hinge into a squat
- ✔️ Use the chair or wall during single-leg work if it helps you load the target muscles more effectively
- ✔️ Choose a mini band you can control through the entire range rather than automatically reaching for the heaviest one
- ✔️ Slow the banded movements down and keep constant tension instead of chasing speed
- ✔️ If a movement causes knee pain rather than normal muscular effort, reduce the range, lower the load or choose another exercise
Who This Knee Friendly Leg Workout Is Perfect For
This knee friendly leg workout is a great choice if squats and lunges aren’t feeling good right now but you still want to train your lower body properly.
Maybe your knees are feeling a little cranky. Maybe you’re returning to training after a break. Or maybe you simply want more variety in your leg days and would rather put the emphasis on your glutes and hamstrings.
This knee friendly leg workout is also a great option when you want a focused lower-body workout that doesn’t require loads of equipment or a full hour in the gym.
If you’re dealing with an existing injury, significant pain or a diagnosed knee condition, check with your physio or healthcare professional before starting.
Save This Workout
I’ve made you a workout card for this knee friendly leg workout so you can keep track of the weights you use and come back to the session again.
Fill it in on screen and save it to your device, or print it out and write your weights in by hand.
👉 Knee Friendly Leg Day Workout Card | Interactive PDF
What to Try Next
- 👉 35 Minute Knee Friendly Workout (Standing Strength + Cardio)
- 👉 Dumbbell Leg Day at Home
- 👉 Low Impact Strength Workout
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this knee friendly leg workout suitable during perimenopause?
Yes. Strength training is particularly valuable during perimenopause because maintaining muscle and bone strength becomes increasingly important.
This knee friendly leg workout gives you a way to challenge the glutes and hamstrings with heavier resistance while avoiding squats and lunges if those movements aren’t feeling great for you.
What weight dumbbells should I use?
I used 2 x 8kg/17.5 lbs, 2 x 12.5kg/27.5 lbs and 1 x 20kg/42 lbs.
Use those numbers as a reference, not a prescription. Choose a load that allows you to maintain good form while making the final part of each interval feel genuinely challenging.
Can I do this knee friendly leg workout as a beginner?
Yes. Use lighter dumbbells or bodyweight, hold onto the chair during single-leg work and take additional rest whenever you need it.
You can also complete one round of each block initially and build up from there.
How many calories does this knee friendly leg workout burn?
I burned approximately 259 calories during the workout, but your calorie burn will vary based on your body size, training intensity, fitness level and the weights you use.
Treat calorie burn as an interesting data point rather than the goal of the session.
How often should I do this knee friendly leg workout?
Once or twice per week can work well as part of a balanced strength-training routine.
Give the glutes and hamstrings enough time to recover before training them hard again, particularly if you’re using challenging weights.
Do I need a gym?
No. All you need is a selection of dumbbells, a mini band and a chair or wall for support.
Can I do this knee friendly leg workout without a booty band?
Absolutely. You can perform the band exercises with bodyweight and slow the movements down to create more tension.
If you do have a band, even a relatively light one can add a lot to the glute isolation work.
Short, focused and still a proper leg day.
Press play, give the glutes and hamstrings your full attention, and when you’re finished, drop a comment on YouTube and tell me which move lit them up the most. 🔥
Consistency over intensity. Strong and energised, not exhausted. Always.
Penny x
