All you need to do your body some good is a little time.

Image Credit: Manu Padilla/Stocksy

There’s a good reason they say don’t skip leg day. Your lower body is an integral part of your overall fitness, and the muscles in your legs help create a strong, stable foundation and can boost power and strength and maximize athletic performance.

Body-weight workouts are just as effective (if not more) than your standard workout with weights. That’s because body-weight exercises help you focus on form, increase stability and can help prevent injury.

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And while it may not seem like enough time, you can get a lot of benefits from 15-minute workouts: An October 2022 review in the ‌European Heart Journal‌ found that just 15 to 20 minutes of vigorous activity a week was associated with a lower risk of death in older adults.

15-Minute Lower-Body Body-Weight Workout

Perform each exercise for 45 seconds each with a 15 second recovery before beginning the next exercise. Repeat the sequence once.

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1. Good Morning

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Time45 Sec

ActivityBody-Weight Workout

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart, and place your hands at the back of your head with your elbows opened wide.
2. Pull your abs to your spine, hinging forward and pressing your hips back behind you, until your back is almost parallel to the floor.
3. Return to your starting position, squeezing your glutes at the top.

Show Instructions

2. Squat

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Time45 Sec

ActivityBody-Weight Workout

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart, and place your hands at the back of your head with your elbows opened wide.
2. Keep your chest up, feet flat on the floor and begin to bend your knees and sit your hips back as if you’re going to sit down in to a chair.
3. Once your thighs are parallel with the floor, pause for a moment, then press through your heels to return to standing, squeezing your glutes as you stand.

Show Instructions

3. Alternating Side Lunges

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Time45 Sec

ActivityBody-Weight Workout

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and a slight bend in your knees.
2. Step your right foot out laterally to the side.
3. Keeping your left leg straight, bend your right knee and sit your glutes back like you’re trying to sit in a chair behind you.
4. Press off your right foot and return to standing.
5. Repeat on the other leg and continue alternating.

Show Instructions

4. Reverse Lunge to Supported Single-Leg Deadlift (Right Side)

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Time45 Sec

ActivityBody-Weight Workout

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Hinge slightly at your waist and extend your left leg back behind you.
3. Drop your left knee down toward the ground, press off from your left foot and return to stand.
4. Then, tuck your left toe slightly staggered behind the right heel.
5. Pull your abs to your spine, hinging forward and pressing your hips back behind you, until your back is almost parallel to the floor.
6. Return to your starting position, squeezing through your right glute at the top.
7. Repeat.

Show Instructions

Want to make this combo move more challenging? Try lifting your back leg fully off the floor during the deadlift portion to do a full single-leg deadlift.

5. Curtsy Lunge (Right Side)

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Time45 Sec

ActivityBody-Weight Workout

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Without rotating your hips, lift your left leg and take a big diagonal step back, crossing it behind your right leg.
3. Keep your chest tall and your hips and shoulders square.
4. Bend both knees and slowly lower down toward the floor.
5. Once your back thigh is parallel with the floor, stand back up and return to your starting position.
6. Repeat.

Show Instructions

6. Reverse Lunge to Supported Single-Leg Deadlift (Left Side)

00:0000:00

Time45 Sec

ActivityBody-Weight Workout

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Hinge slightly at your waist and extend your right leg back behind you.
3. Drop your right knee down toward the ground, press off from your right foot and return to stand.
4. Then, tuck your right toe slightly staggered behind the left heel.
5. Pull your abs to your spine, hinging forward and pressing your hips back behind you, until your back is almost parallel to the floor.
6. Return to your starting position, squeezing through your left glute at the top.
7. Repeat.

Show Instructions

7. Curtsy Lunge (Left Side)

00:0000:00

Time45 Sec

ActivityBody-Weight Workout

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Without rotating your hips, lift your right leg and take a big diagonal step back, crossing it behind your left leg.
3. Keeping your chest tall and your hips and shoulders square, bend both knees and slowly lower down toward the floor.
4. Once your back thigh is parallel with the floor, stand back up and return to your starting position.
5. Repeat.