How to train your legs for strength with the horse stance

If you don’t have a barbell and power rack at home, you can still train your legs for strength.

One exercise that I continue to implement in my training is the horse stance.

In fact, this will be my go-to leg exercise in the very near future as I recover from colon surgery, since I will not be able to do squats or other heavily loaded exercises for another six to eight weeks.

The horse stance is the base stance used for training legs within traditional martial arts systems such as kung fu and karate.

Initially, if you are completely untrained, you will build strength and muscle with this exercise.

Eventually, it turns into more of a muscle endurance exercise, unless you load it with weight as I demonstrate in the video below.

I like to load the horse stance with a pair of adjustable dumbbells.

Here is a good routine you can follow…

Set 1 – Hold the horse stance for 60 seconds, then rest for 60 seconds

Set 2 – Perform the horse stance while holding a 5 pound dumbbell in each hand and hold for 50 seconds, then rest for 60 seconds

Set 3 – Perform the horse stance while holding a 10 pound dumbbell in each hand and hold for 40 seconds, then rest for 60 seconds

Set 4 – Perform the horse stance while holding a 15 pound dumbbell in each hand and hold for 30 seconds, then rest for 60 seconds

Set 5 – Perform the horse stance with no weight, and hold for 60 seconds.

If you can get through each of these sets for the time indicated, the increase the weight for each set, including Set 1.

Check out the video below to learn more.