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Bodyweight walking lunges
No dumbbells or sandbag, just your bodyweight and the floor ahead. It's the lunge from station-based fitness races and from any leg warm-up: a long step, your back knee down, and on to the next one without stopping.
Bodyweight walking lunges with Nora. Nora and Hugo are our models, created with artificial intelligence, on a competition floor.
What it works
- Quads and glutes of the front leg, which lift you back up
- Hamstrings and adductors, holding your hips steady on every step
- Abs, calves and ankles, so you don't wobble as you move forward
How to do it
- 1Hands on your hips
Stand with your chest up and eyes forward. Hands on your hips help you notice if your hips twist, and that way your arms don't pull you around.
- 2A long step
Take a long step forward and land heel first. With a short step, your knee moves forward and takes on what your leg should be doing.
- 3Lower straight down
Lower your body toward the floor, not forward, with your torso tall. Your back knee reaches the floor and your front knee ends up roughly over your ankle.
- 4The knee touches, it doesn't slam
In station-based races your back knee has to touch the floor for the rep to count. Touching isn't slamming: lower under control and set it down gently.
- 5Stand up and move forward
Push through the heel of your front leg, stand up and bring the other leg forward for the next step. Each leg, once.
The mistakes you see most
- Step too short. It's the most common mistake once fatigue kicks in. If you feel your knee and not your thigh and glutes, take a longer step.
- Half reps. Dropping a few inches and walking on isn't a lunge. If you're counting reps, the good ones are the ones that reach the bottom.
- Dropping onto your knee. Hitting the floor adds nothing and your kneecap feels it. If braking is hard, go down more slowly or do fewer in a row.
- Walking a tightrope. Putting one foot right in front of the other makes you lose your balance. Keep your feet hip-width apart, as if they were on two rails.
- Torso falling forward. Your chest stays up the whole time. If it tips forward, your lower back ends up working for your legs.
Variations
- Stationary. Without moving forward: you step, lower and step back. You need less space, and it's easier for learning the range of motion.
- Reverse. You step backward. It usually feels better on the knee and it's easier to keep your balance.
- With a sandbag or dumbbells. Once you can do them clean and in a row with no weight, adding weight is the next step. Technique first, then load.
- Jumping. You switch legs in the air. Much more demanding on your heart and knees: only once the regular one is mastered.
Frequently asked questions
How many should I do?
To start, ten to twenty in total, counting both legs, over two or three sets. In station-based races you do a lot in a row, so the number goes up little by little, without losing technique.
Why hands on your hips?
So your arms do nothing: they neither help you push off nor throw you off balance. You can also put them behind your head, which forces you to keep your chest higher.
Does my knee have to touch the floor?
For a lunge to count in a station-based race, yes. In the gym, going down until it grazes the floor is enough. What matters is reaching the bottom under control, not dropping.
What if my knee hurts?
Try a longer step and reverse lunges, which usually bother it less. If the pain continues, get it checked before carrying on.
And to keep track of what you lift
In the Reverfit Workout app every exercise comes with its animation, and you log the weight and reps set by set, with what you did last time right in front of you. Free and with no ads.
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