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Lunges
It's the exercise that reveals fastest when one leg is doing its own thing. It works one leg at a time, makes you keep your balance and needs very little equipment: your own bodyweight is already a challenge.
What it works
- Quads and glutes of the front leg, which do most of the work
- Hamstrings and adductors, holding your hips steady
- Abs and ankles, working to keep your body from wobbling
How to do it
- 1Stand tall
Feet hip-width apart, chest up, eyes forward. If you're holding dumbbells, let them hang at your sides.
- 2Take the step
A long step, not a short one: a short step sends all the work to your knee. Land heel first.
- 3Lower straight down
Lower your body, don't throw it forward. Your back knee almost touches the floor and your front knee ends up roughly over your ankle, with your shin almost vertical.
- 4Push through your front heel
Come up by pushing the floor with the heel of your front leg, without helping yourself with a tug from the back one.
- 5Come back and switch
Return to standing before the next one. You can alternate legs or do all of one side and then the other; doing them in a row on the same side is a lot more tiring.
The mistakes you see most
- Step too short. Your knee moves far forward, your heel lifts and all the weight goes to your knee. If you feel your knee and not your leg, take a longer step.
- Leaning forward. Your torso stays tall. If it falls forward, your lower back ends up doing the work.
- Banging your back knee on the floor. Lower under control until you're a finger's width from the floor. The bang adds nothing and your kneecap feels it.
- Starting with a lot of weight. It's a balance exercise. First no weight, then dumbbells, and only after that a barbell.
Variations
- Reverse. You step backward instead of forward. It usually feels better on the knees and it's easier to keep your balance.
- Walking. Moving forward across the room. It adds the work of stabilizing on every step; you need space.
- Bulgarian. With your back foot resting on a bench. It's the hardest version: almost all the weight goes to the front leg.
- Stationary (split squat). Without moving your feet, going up and down. The easiest one for learning the range of motion.
Frequently asked questions
Forward or backward?
Reverse lunges usually bother the knee less and are easier to control; forward ones demand more when you brake. If you're starting out or have a sensitive knee, start with reverse lunges.
Can my knee go past my toes?
It's not the sin it's been made out to be for years: it happens all the time when you walk down stairs. What does matter is that your step isn't so short that all the work ends up there, and that your knee doesn't cave inward.
Lunges or squats?
The squat moves more weight with both legs at once; the lunge works one at a time and corrects differences between sides. They complement each other.
How many reps?
Eight to twelve per leg usually works well. If you lose your balance before finishing the set, what's missing is technique, not weight.
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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