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Exercise library · Quads

Bodyweight lunge

Lunge for the quads with your bodyweight.

How to do it

1 of 4

Hands on your hips, eyes forward

  1. Starting position

    Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart, hands by your hips and eyes forward.

  2. The movement

    Step forward, lower your back knee toward the floor, then push through your front foot to return to standing.

Most common mistake

Don't take too short a step, step farther forward so your front heel stays down and your knee tracks over your toes.

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Muscle group
Quads
Equipment
Bodyweight
Where
Home or gym
Logged as
Reps

Muscles worked

Your front leg's quads and glutes do the main work, with help from your inner thigh. When you step forward, the front leg first has to brake your body and then push it back, and that braking is why forward lunges tend to be felt more in the quads and knee than the reverse version. Your calf, the side of your hip and your trunk keep you balanced as the foot lands, while the back leg acts as a support. Without weights it rarely gets heavy for a trained person, but it teaches the movement and works anywhere.

Common mistakes

  • You land hard. Your foot thuds into the floor and your knee takes the jolt. Place the foot down softly, heel first and then the rest of the foot, and let the leg absorb your body.
  • You move forward instead of down. Many people shove the front knee a long way forward and forget to bend the back leg. Think of lowering the back knee straight towards the floor, so your body ends up midway between your feet.
  • You shuffle back. Without enough drive to get back in one go, you add a couple of extra small steps. Push off the front foot in one strong movement, and if you cannot yet, spend a few weeks on reverse lunges, which are easier to come out of.

Variations and alternatives

  • The bodyweight reverse lunge when you want more control, as your front foot stays in the same place throughout.
  • The backpack lunge makes the same movement heavier at home, with a packed rucksack on your back.
  • The dumbbell lunge when you train in a gym and want to load more than your body weight.

Sets and reps

Lunges without weight suit slightly higher reps: 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 20 reps per leg. You can alternate legs every rep or finish one side first. Alternating challenges your balance more, while back-to-back reps on one leg tire it out more. The guide to sets and reps covers how to choose a range.

Once you can do 20 reps per leg with good form, it is time to make the lunges harder: hold weights in your hands, wear a rucksack or lower more slowly. Small, steady increases over time are the basis of progressive overload.

Swap for

Taken, or missing the equipment? The same movement with something else.

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