Muscles worked
In the lunge, your front leg does most of the work. Your quads and glutes drive you back up, with help from your inner thigh. Your back leg supports you and gets a stretch across the front of the hip. Because you stand on one leg at a time, the muscles on the outside of your hip, your calves and your abs also work to keep you balanced. Leaning your upper body slightly forward gives your glutes more work. Staying upright and letting your front knee travel forward over your foot gives your quads more to do.
Common mistakes
- Front knee caving in. As you push back, your knee tends to drift towards the middle. Keep it pointing the same way as your toes, both on the way down and on the way up.
- Back knee hitting the floor. Dropping so your knee thuds into the floor removes control at the bottom. Lower until your knee is just above the floor and reverse there.
- Feet in a line. If your front foot lands directly ahead of the back one, it is like walking a tightrope. Keep roughly hip-width between your feet, as if standing on two tracks.
Variations and alternatives
- Bodyweight lunge: the same movement without dumbbells, if you are new or training at home.
- Reverse lunge: you step back instead of forward, which many people find easier to control.
- Walking lunge: you keep stepping forward with each rep, when you have floor space and want a tougher set.
- Bulgarian split squat: your back foot on a bench, a harder variation that puts even more on your front leg.
Sets and reps
Count reps per leg and do the same number on both sides. To build muscle, 6 to 12 reps per leg over 2 to 4 sets works well. Endurance sets of 12 to 20 reps per leg work too, and leave you out of breath. Very heavy sets of 3 to 5 reps are uncommon in lunges, because your balance and grip usually give out before your legs. The guide to sets and reps explains how to pick a range.
Start with your weaker leg, so it sets the number of reps. Add reps first and move up to heavier dumbbells once you reach the top of your range on every set. That is progressive overload in practice, and logging every set shows whether both legs are keeping up.