How to do the lunge
The lunge trains one leg at a time with little or no equipment. Good for evening out a weaker side and building balance alongside your squats.
The Helthy team · Updated · 5 min read
- Works
- Quads, Glutes
- Also works
- Hamstrings, Adductors
- Equipment
- Dumbbells or bodyweight
- Level
- Beginner
Lunges train each leg on its own, which squats and the leg press don't. That shows up weak sides, forces your hips and ankles to stabilize, and lets you work your legs hard with a pair of dumbbells or nothing at all. They're a great second leg exercise after a squat or press, and a reasonable main one if you train at home. The trade-off is balance: you can't load a lunge as heavily as a bilateral lift, and wobbling is part of the deal for the first few weeks.
How to do a lunge
- Stand tall with your feet hip width apart. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at your sides, or put your hands on your hips if you're using bodyweight. Take a breath and tighten your stomach.
- Take a long step forward. Around 2 to 3 feet (60 to 90 cm) for most people, landing heel first. Keep your feet hip width apart side to side, like you're standing on two train tracks rather than a tightrope.
- Lower your back knee toward the floor. Drop straight down, not forward. Stop when your back knee is an inch or two above the floor, with both knees bent to about 90 degrees.
- Check your position at the bottom. Your front shin is roughly vertical or slightly forward, your front heel is flat, and your torso is upright with your shoulders over your hips.
- Push through your front heel to return to standing. Drive yourself back to the start in one movement and breathe out as you do. Alternate legs, or finish all your reps on one side before switching.
The front leg should do most of the work. You'll feel your front quad and glute working hard, and a stretch at the front of your back hip. If you mostly feel your back leg or your front knee, check your step length.
Cues that help
"Drop the back knee straight down." Turns it from a lurch forward into a controlled lowering. It fixes most balance problems too.
"Train tracks, not a tightrope." Keeps your feet hip width apart so you don't wobble sideways.
"Push the floor away with your front heel." Stops you pushing off your toes and puts the work into your glute and quad. If that doesn't click, try "stand up through the front leg".
"Tall like a string is pulling your head up." Keeps your torso upright when the legs start to tire.
Common mistakes
Front knee shooting far past the toes. Some forward knee travel is normal and fine. The problem is when your front heel peels off the floor and your weight rolls onto the ball of your foot, so the knee is carrying the load instead of your whole leg. It almost always comes from a step that's too short. Take a longer step, keep your front heel planted, and let the knee move forward only as far as it can with the heel down.
Not stepping far enough. A short step crowds your front knee and makes the back leg do most of the work. You'll know it's too short if your back knee ends up almost beside your front heel rather than under your hip. Lengthen the step until both knees reach about 90 degrees at the bottom.
Leaning forward over the front leg. Your chest drops toward your thigh and your back does some of the work. A slight lean is fine and shifts a bit more work to your glutes, but folding over usually means the weights are too heavy or your core has switched off. Stay tall and use lighter dumbbells.
Knee caving in. The front knee drops inward as you push up. Think about pushing it slightly out over your little toes, and slow down until you can hold the line.
Slamming the back knee into the floor. Going down fast and bouncing off the floor is hard on the kneecap and takes tension off the muscle. Stop an inch or two short, or put a folded mat under the back knee while you learn.
Forward, reverse or walking?
We'd start most people with the reverse lunge (stepping back instead of forward). It's easier to balance, your front shin stays more vertical, and it's usually kinder to sensitive knees because you're not braking a forward step. The forward lunge is harder and trains that braking, which is useful but a bigger ask on your knees. The walking lunge chains forward lunges together across the room. It's the hardest of the three and best saved for once you're comfortable with the others.
Any of them trains your legs well. Pick the one that feels best and stick with it long enough to add weight.
Sets, reps and how much weight to use
Lunges work best at moderate reps: 3 sets of 8 to 12 per leg is a good default. Use a weight you could do 2 or 3 more reps with on each side. Rest about 90 seconds between sets, or longer if your breathing hasn't settled; these get tiring fast.
Start with bodyweight until you can do 3 sets of 12 per leg without wobbling. Then pick up light dumbbells, something like 10 to 20 lb (4 to 9 kg) each, and add weight once you hit the top of your rep range on both legs.
Here's roughly what people use for working sets:
| Bodyweight | beginner | intermediate | advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| 130 lb (59 kg) | 15 lb (7 kg) | 35 lb (16 kg) | 50 lb (23 kg) |
| 160 lb (73 kg) | 15 lb (7 kg) | 40 lb (18 kg) | 65 lb (29 kg) |
| 190 lb (86 kg) | 20 lb (9 kg) | 50 lb (23 kg) | 75 lb (34 kg) |
| 220 lb (100 kg) | 20 lb (9 kg) | 55 lb (25 kg) | 90 lb (41 kg) |
| 250 lb (113 kg) | 25 lb (11 kg) | 65 lb (29 kg) | 100 lb (45 kg) |
If one leg is clearly weaker, start each set on that side and match the reps on the stronger one. Helthy can log left and right sides as separate sets on Premium, which makes it easy to see whether the gap is closing.
Variations and alternatives
- Reverse lunge: step back instead of forward. Easier to balance and usually easier on the knees.
- Static split squat: feet stay in place and you just move up and down. The easiest way to learn the bottom position.
- Walking lunge: continuous steps forward. More conditioning and more balance.
- Bulgarian split squat: rear foot up on a bench. Harder, and puts more work on the front leg.
- Goblet squat: a two-legged swap if balance or a knee issue makes lunges hard for now.
Lunge questions
Are lunges bad for your knees?
Not for most people. If forward lunges bother your knees, switch to reverse lunges and make sure your front heel stays down. If the pain is still there after a couple of weeks of adjusting, get it looked at.
Should I alternate legs or do one side at a time?
Either works. Alternating is easier on balance and feels more natural. Doing all the reps on one side works that leg harder because it never gets a rest. We'd use one side at a time when you're trying to fix an imbalance.
Why am I so wobbly?
Usually your feet are in line with each other. Widen your stance side to side until they're hip width apart, and slow the lowering down to about 2 seconds.