Exercise Tutorial: Reverse Lunge
Table of Contents
What Is a Reverse Lunge
The Reverse Lunge is a bilateral body weight exercise that targets the quads, glutes and calves to build your lower body strength and tone your legs. This exercise is an effective alternative to Forward lunges with many benefits and is great for beginners or clients with joint problems as they require less balance and place less force on the knees.
How to Do a Reverse Lunge
Begin by standing up straight with your feet hip width apart, hands at your side or on your hips with your toes pointing forwards
Take a large step backwards, landing with the ball of your foot on the ground
Bend at knee and lower yourself down until your front thigh is parallel to the floor. Be sure that the weight of your front leg is over the midfoot and that your back knee does not touch the ground
Push through the front foot to return to a standing, bringing us back to our starting position.
Step back into a lunge with the opposite leg
Repeat for desired number of repetitions
Reverse Lunge Form
There are few cues you can use to help you achieve the proper Reverse Lunge Form.
Maintain a neutral spine (no rounding)
Keep your knee in line with your foot on the front stationary leg
Weight over the mid foot (avoid lifting the heels or toes)
Chest and head up while maintaining a forward gaze
Try to keep your hips square (avoid any dropping or shifting of the hips)
Reverse Lunge Benefits
There are many benefits to performing the Reverse Lunge including:
Improves lower body strength and muscular endurance
Doesn’t need equipment
Enhances stability
Can be incorporated into circuit training or HIIT workouts
Why Are Reverse Lunges Useful
The Reverse Lunge is useful because it’s a great lower body exercise that increases your strength, power and stability as well as challenges your coordination. It doesn’t require any equipment or a lot of space making it great exercise that can be performed anywhere for those who don’t have access to a gym or have limited space.
Reverse Lunge Muscles Worked
Reverse Lunge Variations
Dumbbell Reverse Lunge
To perform the Reverse Lunge with the addition of dumbbells, follow the same instructions as a conventional Reverse Lunge. The only difference is that you’re holding a dumbbell in each hand as you perform the exercise. Simply relax your arms and keep them to your sides during the movement. This is typically the first recommended progression to the conventional Reverse Lunge due to the increase in load to up the intensity.
Smith Machine Reverse Lunge
The Reverse Lunge can be progressed and performed on a Smith Machine. Simply add the desired weight onto the barbell of the machine or perform the movement with the barbell alone. Place the bar along the back of your shoulders and perform the Reverse Lunge as usual. Remember to keep the form cues in your mind as you perform the exercise
The Smith Machine is great for those who are wanting to up the intensity before moving onto a barbell exercise as it provides added stability and support compared to using a barbell alone.
Barbell Reverse Lunge
The Barbell Reverse lunge is a great variation that will challenge your balance and stability! I would recommend performing the Smith Machine Reverse Lunge beforehand to practice the movement with an added loaded and assistance. Once the Smith Machine Reverse Lunge is mastered, then try progressing to a Barbell Reverse Lunge. This variation is performed the same way as with the smith machine, this time we’re just stepping out of the rack. Take your time, ensure the bar is centered over the back our shoulders and keep your chest up so you’re not leaning forward or back too much.
TRX Reverse Lunge
The TRX Reverse Lunge can provide additional stability as you perform the exercise. Grab the handles of the TRX in your hands and step back until you feel tension on the band. With a slight bend in the elbows and perform the Reverse Lunge as you normally would.
Elevated Reverse Lunge
The Elevated Reverse Lunge, also commonly referred to as a Deficit Reverse Lunge, is performed the same way as the conventional variation. The only difference being that instead of starting on the ground. You start on an elevated surface such as a box or raised step or flat bench. This is another great variation for clients who want to further challenge themselves as it increases the range of motion and decreases the knee angle of the front leg.
Goblet Reverse Lunge
The Goblet Reverse is similar to that of our Goblet Squat, we perform the movement the same was the conventional exercise, we simply just add a hold to in front of our chest. Begin by holding a kettlebell or dumbbell in front of your chest with both hands and perform the Reverse Lunge as per usual.
Step Up to Reverse Lunge
The Step Up to Reverse Lunge is another great variation to try to up the intensity and further challenge your stability. It is performed exactly how it sounds. We begin by standing in front of a step or low box. With our right foot we’ll step up onto the step, placing all the weight on this foot while our left foot hovers in the air. We step back down onto the ground from the step with our left foot. This foot becomes our “front foot” or “weight bearing foot” as you immediately go into a Reverse Lunge by bringing your right leg back. Repeat this for the desired reps before switching to the left side.
Forward Lunge vs Reverse Lunge
The two lunge variations are actually quite similar to one another. They provide similar benefits as they target the same muscle groups, and will both provide value to your workout although, the Forward Lunge may target the quads a little more whereas the Reverse Lunge targets the glutes a little more. The main difference, being the obvious one, is the direction in which your leg goes to take a step before lowering into the lunge. With the Forward Lunge, we step forward, plant that front foot and lower into our lunge.
This position really challenges your stability as you load bearing foot isn’t in a fixed position throughout the movement. With the Reverse Lunge, we simply shift our weight to one foot, this becomes our stable leg and we take a step backwards. This lunge allows to keep most of the load on that front leg which can provide more stability and knee control for some clients. As a result, the Reverse Lunge actually places less stress on the knee joint and is recommended for any clients how have knee pain or joint problems.