How To Do & Muscles Worked

reverse lunges

Reverse lunges are a lower body squat pattern exercise that primarily target the quadriceps and glutes. They’re similar to forward lunges, but instead you step backward and have a trunk lean forward to emphasize the glutes more.

DIFFICULTY
Easy
Moderate
Challenging

Which Muscles Are Worked?

Diagram of primary and secondary muscles worked from Reverse lunges

Primary Muscles

Quads Hamstrings Glutes

Secondary Muscles

Calves Abs

Exercise Type

How to do reverse lunges Properly

Step by Step Guide

Begin standing with the feet together and your hands on your hips.

With one foot, take a large step backward as you lunge down bringing the back knee down toward the ground. At the same time, lean your torso forward slightly.

Once the back knee is about an inch off the ground, reverse the motion as you shift your weight toward the front leg and stand back upright with the feet together again.

Repeat for the desired repetitions, alternating legs.

Common Mistakes

A common mistake is not lunging down low enough. As you lunge, you want to go down in depth far enough that your back knee can touch the ground or be just an inch from it. This way you’re strengthening the entire lower body through a large range of motion and also improving how much load the tendons in the knees can tolerate.