What is a Reverse Lunge?

A reverse lunge is a lower-body exercise that you can use as an alternative to traditional lunges to target your glutes, hamstrings, quads, and core. As the name suggests, you step backward into your lunge to improve your balance and stability rather than stepping forward. Incorporating reverse lunges into your workout routine can enhance lower body strength, stability, and overall fitness.

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How-to Do Reverse Lunge

Stand with your body upright and hands on your hips. Your feet should be hip-width apart.
Step backward with one leg and lower your body until your back knee comes in contact with the floor. Keep your torso upright and maintain balance.
Step forward into the starting position.

Muscle Worked

Primary Muscle Groups

Hamstrings

The hamstrings flex your knees and extend and rotate your hips

Glutes

The glutes help you extend your thighs from the hips and drive you forward.

Quads

"Quads" refers to your quadriceps femoris muscles which flex your leg from the hip joint and extend your leg from the knee joint.

Secondary Muscle Groups

Adductors

The adductors are the muscles on the insides of your thighs that move your legs toward the midline of your body

Calves

The calves are the muscles at the back of the lower part of your legs

Pro Tips

Use Your Front Heel- Drive through the heel of your front foot when you’re coming back up to the starting position. This ensures your glutes and hamstrings are firing properly and doing most of the work, rather than overloading your knee or back.
Let Your Core Assist- Engage your core and hold your body upright during your reverse lunges. This helps you keep your balance and stops you from leaning forward or knocking yourself off center.
Don’t Rush- Always control your movement. Step back slowly and lower your body down consciously to target the muscles you intend to more effectively and avoid getting injured.

Benefits of Reverse Lunge

Joint-Friendly- Reverse lunges put less strain on your knees compared to forward lunges. Because you’re stepping backward, your front knee stays more stable. If you have known knee problems or you’re conscious of keeping your knees safe due to age or injury, this makes it a safer option for your knee issues.
Balance and Coordination- Like they say, out of sight, out of mind. Stepping backward gives you an extra balance challenge since you can’t see what your foot is doing in space. This is a great way to build up your proprioceptive ability or your body’s ability to sense its position. Reverse lunges are great for training your balance and building strength in the small stabilizing muscles in your core and legs. Over time, this improves your coordination and you can translate this ability to sports or everyday movements.
Strengthens Lower Body- Reverse lunges are a great way to improve your single-leg strength. They’re a type of what’s known as “unilateral training,” meaning to work the sides of the both independently. This is a good way to grow your glutes, hamstrings, and quads, building strength and definition and correcting muscular imbalances.

Warm Up & Cool Down

Warm Up

Bodyweight Squats: Do 10–15 slow and controlled bodyweight squats, sending your hips back to drop your seat with feet hip-distance apart or wider. Keep your chest up and make sure your knees are tracking over your toes.
Hip Flexor Stretch: Lunge one foot forward and press your hips forward for a hip flexor stretch. Raise your arms over your head to challenge your balance and work your core, leaning right, then switching to the left side. Hold for 15–20 seconds on each side.
Leg Swings: Hold onto a wall for balance and swing one leg forward and back mindfully. Aim for at least 10–12 swings per leg to loosen your hips and hamstrings.

Cool Down

Hamstring Stretch: Sit on the floor. Stick one leg out in front of you and bend the other. Reach toward your toes of the extended leg and hold the stretch for 20–30 seconds on each side.
Figure Four Stretch: Lie on your back, cross one ankle over your opposite knee, and pull the bottom leg toward your chest. Hold your stretch for 20–30 seconds on each side. This will help release any tension in the glutes and hips from lunging.
Child's Pose: Kneel on the floor, sit your hips back toward your heels, and extend your arms forward. Hold this position for 20–30 seconds to relax the lower back and stretch the hips.

FAQs

If you find it hard to “blind balance” or not be able to see where your lunging foot is going in space, focus harder on keeping your core tight, eyes forward (pick a spot on the wall to look at), and feet slightly wide. Think about standing on train tracks, rather than a tightrope. Your feet should be about a hip distance apart. You can also hold onto something sturdy like a chair or wall, while you practice.