Exercise Library
Reverse Lunge
Starting with feet hip to shoulder width, step one foot back far enough to move down into a deep lunge with the front shin approximately vertical.
Keep the trunk upright and balance approximately evenly on the two feet at the bottom of the motion.
You can alternate legs rep to rep, or complete all reps on one leg before switching to the other.
Notes
Many athletes try to load lunges too heavily and lose the position in which the exercise will be most effective. If you can’t maintain a controlled descent into the bottom of the lunge, maintain an upright trunk, and maintain balance between the feet, reduce the weight.
Purpose
The reverse lunge strengthens the legs and hips and improves hip stability with the unilateral effort, and can be used to improve strength and flexibility balance in the hips, correct imbalanced strength in the legs, improve the strength of the split position for the jerk, or for hypertrophy in addition to squatting. It generally emphasize the quads slightly more than a forward lunge.
Programming
Sets of 3-10 reps per leg are usually appropriate with weight that allows a full length step, smooth movement and no crashing into the bottom position. Light or unloaded lunges can be done with 15-20 reps as well if using them for work capacity or rehab.
Variations
The reverse lunge can be loaded in many ways, such as with a barbell in the clean rack position or overhead, dumbbells or kettlebells at the sides, on the shoulders or overhead, with a single dumbbell or kettlebell in any of those positions, or one of each.
Keep the trunk upright and balance approximately evenly on the two feet at the bottom of the motion.
You can alternate legs rep to rep, or complete all reps on one leg before switching to the other.
Notes
Many athletes try to load lunges too heavily and lose the position in which the exercise will be most effective. If you can’t maintain a controlled descent into the bottom of the lunge, maintain an upright trunk, and maintain balance between the feet, reduce the weight.
Purpose
The reverse lunge strengthens the legs and hips and improves hip stability with the unilateral effort, and can be used to improve strength and flexibility balance in the hips, correct imbalanced strength in the legs, improve the strength of the split position for the jerk, or for hypertrophy in addition to squatting. It generally emphasize the quads slightly more than a forward lunge.
Programming
Sets of 3-10 reps per leg are usually appropriate with weight that allows a full length step, smooth movement and no crashing into the bottom position. Light or unloaded lunges can be done with 15-20 reps as well if using them for work capacity or rehab.
Variations
The reverse lunge can be loaded in many ways, such as with a barbell in the clean rack position or overhead, dumbbells or kettlebells at the sides, on the shoulders or overhead, with a single dumbbell or kettlebell in any of those positions, or one of each.
