This Lunge Variation Is Easy On Your Knees, but Still Effective. Here's How to Do It

Most of the time, exercises with the word “reverse” in the title can feel awkward. One major exception? Reverse lunges. This movement is generally easier to pull off—and kinder on the body—than forward lunges. Still, they’re incredibly effective at building lower body strength. 

That’s why Peloton instructor Jess Sims says reverse lunges are one of her go-to moves on leg day. “They are lower-pressure on the knees since you're shifting your weight back instead of forward,” she says.  

Read on to learn more about reverse lunges including how to do them correctly, what you can expect to get out of regularly incorporating them into your training program, and how to make them work best for you, no matter what level of challenge you’re looking for. 

What Is a Reverse Lunge?

A reverse lunge is a variation where, instead of stepping forward to get into the position, you step the working leg backwards, landing with both knees bent—the same position you hit at the bottom of a forward lunge or a split squat. Then you stand back up, bringing that back leg underneath you. It might sound simple, but you’ll feel it when the reps start adding up. 

Reverse Lunge Benefits

There’s many reasons why trainers program reverse lunges into so many of your workouts. 

Reverse Lunges Can Be Easier On Your Knees

Reverse lunges are kinder on the knee joint than the standard forward lunge. “If you picture a forward lunge, your knee is coming forward over your foot,” says Rebecca Schumer, a physical therapist in the sports medicine division of Medstar Health. But in a reverse lunge, you have more control and can keep the shin bone perpendicular to the ground, which will put less pressure on the knee joint. “If we're getting older, or we've had knee injuries before, it's a nice variation,” she adds.    

What’s more, reverse lunges can also build up your hamstring and glute strength to protect your knees when you’re doing other activities. “If you’ve got the hamstring helping and the glute helping, your knees actually do a lot less work when you walk or when you stair climb,” adds California-based physical therapist Justin Lin.

Reverse Lunges Work One Leg At a Time 

Any kind of lunge is a unilateral exercise, which can help you spot unevenness in your body and strengthen each side equally. “I love unilateral work to discover overcompensations and weaknesses on either side of my body and then strengthen them,” Jess says.

Reverse Lunges Can Work Your Mobility

When you step into a reverse lunge, you’re challenging the range of motion in both your ankles and your hips, getting a nice stretch in the hip flexors in particular, according to Schumer. 

Your Posterior Chain Fires Up

Many of us are quad dominant, meaning we rely mostly on the muscles in the front of our thighs, neglecting those in the back of our body, which fitness experts call the “posterior chain.” But reverse lunges fire up those very muscles that we all too often ignore—namely the hamstrings and glutes, plus the calves—according to Lin. 

Your Balance Gets a Challenge

When you’re stepping backwards, there’s a moment when you’re forced to balance on one leg. And even when that back foot lands down on the floor, the position can challenge your stability since your legs are staggered. “When you're doing any split squat position, you are working your balance,” Schumer says. That means your core instinctively fires up to keep you upright. 

You Get Moving In New Ways

Most of our life is spent moving forwards (think: walking or climbing stairs). But reverse lunges force us to do the opposite. “Doing something backwards in a different plane is always going to be beneficial in terms of your mobility for the long term,” Lin says. 

Muscles Worked By the Reverse Lunge

A reverse lunge fires up muscles throughout your body. “You're working your core muscles to keep your hips in a nice position. You're working your glutes to keep your pelvis from dropping,” Schumer says, adding that your hamstrings help bring your foot back and your quads help to slowly lower your body down, then your calves kick in to push you back up. “So really, it works a lot of different muscles,” she says. “It’s a great exercise.”

How to Do Reverse Lunges Correctly

Whether you’re a pro athlete or a beginner, here’s what it takes to perform a reverse lunge with proper form: 

1. Start with Your Feet Underneath You

Stand up straight with your feet hips-width apart, your shoulders back, chest up, and core tight. 

2. Step Back

Bring your working leg straight back behind you, stepping back far enough (about two feet) so that you can land with both knees bent at 90-degree angles. Keep your hips level so that one side doesn’t drop down. And make sure your front knee stays facing forward so that it doesn’t veer in towards the big toe. 

3. Return to Start

Using the strength of your legs, push into the ground to bring yourself back up to standing with both legs straight and feet under your hips. That’s one rep.  

Reverse Lunge Variations and Modifications 

There are plenty of ways to make reverse lunges more accessible or amp up the challenge. 

Bodyweight Split Squats

If reverse lunges feel too intimidating to attempt, Jess suggests trying split squats first—instead of moving that back foot out and in, your feet stay in the same position on the floor the whole time and you just squat down then lift back up. “I always recommend bodyweight split squats before doing reverse lunges because they're more accessible—it takes most of the balance element away since neither foot leaves the floor,” Jess says. 

Limited Reverse Lunge

If you don’t have enough strength or mobility to go all the way down until your knees hit 90-degree angles, Lin says even doing a shallower reverse lunge can fire up the muscles and work your balance.

Lunges from a Box

For an extra challenge, Jess recommends doing reverse lunges from a box. “Start standing on a low box and take the reverse lunge so that you can get even deeper into the lunge,” she says. With this variation, your front knee will bend even deeper. 

Loaded Reverse Lunges

One way to progress reverse lunges is to add some weight. You can hold dumbbells in either hand, keeping them down by your sides or lifting overhead, or just hold one in your hand on the same side as the working leg. Alternatively, you can hold a kettlebell or weight plate in both hands at your chest, or you can keep the kettlebell in just one hand, racked at the shoulder. Schumer says anywhere from a 5-20lb weight could be appropriate, depending on your fitness level and workout history. 

Held Reverse Lunge

One easy way Schumer likes to progress reverse lunges is to spend more time at the bottom. Start by adding just one or two seconds, then you could work up to about five seconds. “Just long enough to say you were there,” she says. 

Walking Reverse Lunges

To challenge your coordination and balance, Schumer says you can try walking backwards with reverse lunges. So, instead of bringing your back leg in to stand up after you’ve hit the bottom of the position, bring the front leg back to meet it. 

Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat

If you place your back leg on a box or bench behind you, then perform split squats, you’ll hit many of the same muscles as you would in a reverse lunge—but it will feel more difficult because most of your weight is put into your front foot. “They're very hard, but they're a great exercise,” Schumer says. 

Form Mistakes to Avoid When Doing Reverse Lunges

There are a few common technique errors that can keep you from getting the most out of a reverse lunge. 

For starters, many people have too narrow of a stance. “Feet should be about hip-width apart to start, then step directly back,” Jess says. Think of stepping on railroad tracks rather than a balance beam.

Jess also warns against flaring the ribcage. “When you step back, make sure to tuck the pelvis under to protect the lower back,” she says. This will help maintain a neutral alignment in the spine.

She adds that some people take too far of a step back or not enough of a step back. Remember: You want to be just far enough that both of your knees can hit 90-degree angles. Jess has a trick that she uses herself to get a feel for the proper distance. “I like to do a split squat until I'm comfortable with the right distance for me—no step back, just keeping both legs on the ground,” she says. Once she’s practiced some split squats, she’s better able to hit the proper position once she moves on to reverse lunges. 

Another common error is doing reverse lunges too fast. “You're actually working your muscles so much more if you control the motion,” Schumer says. “So you want to slowly lower yourself down and then you can go a little quicker on the way up.” If you rush through the whole thing too fast, you won’t get the full benefit of the exercise. 

Which Is Better: Reverse Lunge or Standard Lunge?

Whether you lunge forward or backward, your legs and glutes will get a challenge. “Which lunge is better depends on what your goals are,” Schumer says. “If you don't have any knee issues and you're playing sports where you do have to lunge forward and stop yourself fast, a forward lunge might be more applicable to your sport,” she says. 

But if you’re looking to protect your knees, reverse is the way to go. “Both target the quads and the glutes, but reverse lunges are usually more knee-friendly than forward lunges since they use the hamstring a bit more,” Jess says. 

Lin points out that it’s also easier to do reverse lunges with proper form. “With a forward lunge, you can easily overshoot by throwing your leg out too far, and then you're stretching your groin and adductor and maybe your back. So at least when you step your leg back, you can only go so far,” he says.

Takeaway

Reverse lunges are a smart addition to any workout program. And whether you need to modify this move to make it more accessible for your body, or need to mix things up to keep progressing the challenge, there are plenty of variations to choose from that can all give you major benefits. 

“I would recommend reverse lunges to everybody, anybody—from the professional athlete to the weekend warrior to just your average Joe wanting to stay healthy,” Schumer says. “It really is one of the better exercises that exists.”