How to Do Lunges the Right Way, According to a Trainer
A lunge can seem pretty basic, but there’s a lot more going on beneath the surface than you’d think. How can you get the most out of a lunge? How do you protect your joints? What’s the best way to add weights?
We asked Alo Moves instructor and personal trainer Roxie Jones for a primer on lunges. It’s helpful to think of them in the same context as squats. (You can read more in Jones’s step-by-step squat tutorial.)
“The squat is considered a bilateral movement,” explains Jones. For lunges, she says, “we’re going into the unilateral movement, which means we’re only using one side.”
There are all kinds of different lunges, but Jones recommends starting out with an Iso Split Squat Lunge.
The trick to finding the perfect Iso Split Squat Lunge stance
While it seems intuitive to start from the top of your lunge — before you go into the motion of the exercise — Jones says that to get your stance right, you should start from the lower position.
“Oftentimes when we’re starting at the top [of the lunge] we’re too far forward, so it’s going to be really hard to complete the full range of motion because we’re just going to be going straight up and down,” she explains. Follow her steps below to get the most out of your lunge.
How to Do an ISO Split Squat Lunge
Get in a half kneeling position with your back toes tucked under.
Line up your front knee above your front heel.
Stack your head above the bowl of your hips.
Push yourself up with your front heel and back toe to straighten your legs.
Follow through with the range of motion by tightening your legs, then lower back down and repeat.
If it’s hard to balance in an Iso Split Squat Lunge…
“If you’re a little bit newer to this, it might be challenging to balance,” says Jones. “So do your best to really spread your toes wide on that front foot and focus on driving up through the front heel, because that’s the side that’s working.”
She adds that it’s important to stay upright to keep pressure off your knee and keep your joints safe. When you’re ready to come back up, says Jones, “shift the hips back and drive through the front heel.”
How to do an Iso Split Squat Lunge with a weight
To do a lunge with a weight in a goblet hold, come down to a Low Lunge position with your back knee on the ground. Cup the top of the dumbbell in your hands and lift it up to your chest. Tuck your tailbone under, squeeze your glutes, and flex the muscles you’re about to be working. To lift up, drive down through your front heel.
“If you increase the tension before pushing up to the top of the Iso Split Squat, you should feel the front leg working a lot harder than the back leg, especially the glutes,” says Jones.
You can also carry your weight suitcase-style or racked (over the shoulder) in a contralateral position — or the same side of your body as your back foot.
If you have knee issues, Jones suggests going down three-quarters of the way so your knee doesn’t touch the ground, or choosing a different exercise all together.
How to do a Lateral Lunge
Start with your feet in a wide stance with your toes pointing forward.
Sit your hips back like you’re sitting into a chair as you bend one knee.
Drive through the heel of your bent leg to push back up to the starting position, then repeat.
If you’re ready for a more advanced Lateral Lunge, you can start with your legs together, then sink your hips back and step your active leg out to the side before bending.
How to do a Lateral Lunge with
a weight
One way to carry a dumbbell in a Lateral Lunge is suitcase-style on the opposite side. Carrying your weight in a racked position also works, but Jones finds that carrying the weight low is “a little less awkward.” As you progress, you can always increase the weight to advance the difficulty of your lunges.
Watch the full lunge tutorial as part of Roxie Jones’s Total Body Training series, available for free with a 14-day trial to Alo Moves.