Lunges are a multi-joint exercise and one of the most popular and effective exercises for boosting lower body strength. A beginner may start with stationary lunges, but most people advance to doing a version of lunges where both feet don’t stay planted on the floor.
The beauty of a lunge is that you can do it in a variety of ways. The most popular are the forward lunge and the reverse lunge. As the name suggests, you step out in front of your body to do a forward lunge, and you step backward to do a reverse lunge.
Both lunges work the muscles in your lower body, but the reverse lunge is a less risky alternative if you have knee or back issues. Once you’ve mastered a stationary lunge, tackling a reverse lunge should be next on the agenda. Here’s why reverse lunges may be the safest option, especially if you’re a beginner or have orthopedic issues.
Why Reverse Lunges Are Better
When you step forward into a forward lunge, you shift your center of gravity toward the front of your body onto your knees and toes. This is a more unstable position for your body to be in and one that requires more stabilization. Therefore, forward lunges are a more difficult movement if you have balance issues. Plus, the forward motion places more pressure on your quads than relative to your hamstrings and glutes and this, in turn, applies more stress to your knee joint.
Forward lunges are also a more quad-focused exercise and most women already have greater quad strength relative to their glutes. Doing exercises that work the quads more than the hamstring and glutes can create a muscle imbalance between the quads and hamstrings. In turn, a muscle imbalance between the muscles in the front and back can lead to knee instability and knee pain or injury. Therefore, if you have a history of knee injury or arthritis, focus more on reverse lunges.
Why are reverse lunges safer for your knees? This variation is more knee friendly because you’re stepping behind you while the weight-bearing leg remains stable. Stepping back in this manner shifts the weight on to your hamstrings and glutes rather than placing added stress on your knees. Reverse lunges are also safer for your back. Stepping back places less pressure on your lumbar spine and it keeps the center of gravity better centered than a forward lunge.
Reverse lunges are also a better movement for beginners. With a reverse lunge, the movement originates from a point of stability whereas with a forward lunge, you’re stepping forward and have less control over the movement. The greater stability and control with a reverse lunge makes it easier to master the movement using good form and with a lower risk of injury.
Keep Lunging!
You can work your quads, and to a lesser degree, your hamstrings and glutes with squats. However, doing lunges help you identify muscle imbalances. You may be stronger on one side than the other and may not notice until you do a unilateral exercise like lunges. You then discover your performance is sub-par on one side. Once you’re aware of the weaker side, you can focus more of your training on that side using unilateral exercises like lunges.
Other reasons to keep lunging? Along with being a unilateral exercise that allows you to focus more on a single side, lunges strengthen your lower body and even your core muscles, as they have to engage throughout the movement. They’re also one of the best exercises for improving hip mobility. Poor hip mobility can impact your performance on other strength-training exercises like squats.
If You Do Forward Lunges
In support of the forward lunge, a study carried out by the American Council on Exercise found the forward lunge beat out the front squat in terms of hamstring and glute activation. It’s also a good functional movement, as it replicates the movement we do when we walk. In fact, walking lunges are another popular type of lunge variation. However, it’s important to strike a balance between the benefits and the risks of stepping forward into a lunge. As you can see, reverse lunges are a safer alternative.
If you include forwards lunges in your routine, do them safely. Don’t let your knees extend over your toes when you do the movement. Doing so increases the compressive forces that your knee has to bear. Be conservative with how low you go into a forward lunge. The lower you go, the more compressive forces you place on the knee. Lunge in a straight line without letting your knee deviate inward or outward.
Should you even attempt forward lunges if you have achy knees? If you have knee problems, the risk to reward ratio of forward lunges is too high. You can still get benefits from doing the more knee-friendly reverse lunge. Likewise, forward lunges can place pressure on your back if you arch it when you lunge. Try to keep it in a straight line.
The Bottom Line
Forward and reverse lunges aren’t the only variations on the lunge movement. You can also do lateral lunges or curtsy lunges. These are effective variations for strengthening your inner thighs. If you add a torso twist, you’ll work your abs and core too. Plus, you can boost your heart rate and work on balance by doing walking lunges. But keep in mind that walking lunges have the same downsides as forward lunges.
Keep lunging! This basic exercise and its many variations are one of the best for strengthening and improving functionality in your lower body. Plus, lunges are more effective than squats for improving balance. Now that you know some downsides of forward lunges, keep lunging, but do it safely!
References:
- J Strength Cond Res. 2009 May;23(3):972-8. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181a00d98.
- American Council on Exercise. “Are All Lunges Created Equal?”
- J Athl Train. 2015 Oct; 50(10): 1011–1018. doi: 10.4085/1062-6050-50.9.05.
- ACE Fitness. “Glutes to the Max: Exclusive ACE Research Gets to the Bottom of the Most Effective Glutes Exercises”
Related Articles:
Front vs Back Lunges: What Are the Advantages of Each?
5 Movement Patterns to Master for Greater Functional Strength
More Than a Leg Exercise: 5 Reasons to Love Lunges
Do You Hate Squats and Lunges?
Are You Making These Common Lunge Mistakes?
Squats vs. Lunges: Which is Better for Glute Development?
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