Exercise Guide

Lateral Lunge

A lunge stepped out to the side. One of the few movements that loads the adductors and trains the legs in a sideways direction.

BeginnerStrengthPushCompound
Form
Lateral Lunge - Start position
Start
Lateral Lunge - Mid position
Mid
Lateral Lunge - End position
End

Illustrations by Bryl Lim for Workout Guide, after Everkinetic. Used unchanged under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Details

Primary Muscle

Quads

Equipment

Bodyweight

Difficulty

Beginner

Category

Strength

Force

Push

Mechanic

Compound

Secondary Muscles

GlutesAdductorsCore
How to Perform
  1. 1

    Stand with your feet together and your hands in front of your chest.

  2. 2

    Take a wide step to one side and push your hips back, bending that knee.

  3. 3

    Keep the trailing leg straight and both feet flat and pointing forward.

  4. 4

    Push off the bent leg to return to standing, then step to the other side.

Tips
  • Sit back into the hip rather than letting the knee travel forward over the toes.
  • The straight leg should feel a stretch through the inner thigh - that is the point.
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