Written by Travis Halena | ACSM CPT
Fact checked by Kirsten Yovino, CPT Brookbush Institute
FACT CHECKED
Lunges are a staple in most lower body routines, and it's easy to see why. With an endless assortment of variations, they provide workout versatility, ensuring you can effectively build muscle and improve athleticism without getting bored.
One of our favorites? Walking lunges, a unilateral exercise designed to increase strength and build your lower body and core muscles, all while improving balance and mobility.
What makes it even greater is that unlike many other lunge variations, like the forward lunge, for example, the walking lunge enables you to move around. In fact, the ability to keep moving is the bread and butter of this exercise, and you’ll feel it making everyday tasks infinitely easier.
Let's get into all things walking lunge related! This article will discuss:
- What is the walking lunge?
- What muscles does the walking lunge work?
- How to perform the walking lunge and common form mistakes to avoid
- Benefits of the walking lunge
- Who should and shouldn't do the walking lunge
- Walking lunge variations and alternatives
- How to program the walking lunge
- Sample leg workout program
What Are Walking Lunges?
The walking lunge is a member of the lunge family, meaning it’s a single-leg exercise. It is a powerhouse move with the ability to elevate your heart rate like cardio, build strength and tone muscles, improve balance, and increase lower body mobility.
And unlike other lunge variations that require staying stationary, stepping back to the starting position, or performing a lunge forward and backward without moving, the walking lunge allows you to travel forward and walk directly through to the next lunge.
What Muscles Does the Walking Lunge Work?
The lunge walk puts all of your leg muscles to work, making it an awesome move to include in your next lower body workout. Here's a closer look at the muscles that walking lunges target.
- Quadriceps: This muscle group includes four muscles, the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius, and vastus medialis, which reside on the anterior (front) thigh. These muscles extend the knee and flex the hip and play an essential role in walking and running. During lunge walking, they work as synergists during the downward movement and as prime movers on the way up.
- Gluteal Muscles: The gluteus maximus is the biggest butt muscle and works to straighten the leg at the hip. The gluteus medius is smaller and beneath the glute maximus. It works during external hip rotation and internal hip rotation, in addition to hip abduction. The glute minimus is the smallest and has the same functions as the glute medius. The glute medius and minimus stabilize the hip during the eccentric part of the lunge, and the gluteus maximus straightens the hip during the ascent phase.
- Hamstrings: This includes three muscles on the posterior (back) thigh. The semimembranosus, semitendinosus, and biceps femoris muscles act on two joints, working to extend the hip and flex the knee. They primarily work during the lowering phase of the lunge as a synergist with the quadriceps.
- Calves: The calves include three muscles: the gastrocnemius, soleus, and tibialis anterior. The gastrocnemius has two heads and runs from the knee to the heel. It works to plantar flex the ankle joint and flex the leg at the knee joint. It also works to plantar flex the foot, especially when the knee is bent. Its counterpart, the soleus, is so closely related to it that some often refer to them as one muscle. The tibialis anterior is located on the front of the tibia. It runs from the knee to the foot and works to dorsiflex the ankle. The tibialis works during the eccentric portion of the lunge and is assisted by the gastrocnemius. During the concentric portion, the gastrocnemius and soleus handle the load.
- Hip Flexors: The hip flexor muscles include the iliacus and psoas major. They work together to flex the hip and lift the femur bone toward the pelvis, playing a huge role in stabilizing the hip. These muscles are often shortened and lead to back pain from excessive sitting, making hip flexor exercises crucial. During the lunge, the psoas works during the eccentric phase while the iliacus acts as a synergist. Lunges play a massive role in stretching as well as strengthening these muscles.
How to Perform the Walking Lunge
We will go over several variations of the lunge in a bit, including weighted walking lunges, but for this how-to, we'll focus on the bodyweight walking lunge.
Performing walking lunges is good for strength training, but it can also be used for cardio as the move gets the heart rate nice and high. Prepare to feel the burn in this lunge position!
How to do the Walking Lunge:
- Start standing with your feet shoulder width to hip width apart. You can leave your arms at your sides, place your hands on your hips, or behind your head.
- Step your left foot forward, aiming for around two feet ahead. Your upper body, front shin, and back thigh should be vertical as you step forward.
- Walking lunges require you to bend both knees, lowering your back knee as close to the floor as possible. As your front foot lands, place most of your weight on your front leg, using the back as a kickstand. Your front leg should feel like it’s in a single-leg squat.
- Keeping your body upright, press through your left heel, extending your knee as you stand back to the starting position. As you bring your right leg back to the starting position, step your right foot directly into the next lunge on that side without stopping in the middle.
- Continue stepping forward with each lunge, alternating sides. If you find yourself off balance and about to fall, tap your foot for a second.
6 Common Mistakes to Avoid
Master your walking lunge form by avoiding these 6 mistakes. Remember, if you want to build muscle and get the most out of this exercise, correct form is key!
1. Lunging on a tightrope:
Avoid putting your feet too close together while stepping into the lunge. Instead of stepping with one foot directly in front of the other, try lunging like you are on train tracks that are hip-width apart.
This will help keep your feet in the correct line so you can maintain your balance.
2. Not going low enough:
Cutting the lunge short and not going all the way down is not only a mistake, it immediately removes some of the lunge's unique benefits. When you sink into the exercise, your muscles must work through the entire range of motion to strengthen and stretch enough to force muscle growth.
Aim to take your back knee as close to the ground as possible.
3. Stepping Too Far or Too Short:
If you take a step that is too long, you may end up injuring your groin or hip flexors. If you step too short, you will struggle to maintain your balance and may cause knee pain.
Aim for 2 feet or so. To verify this, make sure both knees resemble 90 degree angles at the bottom of the movement.
4. Leaning forward:
Since the walking lunge requires you to keep moving right into the next lunge, the upper body may start to lean forward to try to help you shift as you lunge. This is a common occurrence when you're trying to work too quickly to complete a set.
This can lead to low back pain as your core is not engaging the way it needs to. Ensure your abs are engaged, and your upper body is perpendicular to the floor.
5. Lifting the front heel:
Another symptom of moving too quickly through the exercise is lifting your front heel as you bend your knee, which can put unnecessary strain on your knee. Focus on keeping your entire foot down, driving through the heel on each exercise.
If your foot or ankle does not have the mobility required to do this, you may want to consider some lunge alternatives until it improves enough to do the walking lunge.
6. Caving the Knees In:
If you feel your knee caving in during the lunge, it is likely another symptom of moving too fast and having a poor mind-muscle connection. Try to keep your ankle, knee, and hip in one line, and ensure your knee is not caving in or out.
5 Walking Lunges Benefits
There are plenty of great reasons to include a walking lunge in your routine. Here's a look at the 5 best benefits of walking lunges.
1. Fixes muscle imbalances:
As a unilateral exercise, the lunge works one leg at a time. The squat, on the other hand, is a bilateral exercise that works both legs. The squat is the king of building strength for the lower body, but if your muscle imbalances get too out of whack, it will lead to an injury.
Walking lunges are good for returning both legs back to equal strength, ensuring they are not only aesthetically similar but are both working correctly to stabilize your body.
2. Increases mobility:
Not only do lunges fix the imbalances in your muscles, but they also increase mobility due to their increased range of motion. The lunge allows a bigger range of motion that improves hip, ankle, and hamstring mobility.
This can be challenging if your mobility is poor from the start. But if you work slowly and progress week to week, you will slowly see considerable mobility benefits.
3. Provides serious bang for your buck:
Lunges don’t just isolate one muscle. It is a compound exercise that simultaneously activates multiple lower body muscle groups.
This prevents you from needing too many exercises in your routine, while strengthening your leg muscles and acting as a functional movement that has direct carryover into everyday tasks.
4. Can Be Done Almost anywhere:
Bodyweight walking lunges can be done anywhere. You can do them in the gym, at home, the track - as long as you have some space to move, you can do them!
5. Improves athletic performance:
After working on walking lunges for some time, returning to exercises like the back squat may leave you pleasantly surprised. If you had been replacing squats with lunges, you likely fixed some imbalances and may find you're just as strong, if not stronger, now that your body is more balanced.
Walking lunges also have a direct carryover to running, helping to improve stride length and mobility, while increasing stamina.
Who Should Do the Walking Lunge
Single-leg training should be a pillar of every leg workout. With all of its benefits, walking lunges are fantastic for everyone, particularly for those looking to improve their mobility and movement, whether for day-to-day life or sports.
So, to recap, who should do the walking lunge? Almost everyone. There are a few groups who should avoid it, which we're about to get into.
Who Shouldn't Do the Walking Lunge
Here are a few groups who may want to avoid the walking lunge.
1. Beginners:
If you are new to any type of exercise, a single leg variation may be too challenging for your balance, strength, and mobility. Something as simple as a squat to a box may be a better alternative as you build strength and body awareness during your movements.
2. Those with extremely poor ankle mobility:
If your feet and ankles are so tight that you cannot keep your heel on the floor during the lunge, you will not be able to perform the exercise through the range of motion needed. Focus on ankle mobility exercises first, and then add in the walking lunge.
3. People with extremely tight hips:
Similar to the ankle, if your hip flexors are tight, you may need to spend some extra time stretching and strengthening them first, so they are not locked up during this movement.
If during the descent you feel something is about to pop in your hips, that’s a clear warning sign your body is nervous about the movement.
4 Walking Lunge Variations
Progressive overload is always the name of the game, and these 4 variations will ensure you keep making gains.
1. Dumbbell walking lunge:
Walking dumbbell lunges are a progression from the standard bodyweight walking lunge as the exercise adds weight to increase resistance during the movement.
The main benefit that walking weighted lunges have over the back-stepping lunge, stationary lunge, and front-stepping lunge is that the moving variation can increase your heart rate significantly. More calories burned!
How to do the Walking Dumbbell Lunge:
- Grab your dumbbells, one in each hand, and start standing with feet hip-width apart.
- Keep the dumbbells by your hips with a tall posture, and step your right leg about 2 feet forward. As your foot plants on the ground, bend both knees, taking your back knee toward the floor and sinking the front leg into a single-leg squat.
- Keeping your torso upright, drive through your heel and extend your back leg to bring it forward. As you bring your back leg forward, step directly into the next lunge.
2. Barbell Front Rack Walking Lunges:
A barbell walking lunge is another progression to add more weight to lunge walks. You can likely load more weight onto the bar than you can hold with dumbbells.
This move can be tough to do in a crowded gym, but if you have access to the space, the muscle hypertrophy you can achieve will be well worth it. It’s going to be the ultimate strength builder for the lunge, but make sure to master earlier progressions first.
How to do Barbell Front Rack Walking Lunges:
- Place the barbell on the front of your shoulders, near the neck, as if you were setting up to perform a front squat. Begin in a standing position with feet about shoulder width to hip width apart.
- Keeping your upper body tight and torso upright, step your right leg forward, about 2 feet. As your foot plants on the ground, bend both knees, taking the back knee toward the floor and sinking the front leg into a single-leg squat.
- Keep your core tight to protect your spine, drive through your heel, and extend your leg. As you bring the back leg forward, step directly into the next lunge.
3. Front rack kettlebell walking lunge:
This variation uses kettlebells in the front rack position to add an extra challenge for your core and upper back. It will also add some extra stimulus to your quads if your goals focus more on building that muscle group.
The load is distributed like a front squat, requiring your abs to work twice as hard to maintain an upright torso and protect your spine. With benefits like this, it's a must for any workout split!
How to do the Front Rack Kettlebell Walking Lunge:
- Grab each kettlebell by the handle with the ball resting on the back of your wrist. Set each kettlebell up in the rack position. Your hands should be resting near your collarbone with palms facing each other. Imagine your arms are wings that are tucked into your body.
- Keep an upright posture and step your right leg about 2 feet forward. As your foot plants on the ground, bend both knees, taking the back knee toward the floor and sinking the front leg into a single-leg squat.
- Keep your torso upright as you extend your leg to return to the starting position. As you bring the back leg forward, step directly into the next lunge.
4. Contralateral Dumbbell walking lunge:
Dumbbell walking lunges give your core excellent anti-flexion benefits. This is the same as the dumbbell variation listed above, but you will only be holding one dumbbell at a time.
That means your upper body will want to be pulled to the side that's holding the weight. Your goal is to not let that happen.
How to do Contralateral Dumbbell Walking Lunges:
- Grab a dumbbell in your right hand and start standing with feet shoulder to hip-width apart.
- Keep the dumbbell off your hips, and step your left leg about 2 feet forward. As your foot plants on the ground, bend both knees, taking the back knee toward the floor and sinking the front leg into a single-leg squat.
- Keeping your torso upright, drive through your heel and extend your leg to return to the starting position. As you bring the back leg forward, step directly into the next lunge. Perform one set holding the weight in one hand for the indicated reps and then switch sides.
3 Walking Lunge Alternatives
Whether you're dealing with an injury or are a lifting beginner, walking lunges with weights aren't for everyone. Instead, try these 3 alternatives instead.
1. Split squat:
Looking for a great walking lunge alternative? Instead of stepping into your next lunge, perform a stationary lunge staying in one spot the entire time. This will immediately remove the most challenging part of the lunge, the walking.
The split squat is an excellent alternative if the motion of stepping through is too challenging for your balance.
How to do the Split Squat:
- Grab your dumbbells in each hand and start standing with your feet shoulder to hip-width apart.
- Keep the dumbbells off your hips, stepping ahead with your right leg. This will be your starting position, and your feet will not move for the rest of the exercise.
- Bend both knees, taking the back knee toward the floor and sinking the front leg into a single-leg squat.
- Keeping your torso upright, drive through your heel to extend your leg to return to the starting position. Remember, your feet do not move during the up and down motion.
2. Single leg squat:
You can perform a single leg squat with your bodyweight, adding resistance as your strength grows. Don't confuse this move with a pistol squat, which is a much more advanced single-leg variation.
In this single-leg squat, use a bench to provide support and something to aim for. This is an excellent alternative if you have mobility issues in your hips or ankles during the squat or if your muscles need to be strengthened before progressing to the walking lunge.
How to do the Single Leg Squat:
- Set up directly in front of a bench facing away from it with your body perpendicular to the bench.
- Lifting your right leg off the ground, keep it straight. Keep an upright torso and reach your butt back to the bench as you squat down, relying on your left leg only.
- As you sit on the bench, do not lose tension. This will help you maintain the mind-muscle connection.
- Drive through your heel and return to standing. Complete reps, and then switch sides.
3. Dumbbell Reverse Lunge:
This is a step up from stationary traditional lunge exercises, yet it still provides stability benefits as you are stepping. Commonly used for people that have knee pain with the front stepping lunge, the back leg takes the stress off the front knee while continuing to work your lower body's major muscle groups.
How to do the Dumbbell Reverse Lunge:
- Grab one dumbbell in each hand, standing with feet shoulder-width to hip-width apart.
- Keep the dumbbells off your hips with a tall posture, and step your right leg 2 feet backward. As your foot plants on the ground, bend both knees taking the back knee toward the floor and sinking the front leg into a lunge.
- Keeping your torso upright, drive through your heel and extend your leg to return to the starting position.
How to Program the Walking Lunge
Keep in mind that the walking lunges exercise is a great choice, but some exercisers may need an alternative. And as far as the order of importance goes when integrating walking lunges into your routine, it will not be at the top of the list for building strength.
On lower body days, put the walking lunge after your compound movement, whether it's a squat or deadlift. Aim for 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps for each leg to improve imbalances and build muscle. As with any exercise, you need to begin with whatever progression you can handle and improve from there.
Sample Leg Workout
This leg workout provides the perfect combination of building muscle and strength, while including unilateral exercises that target improved mobility and athleticism.
- Superset: Bodyweight Glute Bridges & Lateral Band Walk
- Glute Bridges: 2x10
- Lateral Band Walk: 10 steps - Barbell Back Squat: 3x6
- Dumbbell Walking Lunges: 2x12/leg
- Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift: 3x8
- Superset: Bodyweight Walking Lunges & Alternating Bodyweight Step-Ups
- 2x12/leg - Lying Hamstring Curl Machine: 2x10
Make Single-Leg Training a Workout Staple
Single-leg training should be a staple in any fitness program. Unless you have mobility issues or are brand new to this type of exercise, you need a single leg exercise in your training.
Even if you have mobility or balance issues, you can still slowly begin to work on them. It'll be worth the effort! Walking lunges provide amazing benefits and should never be skipped.
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Travis Halena
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