Dumbbell Lunge
Trains the Quads.
- Equipment
- Dumbbell
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Stand holding a dumbbell in each hand at your sides, feet hip-width apart.
- Brace your stomach and keep your torso upright.
- Take a long step forward with one leg, landing on the whole foot.
- Lower straight down by bending both knees until the back knee is just above the floor.
- Keep the front shin roughly vertical and the front heel planted.
- Drive back up and push off the front foot to return to standing, then repeat with the other leg.
Common mistakes
- Stepping too short, so the front knee travels well past the toes and the back knee cannot reach the floor. A longer step keeps the working leg in a stronger position.
- Letting the torso fall forward as you descend. Upright torso, load on the front leg.
- Letting the front knee wander inward. As with any single-leg movement, this is the hip abductors failing to hold the thigh, and side-lying or band abduction work addresses the cause.
- Alternating legs quickly for high repetitions. Lunges are a balance and control exercise as much as a strength one; slow and deliberate is what makes them worth doing.