Essomio™

← All exercise guides

legs

Lunge

From standing, you step forward and lower until both knees are bent at right angles, then push back to standing. Works each leg on its own.

beginnerdumbbells

Lunge, start position
START
Lunge, end position
END
BEFORE YOU START1
  1. Find a clear spot with room to step forward.
HOW TO DO IT

Get into position

  1. Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart and your hands on your hips.
  2. Tighten your stomach.

Check: You are standing tall, looking straight ahead.

Step and lower

  1. Take a big step forward with your right foot.
  2. Lower straight down until both knees are bent at about right angles.
  3. Keep your trunk upright and your front knee over your front foot.
  4. Stop when your back knee is just above the floor.

Check: Your front shin is upright, your back knee is just above the floor, and your trunk is tall.

Push back

  1. Push through your front heel to step back to standing.

Check: You are standing tall again with your feet together.

That is one rep. Alternate legs, or do all the reps on one side and then the other.

Breathe in and brace before you go down; lower for 2 to 3 seconds; breathe out as you stand up in about 1 second.

MUSCLES WORKED
Lunge: muscles worked, front view
Lunge: muscles worked, back view

glutesquads

Red marks the muscles doing the work; amber the assisting ones. Same body for every exercise, so guides compare at a glance.

COMMON MISTAKES4
  • Front knee caving in. Fix: Keep it pointing over your toes.
  • Leaning forward or rounding the back. Fix: Keep your chest up and your trunk upright.
  • Front heel lifting. Fix: Take a longer step so your shin stays upright.
  • Stepping too short, so the knee goes far past the toes. Fix: Take a longer step.
SAFETY1
  • Hold on to something for balance until the movement feels steady.
EQUIPMENT SETTINGS
  • dumbbells Add weight once bodyweight is easy.
RELATED EXERCISES

harder: bodyweight bulgarian split squat, dumbbell step up

variants: dumbbell step up

© 2026 Essomio LLC. The illustrations, muscle charts and guide text on this page are works of Essomio LLC, all rights reserved. They are for your personal use and may not be copied, redistributed or used to train models without written permission — see Licensing.