Training guide
A walking lunge is a forward lunge that keeps travelling: a long step, your hips dropping straight down until your back knee is just above the floor, then a drive up through your front foot that carries your back leg through into the next step. It works the front leg's quads and glutes hard, adds balance on every step, and needs nothing but floor space.
Compared with a static lunge it drew more glute activity in lab studies, and stepping lunges load the kneecap a little more near the top of each rep. It also makes most people sore at first, so it comes after the split squat and the reverse lunge in our lunge guide's ladder.
This guide covers the steps on the 3D figure, step length, knees past toes, where to hold dumbbells, the barbell version, how many steps, soreness and balance, and what to do with sore knees.
Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart. Take a long step forward, about a leg's length, and drop your hips straight down until your back knee is just above the floor and your front thigh is about level. Drive up through your whole front foot and bring your back foot through into the next step, travelling in a straight line. The American Council on Exercise (ACE) rates the forward lunge intermediate.
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Split squat, reverse lunge, then the walking lunge. The National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) progresses from the split squat to the walking lunge, and a National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) ladder puts alternating, moving lunges after static split squats and lunges. Our lunge progression workout teaches the ladder.
In 12 trained women holding 30% of their body weight, the glutes worked at 58% of their maximum in walking lunges against 31% in static lunges, and in 20 adults lunges with a step drew more glute activity than lunging in place. That's effort in a set, not proof of growth.
A lunge loaded the kneecap about as much as running (5.1 against 5.4 times body weight) in 20 adults, in the moderate middle of 35 activities, and letting the knee travel past the toes is normal. The step forward loads the knee more than a reverse lunge, and stepping lunges loaded the kneecap more near the top of the rep than lunging in place. No study has measured the walking lunge itself; we extrapolate from forward lunges with a step. With sore kneecaps, start with split squats and reverse lunges.
Six weeks of walking lunges twice a week raised hamstring strength in young footballers. In 11 regular walkers aged 54 to 88, 8 weeks of lunges with stair or slope walking added to their walks raised knee strength, though that study had no control group and mixed the lunges with the stair and slope walking. Single-leg training built as much muscle as two-leg training across 24 trials.
2 sets of 6 to 8 steps each leg while you learn (our lunge progression workout), then 2 or 3 sets of 8 to 12 steps each leg, stopping 2 or 3 reps short, with 90 seconds to 2 minutes' rest (our lunge guide). Count each step as one rep for that leg, and expect sore legs for a day or two at first.
A forward lunge that keeps travelling: each step lands, your hips drop, your front leg brakes and then drives you up, and your back foot swings through into the next step. ACE rates the forward lunge intermediate, NASM progresses to the walking lunge from the split squat, and the NSCA's ladder puts alternating, moving lunges after static ones.
Your front leg's quads and glutes do most of the work, with the hamstrings, inner thighs and calves helping. By joint load the forward lunge is a hip-dominant exercise, though the knee bends most. Walking lunges drew more glute activity than static lunges, and your trunk muscles work harder when you lean forward or carry a weight on one side.
A braking landing on every step, balance on a moving base, and no pause between legs. In forward lunges, stepping out and back loaded the kneecap more near the top of the rep than lunging in place. No study has measured the walking lunge itself, so applying that to walking lunges is our extrapolation. That, and the balance, is why it comes after the split squat and the reverse lunge.
Controlled split squats, which is the move page's prerequisite, and in our lunge guide's ladder a steady reverse lunge.
Leg length sets your step: about one leg's length suits most people, as our lunge guide says, and a longer step bends the knee further. Stiff ankles push the front heel up; a slightly longer step needs less ankle bend. Women's knees travel further forward than men's in squats, as our squat guide notes, and that's normal.
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The muscle activity studies had 12 to 28 adults; the two training studies had 32 young footballers and 11 regular walkers aged 54 to 88; the knee-load studies had 7 to 20 adults doing lunges or squats in a lab, none of them walking lunges. We say so where a point rests on them.
From our walking lunge move pages, ACE's forward lunge and our lunge guide. The 10-metre path and the pause when you wobble are editorial.
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The movement on the figure: Walking lunge
From our lunge guide, which teaches the whole ladder from the split squat. The reverse lunge is gentler on the knee. Our lunge progression workout moves you on when you can do 3 sets of 10 to 12 each leg with your front heel down and your back knee dropping straight under your hip.
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The movement on the figure: Reverse lunge
In 12 trained women holding 30% of their body weight, the glutes worked at 31% of their maximum in static lunges, 54% in step-forward lunges and 58% in walking lunges; the lower-back muscles worked at 24, 26 and 40%. The front and back of the thigh worked about the same in all three. These are activity measures in one session, not growth.
In 20 adults lunging their 12-rep maximum, lunges with a stride (stepping out and back) drew more activity from the glutes, including the side-hip muscle, than lunging up and down in place, and long steps drew more activity than short ones in most muscles.
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In 18 adults at their 12-rep maximum, forward lunges with a stride loaded the kneecap more than lunging in place between 10 and 40 degrees of knee bend, near the top of each rep. No study has measured the walking lunge itself: that it adds the same load is our extrapolation from forward lunges with a stride.
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Walking lunges are the harder, more travelling version: more glutes, more balance, a bit more for the kneecap. If they hurt your knees, static or reverse lunges are the swap (our reading).
In 15 adults aged 30 to 64 doing lunge walking, steps 20% and 40% longer than normal bent the knee further (peak bend 70, 81 and 86 degrees) but didn't raise muscle activity on the way down. They made the push up harder: the outer quad worked at 105.6% of its maximum against 87.6%, and the glutes at 78.1% against 53.4%. The authors concluded that a normal step length appears sufficient.
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In split squats in 20 men, longer steps shifted the load from the knee to the hip. In forward lunges, a short step loaded the kneecap more at the bottom of the rep (70 to 90 degrees of knee bend) than a long step. About a leg's length suits most people; step longer for more hip work or if your front heel lifts, shorter if the push up is too hard.
In 9 men and in 20 women, the forward step put more load through the knee and kneecap than a step back. The forward lunge is still hip-dominant by joint load, and adding weight (up to half of body weight, in 16 adults) raised the work at the hip and ankle, not the knee.
Across 35 exercises and daily activities in 20 healthy adults, peak kneecap load was about 0.6 times body weight walking, 1.7 in a low step-up, 2.5 in a 60-degree squat, 4.5 in a full squat, 4.7 in a Bulgarian split squat, 5.1 in a lunge and 5.4 running. It's one lab group, but most rehab exercises sat in the moderate middle, the lunge among them.
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In forward lunges the force on the front cruciate ligament (ACL) was minimal, appearing only in short-step lunges with a stride; the back cruciate ligament (PCL) took more force with a long step. Neither is a reason to avoid lunges with healthy knees.
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In 7 men doing barbell squats, blocking the knees from passing the toes cut the load at the knee by about a fifth but raised the load at the hip about tenfold. ACE's lunge lets the shin lean slightly forward. Keep your front knee over your middle toes rather than forcing it back.
Leaning your trunk forward raised the hip's work and glute and outer hamstring activity in 10 adults, and doubled lower-back activity (40 against 20% of maximum) in 12 women. ACE's lunge bends forward at the hips with a flat back. A slight lean gives more glutes; stay tall if your back complains.
In 15 trained men, lunging with the feet in one line raised side-to-side sway of the front foot (19.4 against 14.8 cm) with similar muscle activity. Keep your feet hip-width apart side to side, like railway tracks.
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In 11 regular walkers aged 54 to 88, 4 weeks of usual walking changed nothing; then 8 weeks with lunges and stair or slope walking added to their walks, building from 100 to 1,000 steps a week, cut eyes-closed sway by 45.3% and raised 30-second chair stands by 24.2% and knee strength by 18.6%. The study had no control group, and it mixed lunges with stair and slope walking, so it can't show what the lunges did on their own.
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Hold a rail or a wall, or use static lunges, while you learn. If you lose balance, step out of the lunge rather than fighting it (our suggestion, as in our lunge guide).
There's no 3D demo of a loaded walking lunge yet: the dumbbell lunge and barbell walking lunge in the ladder below are the nearest.
The easiest way to hold a lot of weight, but in 10 adults, weights at your sides, or one on the front leg's side, raised the forces on the kneecap and its tendon more than the same weight held in front of you. Heavier weights raised those forces at the same rate wherever you held them.
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In 28 adults doing walking lunges with their 5-rep maximum, one dumbbell in the hand opposite the front leg drove the side-hip muscle (gluteus medius) to about 90% of its maximum; carrying it on the same side didn't raise its activity. In 42 amateur athletes, a weight on one side made the trunk on the other side work harder.
One dumbbell or kettlebell held at your chest. A weight in front was easier on the kneecap than weights at your sides in the lab study, so it suits sensitive knees (our reading).
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In 16 adults lunging with up to half their body weight, extra load raised the work at the hip and ankle rather than the knee.
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The most complex of the split-stance steps, as its move page says. Learn walking lunges with dumbbells first, and clear a straight path; rack the bar when you finish. 3 sets of 6 to 10 steps each leg is our editorial starting point.
A twist over the front leg is a warm-up drill more than a strength move (our view; the crossover reverse lunge is the nearest demo). An overhead walking lunge needs the shoulder range of an overhead squat: see our overhead squat guide. In a small space, alternate forward lunges back to the start, or do reverse lunges.
In a randomised trial of 32 football players, 6 weeks of walking lunges twice a week, added to their football training, raised hamstring strength; jumping lunges improved sprinting instead. The abstract gives no effect sizes, so we can't say by how much.
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Adding lunges and stair or slope walking to the daily walks of 11 regular walkers aged 54 to 88 raised knee strength 18.6%, chair-stand reps 24.2% and balance after 8 weeks, where 4 weeks of usual walking had changed nothing. No control group, and lunges were mixed with stair and slope walking.
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Across 24 trials, single-leg training built similar muscle to two-leg training, more single-leg strength and a little less two-leg strength. The trials were small.
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We found no trial measuring muscle growth from walking lunges, no study of walking lunge soreness or injuries, and no knee-load study of the walking lunge itself. The glute figures are muscle activity, which isn't a validated predictor of growth.
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Single-leg stand, 2 holds of 30 seconds each leg next to a support; split squat, 2 sets of 8 each leg with a 3-second lowering; reverse lunge, 3 sets of 6 to 8 each leg; walking lunge, 2 sets of 6 to 8 steps each leg, then 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 (our lunge progression workout and lunge guide; the bodyweight walking lunge move page gives the same 8 to 12 steps as its editorial starting point). Dumbbell lunges, 2 sets of 6 to 8 each leg building to 3 sets of 8 to 12; the barbell walking lunge, 3 sets of 6 to 10 steps each leg (editorial); and the rear-foot-elevated (Bulgarian) split squat, 2 sets of 6 each leg, as the harder static option (our lunge progression workout).
3D demoSingle-leg standBeginner · A wall
3D demoSplit squatIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoReverse lungeIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoWalking lungeIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoDumbbell lungeIntermediate · A dumbbell
3D demoBarbell walking lungeAdvanced · A barbell
3D demoRear-foot-elevated split squat (Bulgarian split squat)Intermediate · A bench or boxIt makes you sway more. Keep your feet hip-width apart side to side.
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Your knee shoots forward and your heel lifts. ACE's cue is to drop your hips towards the floor rather than drive them forward.
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A short step loaded the kneecap more at the bottom of the rep. Lengthen your step until your front heel stays down.
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Drive up through your whole front foot, as the move page cues; the back foot only follows.
Keep it over your middle toes. Shorten the range, or go back to static lunges until it stays there.
Stop a few centimetres above the floor, as our lunge guide says.
Start with 2 sets of 6 to 8 steps each leg: walking lunges make most people sore for a day or two at first (our lunge progression workout).
2 sets of 6 to 8 steps each leg, with 90 seconds' rest, keeping it easy while balance comes first (our lunge progression workout).
2 or 3 sets of 8 to 12 steps each leg, stopping 2 or 3 reps short (2 or 3 reps in reserve), with 90 seconds to 2 minutes' rest. That's our lunge guide's dose, and the bodyweight walking lunge move page's editorial starting point.
3 sets of 8 to 12 steps each leg, stopping 2 or 3 short, once 3 sets of 12 without weights feel easy (our lunge guide's loaded step).
6 easy steps each leg, as our runners' warm-up and dynamic warm-up use.
Two or three times a week as part of your leg work, as our lunge guide suggests. The NHS asks adults to do strengthening activities on at least 2 days a week.
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20 to 30 metres a set is about 10 to 15 steps each leg for most adults (our rough arithmetic). In a Hyrox race the lunge station is 100 metres of sandbag lunges with the back knee touching the floor; our Hyrox compromised running workout practises half that distance.
Add steps up to 12 each leg, then lower more slowly, then hold dumbbells, then go heavier, as our plans' progression note sets out. Adding reps and adding load both worked as progression in 43 trained people.
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Each step lowers you under load, and lowering-heavy exercise causes more soreness at first, as our muscle soreness guide explains. Start with fewer steps; the soreness fades as you repeat the sessions.
Not many in a few sets. The Compendium of Physical Activities puts moderate calisthenics, lunges included, at 3.8 METs (metabolic equivalents: multiples of your resting energy use), and hard bodyweight work at 6.5. By our rough arithmetic, 10 minutes of moderate lunges burns about 45 kcal for a 70 kg adult; our calories burned calculator does the sum for you.
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For a front heel that lifts, knee-to-wall ankle rocks, 10 slow rocks each side (the move page's dose); for the hips, standing hip CARs (controlled circles), 3 slow circles each way on each leg (the move page's editorial starting point); the half-kneeling hip flexor stretch, 30 seconds each side (our lunge progression workout); the standing quad stretch, held 20 to 30 seconds 2 to 4 times each side (the move page's editorial starting point); step-ups, 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 10 each side, a lower kneecap load (our lower body workout at home); and glute bridges, 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 12, glute work without knee bend (our suggestion).
Knee pain of 0 to 2 out of 10 during exercise is safe, and up to 5 is acceptable if it's back to its usual level by the next morning, as our knee guides say. Sharp, catching or giving-way pain means stop.
With sore kneecaps, start with split squats and reverse lunges in a smaller range: the reverse lunge loaded the knee less than the forward step, and a long step loaded the kneecap less at the bottom than a short one. Come back to walking lunges when those are comfortable.
If you add weight, a goblet hold was easier on the kneecap and its tendon than dumbbells at your sides.
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Pain at the front of the knee is covered in our runner's knee and jumper's knee guides. See a GP if knee pain doesn't improve within a few weeks.
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The lunge progression workout is the walking lunge ladder from the split squat; the dumbbell leg workout builds the split squat with dumbbells; the Hyrox workouts use walking lunges to warm up and practise the race's lunge station; the runners' strength workout and dynamic warm-up use 6 easy steps each leg; the volleyball injury prevention session uses 2 sets of 8 each leg.
A 25-minute session from the split squat to the walking lunge: ankle and balance prep, slow split squats, reverse lunges, then walking lunges.
25 minBeginner11 movesA wall, A bench or boxLegs and glutes with dumbbells: goblet squats, Romanian deadlifts, step-ups, split squats and calf raises.
35 minIntermediate10 movesA wall, A dumbbellA 50-minute strength session for Hyrox and fitness races: squats, lunges, Romanian deadlifts, sleds or step-ups, thrusters, carries, calf raises and planks.
50 minIntermediate14 movesCardio machine, A wallA 60-minute fitness-race session: four 1 km runs at goal pace, each followed by stations at half race distance, from rowing and sleds to lunges and thrusters.
60 minIntermediate14 movesCardio machine, A sledA 45-minute gym strength workout for runners: hops, heavy squats, Bulgarian split squats, calf raises and side planks, with sets, reps and rest.
45 minIntermediate13 movesA wall, A bench or boxA 10-minute warm-up for any workout: raise your heart rate, move each joint through its range, rehearse the main movements, then ramp up to your first lift.
10 minBeginner12 movesA wall, A bandA 30-minute volleyball routine: balance board work for ankles, the five-part Shoulder Control programme, Nordics, lunges and calf raises, and trunk work.
30 minBeginner13 movesA wall, Other / check instructionsThe Hyrox plan runs the Hyrox workouts; the runners' strength plan runs the strength workout for runners.
A 12-week first Hyrox plan: three runs, two strength sessions and one stations-and-runs session a week, built up to race weights, with a taper and race tips.
5 training days50 minIntermediate2 days a weekA 12-week strength plan for runners: two sessions a week of heavy lifts, single-leg work, calf raises and hops, fitted around your runs.
2 training days45 minBeginnerUse split squats and reverse lunges with a longer step and a smaller range, and keep to the knee rule. Our runner's knee guide has the plan.
Keep the range and the load where the tendon stays within the knee rule, and follow our jumper's knee guide.
Lunges are usually fine in a range you can control: shorten the step and the depth, hold a support, and keep to the knee rule.
Follow your surgeon's or physiotherapist's stages before lunges, and walking lunges after static ones.
Use static lunges next to a rail, or hold a support, and step out of a lunge rather than fighting a wobble.
The NHS says strength training is fine if you already do it, and to avoid activities with a risk of falling. Hold a support or swap to static lunges as your balance changes, and skip lunges, or keep them small, with pelvic girdle pain, as our lunge guide says.
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If you haven't exercised for some time or have a medical condition, speak to your GP first, as the NHS advises. Get advice before hard lifting if you have high blood pressure, heart disease, glaucoma or diabetic eye disease, a hernia or recent surgery, as our breathing guide lists. With controlled high blood pressure, breathe out as you push up rather than holding your breath.
If you get chest pain or pressure, feel faint or dizzy, are unusually breathless, or your heart races or beats irregularly during exercise, as our plans advise. The American Heart Association says these need immediate medical evaluation.
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For chest pain that comes on suddenly and doesn't go away, feels tight or like squeezing, spreads to your arms, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or comes with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or breathlessness; someone who faints while exercising; palpitations that don't go away, or come with chest pain, shortness of breath or feeling faint; or a sudden headache that is extremely painful, or comes with numbness or weakness, difficulty speaking or loss of vision. Don't drive yourself to A&E.
If back pain comes with pain, tingling, weakness or numbness in both legs, loss of feeling around your genitals or bottom, or changes in your bladder or bowels.
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For severe hip pain after a fall or injury, if you can't walk or put weight on your leg, or for tingling or loss of feeling in your hip or leg after an injury.
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If your knee is very painful, you can't move it or put any weight on it, it's badly swollen or has changed shape, it locks, gives way or painfully clicks (painless clicking is normal), or you have a very high temperature with redness or heat around the knee. In the US, contact your doctor or urgent care.
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For severe hip pain that started suddenly without a fall, a swollen, hot hip, skin colour changes around it, or hip pain with a high temperature; or a headache triggered or made worse by coughing, sneezing, bending down or exercising.
If knee pain doesn't improve within a few weeks, or hip pain hasn't improved after 2 weeks at home, keeps coming back, stops your normal activities or disturbs your sleep.
If you lose your balance, step out of the lunge rather than fighting it. Hold a rail or wall, or use static lunges, if falls are a worry.
A lunge loaded the kneecap about as much as running (5.1 against 5.4 times body weight), in the moderate middle of 35 activities, and the forces on the ACL were minimal. With sore kneecaps, reverse lunges and a longer step come first.
Blocking the knees in a squat cut the load at the knee by about a fifth but raised the load at the hip about tenfold, and ACE's lunge lets the shin lean slightly forward. Keep your knee over your middle toes rather than behind them.
Forward lunges with a stride loaded the kneecap more than lunging in place near the top of the rep, and we extrapolate that to walking lunges, which no study has measured. Overall a lunge is a moderate load, and no study has compared injuries. If walking lunges hurt your knees, static or reverse lunges are the swap.
They drew more glute activity than static lunges, but no trial has measured glute growth from them, and single-leg and two-leg training built similar muscle. Our grow your glutes guide has the evidence on hip thrusts and squats.
Longer steps shifted work to the hip in split squats, but in lunge walking they didn't raise muscle activity on the way down, only made the push up harder. About a leg's length suits most people.
Muscle activity in one session isn't a validated predictor of growth, so the glute figures here show effort, not results.
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Across 15 studies, training to failure gave a trivial growth advantage at most. Stop 2 or 3 reps short, as our plans say: in a walking lunge, failing a rep also means losing your balance.
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Take a long step forward, drop your hips straight down until your back knee is just above the floor, then push through your whole front foot and bring your back foot through into the next step. Keep your feet hip-width apart, like railway tracks, and your trunk tall or leaning slightly forward.
Mainly the quads and glutes of the front leg, with the hamstrings, inner thighs and calves helping. By joint load the forward lunge is hip-dominant, and walking lunges drew more glute activity than static lunges in a lab study.
Walking lunges add balance and drew more glute activity, but stepping lunges loaded the kneecap a little more near the top of the rep, and they make you sorer at first. Learn static and reverse lunges first, then walk.
The reverse lunge is gentler on the knee: the forward step loaded the knee more in two lab studies. Walking lunges are the harder, travelling version; our lunge guide covers reverse lunges.
Not for healthy knees. A lunge loaded the kneecap about as much as running, in the moderate middle of 35 activities. With knee pain, start with split squats and reverse lunges in a smaller range, keeping pain to 0 to 2 out of 10, or up to 5 if it settles by the next morning.
It's normal: ACE's lunge lets the shin lean slightly forward, and stopping the knee shifts load to your hips and back. Keep your knee over your middle toes rather than caving in.
About a leg's length suits most people. A longer step bent the knee further and made the push up harder without working the muscles more on the way down. If your front heel lifts, step a little longer.
Start with 2 sets of 6 to 8 steps each leg, then build to 2 or 3 sets of 8 to 12 steps each leg, stopping 2 or 3 reps short, two or three times a week. Count each step as one rep for that leg.
At your sides is easiest to hold heavy, but it loaded the kneecap more than the same weight held in front. One dumbbell in the hand opposite your front leg works your side hip and trunk harder.
Each step lowers you under load, and lowering-heavy exercise causes more soreness at first, as our muscle soreness guide explains. Start with fewer steps; the soreness fades as you repeat the sessions.
They train it. In 11 regular walkers aged 54 to 88, adding lunges and stair or slope walking for 8 weeks cut sway by 45% and raised chair-stand reps by 24%, though the study had no control group. Hold a support while you learn.
Not many in a few sets: moderate calisthenics such as lunges are rated at 3.8 METs, and hard bodyweight work at 6.5. By our rough arithmetic, 10 minutes of moderate lunges burns about 45 kcal for a 70 kg adult; our calories burned calculator does the sum for you.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. Check with a GP before starting hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
