Quads exercise
Barbell Reverse LungeHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Also works
- Hamstrings
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
How do you do the Barbell Reverse Lunge?
- Rest the bar on your upper back and step away from the rack.
- Step one leg back and land on the ball of your foot.
- Lower until your back knee nearly touches the floor.
- Push through your front foot to bring the back leg in.
- Repeat on the other leg.
Cues
- Chest tall, bar stays over your hips.
- Keep your weight on the front foot.
- Front knee follows your toes.
Common mistakes
- Leaning forward under the bar.
- Stepping back too short, so the front knee shoots forward.
- Rushing the step and losing balance.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
Starting position
Take the bar from a rack set at upper-chest height. The bar rests high on the upper traps, below the bony bump at the base of the neck; hands grip it just wider than the shoulders, wrists straight, elbows pointing down and slightly back. Step back from the rack and stand tall, feet hip-width apart (foot centre lines 15–20 cm apart), toes straight ahead, bar over the mid-foot. Shoulders down and back, trunk braced, gaze ahead. Leg length (L) below means front of the hip bone (ASIS) to the inner ankle: about 0.86 m on the 1.75 m avatar.
The movement
Step the left leg straight back, keeping the hip-width gap, and place the ball of the left foot down, heel up. Sit the hips down and slightly back until the right thigh is level with the floor and the left knee hovers just above it, pointing down. The right foot stays flat and the right knee tracks over the 2nd–3rd toes. The trunk tips forward only a little from the hips with a flat back, so the bar stays over the hips and between the feet, closer to the front foot. To return, press the right foot into the floor, straighten the right hip and knee and swing the left foot forward to land beside it. The bar rises straight back over the mid-foot.
End position
Bottom: front knee about 90°, front shin close to vertical, rear knee 2–5 cm off the floor. With the bar about 0.50 m above the hip, an 8° lean puts it about 7 cm ahead of the hip, so it sits about 0.33 m behind the front ankle, between the feet and closer to the front foot. ExRx keeps the torso upright [1]; ACE's reverse lunge allows a slight lean into the front hip [2].
Tempo
1 s step back and lower, 0.8 s more to the bottom, 0.2 s pause, 1.4 s drive up and bring the foot forward, 0.5 s stand. The app tells users to alternate legs or switch sides.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Step length, front heel to rear heel | 0.9 × L ≈ 0.78 m | 0.7–1.0 × L (0.6–0.86 m) | [1][3] |
| Front knee flexion at the bottom | 90° | 80–105° | [3][4] |
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Barbell Reverse Lunge is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
Sources
- ExRx, Barbell Rear Lunge
- ACE, Reverse Lunge
- Gao et al. 2022, Bioengineering, "Influence of different load conditions on lower extremity biomechanics during the lunge squat in novice men"
- Comfort et al. 2015, J Athl Train, "Joint kinetics and kinematics during common lower limb rehabilitation exercises"
