# Dumbbell Reverse Lunge: how to do it

- Main muscles: quads, glutes
- Also works: hamstrings, forearms
- Equipment: dumbbell
- Level: intermediate
- 3D demo (side view): https://media.trainaq.com/exercises/dumbbell_reverse_lunge/d48c5f4d86/side-m-720.mp4

## Steps

1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, arms straight by your sides.
2. Step one leg back and land on the ball of your foot.
3. Lower until your back knee nearly touches the floor.
4. Push through your front foot to bring the back leg in.
5. Repeat on the other leg.

## Cues

- Let the dumbbells hang still, like heavy shopping bags.
- Keep your weight on the front foot.
- Chest up, shoulders back.

## Common mistakes

- Letting the dumbbells swing as you step.
- Rounding the shoulders forward.
- Stepping back too short, so the front knee shoots forward.

## Starting position

Stand tall, feet hip-width apart (foot centre lines 15–20 cm apart), toes straight ahead. One dumbbell in each hand, arms straight, palms facing the thighs, dumbbells hanging beside the hips. 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. The dumbbells hang straight down from the shoulders and travel only up and down, staying beside the hips. 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.

## End position

Bottom: front knee about 90°, front shin close to vertical, rear knee 2–5 cm off the floor, dumbbells hanging beside the upper front shin.

## Tempo

1 s step back and lower, 0.5 s more to the bottom, 0.2 s pause, 1.3 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

| 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] |

## Sources

1. [ExRx, Dumbbell Rear Lunge](https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/Quadriceps/DBRearLunge)
2. [Comfort et al. 2015, J Athl Train](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26418958/)
3. [Reverse lunge spec (reverselunge.md) and its sources: ACE Reverse Lunge (](https://acefitness.org/resources/everyone/exercise-library/319/reverse-lunge)
4. [Gao et al. 2022, Bioengineering, "Influence of different load conditions on lower extremity biomechanics during the lunge squat in novice men"](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35877323/)

Source: https://trainaq.com/exercises/dumbbell-reverse-lunge