What muscles does the reverse lunge work?

The quad and glute of the front leg do the standing up, with the hamstring assisting. The back leg mostly balances you. Because the bell hangs off one side, the obliques and the muscles alongside your spine on the other side hold you level rather than letting you tip, and the forearm of the loaded hand works for as long as you are holding on.

Is a reverse lunge better than a forward lunge?

Easier on the knee, which is why coaches start people here. Stepping back means the front foot never leaves the floor, so there is no forward momentum to arrest. A forward lunge adds that step, which is a real skill worth having later. Different demands, not better and worse.

Should your back knee touch the floor?

No. Stop just short of it, under control. A knee that lands on the ground has been lowered until something stopped it, which means the last part of the rep was not yours.

Which hand should the kettlebell be in?

Either, as long as you run the same number of reps holding it in each. The demonstration keeps it in one hand while the legs alternate, so within a single set the bell spends half the reps on the side of the working leg and half on the far side. If you want the two sides to get the same work, do a set holding it left and a set holding it right, and match the reps rather than the feel.

How far back should you step?

Far enough that your front shin is close to upright at the bottom and your weight is still over the front foot. The test is whether you could lift the back toe for a moment. If not, you went too far.

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Kettlebell · beginner · upper legs

Kettlebell reverse lunge alternating between leg

Also called Suitcase reverse lunge, Single arm kettlebell reverse lunge, Reverse lunge, Backward lunge, Alternating reverse lunge.

The summary

You stand with one kettlebell hanging in one hand, step the other foot back, lower that knee toward the floor and stand up again, swapping legs each rep. The front leg does the work: its quad and glute stand you up, with the hamstring assisting. The rear foot is only there to steady you. The bell is the part that makes this its own exercise, because a single weight hanging off one side pulls you over toward it, and the muscles down the opposite side of your trunk hold you level for the whole set.

How to do it

Step oneStand upright holding a single kettlebell at one side.
Step twoStep one foot back and lower your back knee toward the ground in a reverse lunge.
Step threeKeep your front knee directly over your ankle and your torso upright.
Step fourDrive through the front foot to return to the starting position.
Step fiveRepeat on the other leg, alternating sides.

What usually goes wrong

Your back foot lands flat and the step down feels like a small drop.

WhyA reverse lunge is meant to land on the ball of the foot, with the heel staying up. Putting the whole foot down turns the step into an arrival rather than a controlled lowering, and it is the part of the exercise that defines it.

FixReach back with your toes, let the ball of that foot find the floor, and keep the heel up the whole time you are down there. The heel only touches the ground again when you have stood back up.

Your back knee bangs the floor at the bottom of every rep.

WhyYou are lowering until something stops you rather than lowering to a position you chose.

FixPick a stopping point an inch above the floor and own it. If you cannot find that inch under control, the bell is heavier than the exercise can currently take, or the descent is too fast.

One shoulder sits lower than the other, and you feel the rep down the side of your waist rather than in the leg.

WhyThe bell hangs off one side of you and nothing balances it, so it drags that shoulder down and your ribs slide toward that hip. Everything the leg was supposed to get goes into propping you up instead.

FixSet both shoulders level before the first step and check them again at the bottom of a rep. If they will not stay level, the bell is too heavy for a one-sided hold, and the size below is the one that trains the leg.

The bell swings forward and clips your leg as you step back.

WhyThe step is happening faster than your arm is, so the weight is still traveling when your foot lands.

FixKeep that arm hanging straight and dead, and move your feet at a speed your hand can keep up with. Slowing the step down is the only fix; nothing about your grip position will stop a swinging bell.

It feels like your back leg is doing more than your front one.

WhyYour weight has settled backward, usually because the step went further back than intended, so you are half-standing on the rear foot.

FixAt the bottom of a rep, you should be able to lift the back toe off the floor for a second without falling over. If you cannot, shift your weight forward over the front foot and take a shorter step next time.

One bell on one side, and what that adds

Two bells cancel each other out. One does not, and that is the whole reason to hold the weight this way. A single bell hanging off your right side is trying to bend you to the right for every second of the set, and the only thing stopping it is the muscles down your left side working the entire time without ever shortening.

It also means the load moves relative to the working leg. Alternating legs while the bell stays in one hand puts the weight on the same side as the front leg for one rep and on the far side for the next. The same-side rep is a straightforward heavy step. The far-side one has the bell pulling away from the leg holding you up, and that is the one where a set starts to look untidy, so it is the one to watch.

You are trading load for that. A bell in each hand lets you carry far more weight and gives your legs a much higher ceiling, and a bell at your chest asks your trunk to resist being pulled forward instead of sideways. Hold one bell when the sideways job is the point, and expect a weight that feels easy in your hand to be plenty.

Alternating legs or finishing one side

Alternating, as demonstrated here, gives each leg a rest while the other one works. That makes the set easier per leg and it is why most people can do more reps this way.

Running all the reps on one side and then switching is harder, and it does something useful that alternating does not: it makes a difference between your legs impossible to miss. Alternating spreads fatigue evenly enough that a weaker side can hide behind the stronger one for a whole set.

Neither is wrong. Alternate when you want the set to flow and your breathing to be part of it. Do one side at a time when you want to know what each leg can actually do.

Not the beginner version of anything

The reverse lunge gets introduced as the easy lunge, the one you do until you are ready for stepping forward or for split squats. The first half of that is fair enough. It asks less of the knee than the other single-leg options, which is exactly why it is where the sensible progressions start.

The second half does not follow. Nothing about starting somewhere makes it a stepping stone. This is a loadable single-leg exercise in its own right, and the ceiling on it is a lot higher than most people ever reach. Plenty of strong lifters do reverse lunges as their main single-leg work and never bother with anything else.

What it will not do is train your legs the way a squat does. One leg at a time means the weight you can handle in total is lower, and there is a balance cost to every rep. It is a good complement to a two-legged exercise, not a replacement for one.

What it is for

The kettlebell reverse lunge alternating between legs is a unilateral lower body exercise that targets the quadriceps and glutes. The demonstration carries one bell in one hand, so the load sits to one side and the trunk has to stop it pulling you over as the legs alternate underneath it.

Questions people ask

What muscles does the reverse lunge work?: The quad and glute of the front leg do the standing up, with the hamstring assisting. The back leg mostly balances you. Because the bell hangs off one side, the obliques and the muscles alongside your spine on the other side hold you level rather than letting you tip, and the forearm of the loaded hand works for as long as you are holding on.
Is a reverse lunge better than a forward lunge?: Easier on the knee, which is why coaches start people here. Stepping back means the front foot never leaves the floor, so there is no forward momentum to arrest. A forward lunge adds that step, which is a real skill worth having later. Different demands, not better and worse.
Should your back knee touch the floor?: No. Stop just short of it, under control. A knee that lands on the ground has been lowered until something stopped it, which means the last part of the rep was not yours.
Which hand should the kettlebell be in?: Either, as long as you run the same number of reps holding it in each. The demonstration keeps it in one hand while the legs alternate, so within a single set the bell spends half the reps on the side of the working leg and half on the far side. If you want the two sides to get the same work, do a set holding it left and a set holding it right, and match the reps rather than the feel.
How far back should you step?: Far enough that your front shin is close to upright at the bottom and your weight is still over the front foot. The test is whether you could lift the back toe for a moment. If not, you went too far.