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. Your abs and lower back hold you upright, and with a bell in each hand your forearms and grip are working the whole time.

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.

My grip quits long before my legs do. What do I do?

Nothing is wrong. Your hands are holding two bells for every second of the set while your legs only work in bursts, so they run out first. Either accept it and run shorter sets, or move the load to a single bell at your chest, which takes your hands out of the equation entirely.

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 Reverse lunge, Backward lunge, Alternating kettlebell lunge, Kettlebell reverse lunge, Alternating reverse lunge.

The short answer

You stand with a kettlebell in each hand at your sides, step one foot back, lower the back knee toward the floor and stand up again, alternating legs. 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. Because the bells hang beside you rather than in front, your grip is in the exercise from the first rep, and your trunk is holding you upright rather than resisting being pulled forward.

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

Each starts with what you would notice.

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 movement 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 bells are heavier than the movement can currently take, or the descent is too fast.

The bells swing forward and clip your legs as you step back.

WhyThe step is happening faster than your arms are, so the weights are still traveling when your foot lands.

FixKeep your arms hanging straight and dead, and move your feet at a speed your hands 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.

Bells at your sides or one at your chest

Both are common and they are not the same exercise. A single bell held at your chest sits in front of your center of gravity, so your upper back and midsection spend the set stopping you from being pulled forward. Two bells at your sides hang either side of you and mostly pull straight down.

That changes what runs out first. With a bell at the chest, the position of your torso usually gives before your legs do. With bells at your sides, your legs can keep going for a long time and your hands cannot, because grip is what fails first in almost any exercise where you hold weight for a whole set.

So pick by what you want to be the limit. Bells at your sides let you load the legs much heavier, which is why this version exists. A bell at the chest is the better choice if staying upright is the thing you are working on, and it lets you keep going after your hands have had enough.

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 single-leg movement you can hold two heavy bells for, 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 movement, 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. Alternating legs with each rep challenges balance and coordination while building single-leg strength with the added resistance of kettlebells.

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. Your abs and lower back hold you upright, and with a bell in each hand your forearms and grip are working the whole time.
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.
My grip quits long before my legs do. What do I do?: Nothing is wrong. Your hands are holding two bells for every second of the set while your legs only work in bursts, so they run out first. Either accept it and run shorter sets, or move the load to a single bell at your chest, which takes your hands out of the equation entirely.
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.