How To Do Alternating Forward Lunges

By: Chris Freytag, CPT


Chris Freytag demonstrates Alternating Forward Lunges

Alternating Forward Lunges is a lower body exercise that strengthens virtually all of your leg muscles as well as your glutes while also getting your heart rate up to help you burn fat. The lunge is the most popular and commonly-used exercise available for training the lower body. For good reason! Lunges activate all the leg muscles and train your lower body to fire. People often struggle to fire their glute muscles when performing certain lower body activities such as squats. In a forward lunge, you are pushing off in a way that encourages those muscles to fire up and get to work.

If you learn how to do alternating forward lunges, you will help shape and tone your legs and glutes. When you step forward into the alternating forward lunge and bend your knees, you grip primarily with your quads and glutes. When you push back to start position the idea is to press off your heel which will help fire your glutes and activate that beautiful backside!

If you find this exercise bothers your knees, try lunging forward onto a platform such as a step or a low bench. This will lessen the angle of the knee bend and the impact you make during the movement. If that still doesn’t help, practice a backward lunge instead.

Here are the steps to performing alternating forward lunges:

1) Stand tall with your feet hip distance apart.

2) Take a large step forward and lower your body toward the floor.  Both legs should be bent at a 90-degree angle at the bottom of the lunge. Push off front leg to rise back up to start, and repeat on the other side.

Alternating Lunges are a great workout that you can do whether you are at the gym or in your living room.

Targets: glutes, quads, hamstrings

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