Reverse Lunge
quadriceps
What moves the load, and what it costs
5.0MET
Quadriceps is the prime mover, with the glutes, hamstrings assisting. Stepping back is kinder to the knees than stepping forward and easier to control, which makes it the best lunge to start with.
Cue: Step backwards rather than forwards, landing on the ball of the back foot.
स्रोत·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·वजनी स्क्वॅट्स गटात नोंद·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
SHARED AXIS · SEVEN VALUES FROM ONE TABLE · HIGHLIGHTED ROW IS THIS MOVEMENT
The compendium files reverse lunge under a category, not a lift. Read the ladder as position, not precision: this is heavier work than sitting quietly by a factor of 5.0, and middling for conditioning work.
Turning that MET value into a real energy cost
- Map the movement to a published category. The compendium measures categories of conditioning work, never individual lifts, so reverse lunge is filed under Resistance (weight) training, squats, slow or explosive effort.
- Take the category's MET value — 5.0. One MET is the cost of sitting quietly, so this is 5.0 times resting metabolism.
- Multiply by 3.5 to get millilitres of oxygen per kilogram per minute, the unit the MET is actually defined in.
- Multiply by your bodyweight in kilograms and divide by 200. The result is kilocalories per minute of work.
- Count working minutes only. Under load, not under the roof — a set of eight is about 25 seconds of the hour you were there.
kcal/min = MET × 3.5 × body mass (kg) ÷ 200 Reverse Lunge: 5.0 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200 = 6.13 kcal/min
स्रोत·ACSM metabolic equation + 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·REFERENCE BODY MASS 70 KG·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
What is actually doing the work
| Muscle | Role | What it does here |
|---|---|---|
| Quadricepsरेक्टस फेमोरिस आणि तीन वास्टी | Prime mover | गुडघा सरळ करतो. रेक्टस फेमोरिस खुब्यावरूनही जातो आणि तो वाकवतो, त्यामुळे स्क्वॅटमध्ये त्यावर लेग एक्स्टेंशनपेक्षा वेगळ्या प्रकारे भार येतो. |
| GlutesGluteus maximus, medius आणि minimus | Synergist / stabiliser | हिप ताणतो (maximus), आणि तो बाजूला नेतो व स्थिर ठेवतो (medius आणि minimus). शरीरातील सर्वात बलवान एकच स्नायुगट. |
| HamstringsBiceps femoris, semitendinosus, semimembranosus | Synergist / stabiliser | Bends the knee and extends the hip. Because they cross both joints, they need both a hinge (hip) and a curl (knee) to be trained fully. |
The prime mover produces the movement against the resistance; synergists assist and stabilisers hold a joint still without moving it. An exercise trains the whole muscle it loads — there is no way to work only part of a muscle, and no exercise removes fat from the area around it.
Set up, then earn the rep
Bodyweight, Dumbbells. Every rep should look like the first one. The moment it stops looking like the first one, the set is finished.
PATTERN · LUNGE
- Stand tall holding the dumbbells, trunk braced, shoulders back.
- Take a controlled step (forward, backward or to the side depending on the version) and land with the whole foot.
- Step backwards rather than forwards, landing on the ball of the back foot.
- Lower until the front thigh is roughly parallel to the floor and the rear knee is just off the ground.
- Drive back through the front foot to return to standing.
- Alternate legs or complete a full set on one side, but keep the reps equal.
Where this one breaks down
Not theory. These are the faults you correct on a gym floor, and the correction that actually works.
Steps that are too short.
A short step turns the lunge into a knee-dominant squat on one leg. Step far enough that the front shin stays close to vertical.
Crashing the back knee into the floor.
Control the descent. The knee should touch lightly or not at all.
Torso pitching forward.
Chest up, ribs down. If the trunk folds, the load is too heavy or the trunk needs work first.
Regress it, or progress it
Regress — earn it first
Nothing on this site regresses it further: this is already near the entry point of its pattern. Take load off, shorten the range, or slow the tempo — in that order.
Prescription: load, reps, rest
Read off the goal, then hold the technique constant as the load climbs. Derived from the movement's mechanics, not invented for this page: a compound lift loads several joints, so it tolerates heavy loads and needs long rests.
| Goal | Sets | Reps | Rest | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | 3–5 | 3–6 | 3–5 min | Heavy loads need long rests. Cutting rest to two minutes turns a strength set into a conditioning set. |
| Muscle size | 3–4 | 6–12 | 90–180 sec | Take most sets to within one to three reps of failure. Total weekly hard sets per muscle matters more than the exact rep number. |
| Endurance / fat loss | 2–4 | 12–20 | 45–75 sec | Lighter loads and shorter rests. Fat loss is decided by the diet; this preserves muscle while it happens. |
| First month | 2–3 | 8–10 | 2 मिनिटे | Well short of failure, same weight every set, until the movement looks the same on the last rep as the first. |
Time under load, in kilocalories
Read these as minutes of work, not minutes in the building. A set of eight takes about twenty-five seconds; the rest of the hour is rest, chalk and queueing.
Mapped category: रेझिस्टन्स (वजन) ट्रेनिंग, स्क्वॅट्स, संथ किंवा स्फोटक प्रयत्न — 5.0 MET. That is the published category this movement is filed under, not a measurement of this specific lift.
Worked at 5.0 MET × 3.5 × 70 kg ÷ 200 = 6.13 kcal per working minute for a 70 kg adult. Scale it by your own bodyweight; the equation is linear. The full activity dataset lives at BurnLab.
स्रोत·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·CATEGORY VALUE, NOT A PER-EXERCISE MEASUREMENT·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
If the rack is taken
Substitutes train the same prime mover through the same pattern with different kit. Computed from the muscle and pattern data on this card, not hand-picked to fill a grid.
Nothing at all to hand: बॉडीवेट लंज is the closest match — same prime mover, same pattern, no kit.
Where it sits in a week
One movement is not a programme. The twelve templates put these in order, including 6 that need no gym at all.
The questions that come up on the floor
What muscles does the reverse lunge work?
Reverse Lunge is a compound movement in which the quadriceps is the prime mover, assisted by the glutes, hamstrings. Straightens the knee. Rectus femoris also crosses the hip and flexes it, so it is loaded differently in a squat than in a leg extension.
Is the reverse lunge good for beginners?
होय. तांत्रिक अवघडपणासाठी या साइटवर याला 5 पैकी 1 गुण आहेत — प्रशिक्षकाशिवाय एकाच सत्रात शिकता येण्यासारखे. सर्वात कमी योग्य वजनाने आणि 8–10 च्या दोन किंवा तीन सेटने सुरुवात करा.
What can I do instead of the reverse lunge at home?
The closest no-equipment substitute is the bodyweight lunge, which trains the same prime mover through the same movement pattern. It will not load you as heavily, so use higher reps and slower tempo to make up the difference.
How many sets and reps of the reverse lunge should I do?
For muscle size, 3–4 sets of 6–12 with 90–180 sec rest. For strength, 3–5 sets of 3–6 with 3–5 min rest. In your first month, 2–3 sets of 8–10, stopping well short of failure. Total weekly hard sets per muscle group matters more than the exact rep number in any of these ranges.
Does the reverse lunge burn fat from the quadriceps?
No. No exercise removes fat from the area it trains — spot reduction has been tested repeatedly and does not happen. Training the quadriceps builds the muscle underneath; where body fat is lost from is decided by an overall calorie deficit and by your genetics, not by which exercise you chose.
Muscle roles follow standard kinesiology references and are described by joint action rather than by gym convention — see how this site is built. Energy figures are derived from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. Every reference is named and dated on the sources page. General information only — not medical or coaching advice. Load, form and progression should be adjusted to your own experience and any injury history. When in doubt, get coached in person.
स्रोत·Published exercise references·MUSCLE ROLES ASSIGNED BY JOINT ACTION·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
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