Walking Lunge
Alternating forward lunges travelling across the floor — single-leg strength with a balance and coordination demand that transfers directly to running.
Illustrations: Exercise data by RepDB (repdb.co)
Setup
Stand tall with space to walk forward. Hands on hips or holding dumbbells at your sides.
How to do the Walking Lunge
- Take a long, controlled step forward and drop the back knee toward the floor.
- Front shin roughly vertical, torso tall.
- Push through the front heel to step through into the next lunge.
- Keep the steps quiet and controlled — no crashing.
Walking Lunge muscles worked
The Walking Lunge works the quads, glutes and hamstrings.
Common Walking Lunge mistakes
- Short choppy steps that slam the front knee past the toes.
- Wobbling side-to-side — think of walking on railroad tracks, not a tightrope.
- Leaning forward at the waist.
Scale it
Easier: Stationary split squats, or lunge holding a wall or rail.
Harder: Add dumbbells, or step directly into the next rep without pausing.
Pairs well with
Back Squat
The barbell squat — the heaviest-loadable lower-body strength lift, building quads, glutes, and trunk strength together.
Leg Press
Pressing weight away from the body on a leg press machine — builds lower body strength with the back fully supported.
Reverse Lunge
A lunge stepping backward instead of forward — same single-leg strength with less knee stress, so it is often the first lunge to use.
Air Squat
The unloaded squat — the foundational lower-body pattern, used for warm-ups, circuits, and building movement quality.