Dumbbell Lunges

Muscles worked

Two muscle groups share the work: the hamstrings, which extend the hip and bend the knee, frequently at both joints in the same repetition and the quadriceps across the front of the thigh, which straighten the knee and, just as importantly, control it on the way back down.

Because more than one joint is moving, the work does not stay in one place: the glutes finish hip extension; the calves control the ankle and hold the heel position.

Every exercise for:HamstringsQuadricepsGlutesCalves

How this movement works

The working muscles shorten as they drive the load away from you, and more than one joint changes angle to do it. Load spreads down a chain instead of sitting on one muscle, which is why a compound push handles more weight than any single-joint alternative — and why joint position, not the muscle, is usually what fails first.

It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.

What you need

Dumbbells let each side work on its own, surfacing a strength difference between limbs that a barbell would quietly cover for, and leaving the wrist free to rotate through the movement.

Every exercise using:Dumbbell

These train the hamstrings and quadriceps too, using equipment this one does not:

• Flutter Kicksbench + body only
• Front Leg Raisesbody only
• Glute Ham Raisemachine
• Good Morningbarbell
• Hamstring-SMRfoam roll

Difficulty

Listed at beginner level: the pattern is simple enough to pick up without coaching, and a position that goes wrong mid-set is obvious enough to correct on the next repetition.

Of the 86 hamstrings exercises in this database, 37 are listed at beginner level.