What Muscles Work In A Walking Lunge, And Why The Answer Isn't The Same As A Lunge

What muscles work in a walking lunge

Start with what doesn't change. The quadriceps and glutes lengthening at the knee and hip as the front leg lands, the hamstrings and adductors assisting, same prime movers as any lunge. What changes is the balance. A walking lunge never returns to standing on two feet between reps, so for a moment on every step the whole body is carried on one leg while the other is still travelling forward. The glute medius works harder there, stopping the hips dropping toward the moving side, and the hamstrings switch from standing the body back up to driving it forward into the next step.

That's the answer, and like the squat, the lunge, the deadlift, the press-up, the row, the shoulder press, the loaded carry, the suspended plank, the sprint, the medicine ball throw, the vertical jump, the kettlebell swing, the band wood chop, the bird dog, the single-leg overhead reach, the hip hinge, the lateral lunge, the lateral shuffle, the split squat, the single-leg deadlift, the bear crawl and the beast position before it, it came from a method rather than a memorised list.

The one people assume they already know

Somebody weighing up a career change into personal training has usually watched a lunge and a walking lunge in the same class and filed them together, same exercise, just moving forward instead of stepping back. One of the things you learn on our CIMSPA-recognised personal training course is a method that shows why that assumption is only half right, and gets specific about the half that isn't. The course teaches it in the browser too, so it can be watched, read or answered by dictating the answer back, whichever fits the hour you have.

Twenty-three exercises in, and the method still hasn't changed

A squat, a lunge, a deadlift, a press-up, a row, a shoulder press, a loaded carry, a suspended plank, a sprint, a medicine ball throw, a vertical jump, a kettlebell swing, a band wood chop, a bird dog, a single-leg overhead reach, a hip hinge, a lateral lunge, a lateral shuffle, a split squat, a single-leg deadlift, a bear crawl and a beast position have all run through the same four steps:

1. Decide where the force is acting on the body
2. Identify which muscles work directly against that force (muscles that lengthen are easiest to see)
3. Identify which secondary muscles assist that movement
4. Identify which muscles would support that joint / movement

Run it on a walking lunge.

One, where is the force acting? At the hip and knee of the leg landing each step, same as any lunge, but now the whole body's momentum is carried forward into that landing rather than sitting still over it.

Two, what works directly against it? The quadriceps lengthen at the knee and the glutes lengthen at the hip as the front leg absorbs the landing, exactly the prime movers a static lunge uses. The difference shows up straight after: the hamstrings switch from pulling the body back up to standing into driving it forward off that leg into the next step.

Three, what assists? The adductors, as in any lunge, and the glute medius, working harder here than in a static lunge because for a moment the whole body is balanced on one leg while the other is still mid-air, and something has to stop the hips dropping toward that side.

Four, what supports? The deep core and obliques, resisting the rotation that comes from the arms and trailing leg swinging through with each step, and the calves, managing a landing on a base that's still moving forward instead of a fixed one.

Why the fourth answer changes how it's coached

A trainer who only knows "keep your knee behind your toes" has nothing to say when a client's hips dip sideways on the third step of a set. A trainer who's run the four steps knows that's the glute medius losing the fight to control a moving landing, which is a different fix from a cue aimed at the front knee.

Point it at anything

A walking lunge carrying a weight in one hand, where the glute medius has an uneven load to control instead of a symmetrical one. A walking lunge on an incline, where the same travelling-landing demand sits on top of everything a hip hinge already asks of the back leg pushing off. Any exercise that lands weight on a base that's still moving can be answered the same way, without a new list to learn.

PT Manager opens the moment you sign up with any FASTER course, and adding real clients unlocks the day you pass one. Read more about the Level 3 Personal Trainer Certificate this method comes from.

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