Lunges Exercises for Toned Legs and Butt

Lunges exercises help strengthen your lower body, and lower back, and improve body balance and mobility.

Lunges are a unilateral exercise that means performing an exercise with only one arm or one leg at a time. Lunges and their variations do not require any equipment and are effective for the lower body and easy to learn.

What are lunges?

Lunge exercises are great for developing every muscle in the lower body, and they come with a lot of variations.

Lunges are an effective exercise that helps tone mainly your glutes, quads, and hamstrings.

Lunges are great for developing lower-body muscles like

• Quads
• Glutes

• Hamstrings
• Calves
• Erector Spinae (Back Muscle)

Lunges have been shown in studies to be an effective exercise for reducing back pain. Lunges exercises help make your body more stable and prevent injuries.

Also Read: Good Sources of Protein that arent Meat

Types of Lunges Exercises

Walking Lunges

A walking lunge strengthens the muscles in your lower body.

A walking lunge requires you to step forward with one leg and lower the back knee down to the ground.

In walking lunges, you need to walk forward by lunging with one leg, then the other.

How to do Walking Lunges

• Stand up straight with your feet hip-width apart. Place your hands on the side of your body.
• Keep your core tight and your spine straight.
• Put one foot in front of the other by taking a large step. Now lower your body towards the floor and make it 90 degrees.
• Now, stand back up and take a large step with your right leg and do the same.

Read: Massive Chest and Tricep Workout

Stationery/Forward Lunges

Forward lunges are a great way to shape your butt, increase stability and balance in your lower body, and strengthen your knees and ankles.

The forward lunge is a great way to develop muscle and strength in the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, calves, hips, and core muscles.

How to do Forward Lunges

1. Stand straight with your feet hip-width apart and your arms on the side.
2. Now, take one large step with one leg and slow down your front knee down and back knee down to a 90-degree angle with both legs to keep your body weight in your front leg.
3. Keep your spine straight and your core engaged.
4. Now, stand back to the starting position and perform with the other leg.

Lateral/Side Lunges

Side lunges are a common exercise that can stretch your hip flexors and build your butt muscles.

Side lunges are great for improving stability, posture, and activating muscles such as the gluteus medius muscle.

How to do side lunges

1. Stand straight, keep your core tight, and place your hand on your waist.
2. Take a big step out with your right leg to the side.
3. Bend your right leg at the knee and make a 90-degree angle. Make sure your left leg is straight.
4. Keep your core engaged and your chest slightly bent.
5. Now, bring your left leg back to the starting position and perform it again with another

Also Read: Free Yoga Apps for Weight Loss

Curtsy Lunges

This movement is a variation of lunges.

A curtsy lunge exercise is great for developing the inner thighs, core, and glutes. Lunges are great for balance and core stability.

How to do Curtsy lunges

1. Stand straight with your shoulders back and chest up.
2. Bring your left leg and cross it behind the right foot.
3. Lower your body into the lunge position
4. Now, bring your left leg to the starting position and perform this with the other leg.

Benefits of Lunges

Weight Loss

Lunges hit the large muscle groups in our lower body and these muscles need a lot of energy to work. This ultimately builds muscles and reduces lower body fat by burning a lot of calories.

Also, higher muscle mass will help increase metabolism, which allows for maximum calorie burning.¹

Mobility and Stability

Lunges are a great exercise for better balance and stability.

A unilateral exercise means performing an exercise with only one arm or one leg at a time.

Lunges are a part of the unilateral exercise. A single-movement exercise that helps train stabilizing muscles to develop balance, stability, and coordination.²

Strengthen Glutes

All the variations of lunges strengthen glutes flexibility and mobility.

Gluteus is a muscle in the buttocks which allows the stabilization of the hip and knee.

Strong glutes will support lifter to perform exercises like deadlifts, squats, and even assisted walking.

Benefits of strong glutes

1. Enhance workout performance
2. Reduce back pain
3. Reduce knee pain

Read: Compound Exercises for Mass

Conclusion

Lunges are a great way to work your lower body. Lunges, along with other forms of exercise, help to promote stability and mobility in the hips and knees while strengthening the quadriceps and hamstrings.

This is an advanced exercise that will tone your legs and core.

Perform basic lunges accurately before moving on to more challenging ones.