Health in Five // Reverse Lunges for A Stronger Core & Lower Body
Health in Five // Reverse Lunges with Abby Knoblock, Personal Trainer
Building lower-body and core strength starts with proper movement patterns. Exercises like the reverse lunge can help strengthen key muscle groups while improving balance, coordination and stability throughout everyday movement.
In the latest Health in Five feature, Abby Knoblock, Personal Trainer at Sandy Shores Wellness Center, demonstrates the reverse lunge and breaks down beginner, intermediate and advanced options to help make the movement accessible for all fitness levels.
Exercise Benefits
The reverse lunge helps target the glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps and core while building strength and stability through controlled movement. Abby notes that depending on torso position, you can shift emphasis between the front and back of the legs, making this a highly customizable exercise.
Proper foot placement and balance are key. Most of your weight should stay in the working front leg, with pressure distributed through the heel, pinky toe side of the foot and base of the big toe to maintain stability.
How to Perform a Reverse Lunge
- Place most of your weight into the working front leg
- Step back with the opposite leg in a medium stride
- Lower the back knee toward the ground, aiming for roughly 90-degree angles in both knees
- Keep the front knee stacked over the ankle—not drifting forward or inward
- Inhale as you lower, exhale as you drive back up
- Push through the working leg, engage the glute, hamstring and quadricep, and return to standing
- Complete the rep with a strong “stand and squeeze”
Beginners can stay in a higher range of motion until balance and control improve. Support can also be used by holding onto a chair or steady surface like a wall. More advanced variations can include deeper range of motion or added resistance.
Get Started
Abby emphasizes that lunges are an effective lower-body exercise that builds stability and strength in both the core and legs, supporting easier movement in everyday life. They also engage multiple muscle groups at once, helping improve functional strength and coordination.
She also notes that movement and exercise support not only physical health, but mental and emotional wellbeing as well.
Start your journey to better health at Sandy Shores Wellness Center.
