Lunges for Runners: Boost Strength, Stability, and Speed with 12 Variations

Right alongside squats, lunges are another critical strength training exercise that should be in every runner’s gym program. Lunges work your quads, hamstrings, and glute muscles, and different variations can add in other muscle groups, making it a total-body workout. 

In addition, lunges strengthen the muscles surrounding the knees which helps decrease the risk of overuse injuries such as runner’s knee and reduce the impact placed on your joints while pounding the pavement.

Lunges, a unilateral exercise, meaning you work one side, or leg, at a time, is the ideal way to work your muscles as it corrects imbalances and keeps you from “favoring” one side. Unilateral exercises help improve muscle strength, stability, balance, and coordination. 

In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about lunges for runners—from the key benefits they offer, to proper form for the basic lunge, and 12 variations to spice up your workouts. Ready to build strength, stability, and a more powerful stride?

The Benefits of Lunges For Runners

There are plenty of benefits to doing lunges, not only for running but for movement in everyday life.

Lunges: 

• Improve stability, balance, and coordination, which can be especially important for trail runners. 
• Strengthen key running muscles such as quads, hamstrings, glutes, and core. 
• Improve hip flexibility.
• Correct muscle imbalances as lunges are a unilateral exercise where you work each leg independently. In this case, you can also not favor your dominant leg, working each one equally.
• Improve proprioception.
• Decrease risk of overuse injuries. 
• Protect joints from high impact. 

How To Do A Basic Lunge: Proper Form & Technique

Before we get into different variations of lunges for runners, let’s look at the proper form for a basic reverse lunge and tips to ensure you are doing it right. 

Reverse Lunge

1. Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart, chest up, and shoulders back, looking straight ahead. 
2. Take a big step back with your right foot, placing the ball of your foot on the floor behind you. 
3. As you take this step, bend both knees until they reach 90 degrees. Your right knee will be just above the ground, and your left thigh parallel the floor. 
4. Push off your back foot and return to the starting position. 

Tips For A Perfect Lunge 

Sounds easy enough, right? Let’s make sure we get it perfect with these detailed tips:

• When stepping back into the lunge position, your torso should be in an athletic position at a slight incline forward. However, do not bend at the waist; keep your upper body as straight as a board. 
• Ensure your front knee does not pass in front of your toes. 
• Keep your front knee straight and do not allow it to collapse inward. 
• Master the bodyweight lunge before adding any weight, such as dumbbells or kettlebells, as a lunge takes a lot of coordination, stability, and balance. This needs to be perfected before adding difficulty to the exercise. 

Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, our lunges for runners complete with detailed instructions and gifs.

Add these into your weight training program by trying a couple of new ones each week.

Each runner’s level will vary, but depending on your strength training experience, you can do anywhere from 8-12 reps of each exercise you choose for 2-3 sets. 

Let’s get lunging! 

12 Variations of Lunges For Runners to Add to Your Workouts

#1: Reverse Lunge with Kettlebell and Rotation

1. Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart, chest up and shoulders back, looking straight ahead, and holding a kettlebell against your chest with your elbows together.
2. Take a big step back with your right foot, placing the ball of your foot on the floor behind you. 
3. As you take this step, bend both knees until they reach 90 degrees. Your right knee will be just above the ground, and left thigh parallel to the floor. 
4. As you take the step back, engage your core and rotate your torso to your left, holding the kettlebell against your chest.
5. Rotate back to the center and return to your starting position.
6. Alternate sides. 
7. Repeat for the desired amount of reps. 

#2: Reverse Lunge with Single Arm Overhead Press

For this exercise, you will add in some upper body work with the overhead press.

1. Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart, chest up, and shoulders back, holding a dumbbell in your left hand at shoulder level, palm facing in. 
2. Take a big step back with your left foot, placing the ball of your foot on the floor behind you. 
3. As you take this step, bend both knees until they reach 90 degrees. Your left knee will be just above the ground, and your right thigh parallel to the floor. 
4. In your lunge position, push the dumbbell overhead, left elbow extending next to your left ear. 
5. Return the dumbbell to shoulder height, push off your back foot and return to the starting position. 
6. Repeat for the desired amount of reps. 
7. Repeat on the other side. 

#3: Pulse Lunge 

1. Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart, chest up, and shoulders back, looking straight ahead. 
2. Take a big step back with your left foot, placing the ball of your foot on the floor behind you. 
3. As you take this step, bend both knees until they reach 90 degrees. Your left knee will be just above the ground, and your right thigh parallel to the floor. 
4. Instead of returning to your starting position as you would in a basic lunge, come slightly back up and down, pulsing for the desired number of reps. 
5. After completing the reps, push off your back foot and return to the starting position. 
6. Repeat on the other side. 

Note: As with almost all of our variations of lunges for runners, dumbbells may also be added to this one.

#4: Forward Lunge 

Time to switch directions!

1. Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart, chest up, and shoulders back, looking straight ahead. 
2. Take a big step forward with your right foot, placing your foot on the floor in front of you. 
3. As you take this step, bend both knees until they reach 90 degrees. Your left knee will be just above the ground, and right thigh parallel to the floor. Be sure your front knee does not pass your toes. 
4. Push off your front foot and return to your starting position. 
5. Repeat for the desired amount of reps. 
6. Repeat on the other side. 

#5: Walking Lunge 

1. Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart, chest up, and shoulders back, looking straight ahead. 
2. Engage your core and take a big step forward with your right foot, placing your foot on the floor in front of you. 
3. As you take this step, bend both knees until they reach 90 degrees. Your left knee will be just above the ground, and your right thigh parallel to the floor. Be sure your front knee does not pass your toes. 
4. Push off your right foot and return to your starting position. 
5. Repeat the same forward lunge beginning with your left foot, always moving forward. 
6. Alternate sides as you advance for the desired amount of reps. 

Note: To increase the difficulty, you can try and do these walking lunges for runners in reverse. This will work your balance, coordination, and proprioception even more, as you can not see where you are stepping.

It may take some practice to master, but it is an excellent workout for your body and brain.

#6: Pendulum Lunge 

Now we are going to mix the forward and reverse lunge together in a combo:

1. Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart, chest up, and shoulders back, looking straight ahead. 
2. Engage your core and take a big step back with your right foot, placing the ball of your foot on the floor behind you. 
3. As you take this step, bend both knees until they reach 90 degrees. Your right knee will be just above the ground, and left thigh parallel to the floor. 
4. Push off your back foot and return to the starting position. 
5. Take a big step forward with your right foot, performing a forward lunge. 
6. Alternate between reverse and forward lunges for the desired amount of reps. 
7. Repeat on the other side. 

Note: To raise the level of difficulty to this lunge variation for runners, you can move fluidly between lunges without touching your foot to the ground between the reverse and forward lunges. This will improve your balance and stability. 

#7: Elevated Split Squat 

For this lunge variation, you will need kettlebells or dumbbells, and a step or bench to place behind you. 

1. Holding kettlebells in each hand, place your left foot’s instep or flexed toes on the step behind you, whichever position is more comfortable. 
2. Lower your left knee to the floor, keeping your torso inclined slightly forward.
3. Your front leg should be at 90 degrees in front of you in a lunge position. Most of your weight should be on your front foot.
4. Extend your left knee lifting yourself from the ground. 
5. Drop back down into the starting position.
6. Repeat for the desired number of reps.
7. Repeat on the other side.

#8: Lunge to Step Up 

Here we will mix up two of my favorite unilateral exercises. You will also need a plyo box or step for this lunge variation for runners. To increase difficulty, you may add weight, such as dumbbells or kettlebells. 

1. Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart, chest up, and shoulders back, in front of the box.
2. Take a big step back with your right foot, placing the ball of your foot on the floor behind you. 
3. As you take this step, bend both knees until they reach 90 degrees. Your right knee will be just above the ground, and left thigh parallel to the floor. 
4. Push off your back foot and return to the starting position. 
5. Then, with your right foot, step up onto the box, driving through your foot and extending your right knee on top of the box. 
6. Lower yourself down with control and return to your starting position. 
7. Repeat for the desired number of reps.
8. Repeat on the other side.

#9: Lateral Lunge with Dumbbells

To begin with, you can try this lunge variation as a bodyweight exercise and then add weight once you have dominated the move. 

1. Stand tall with your feet together, chest up, and shoulders back, looking straight ahead. 
2. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder height, palms facing in.
3. Take a big step to your right, hinge forward at the hips, and sit back as you would sit back in a chair, bending your right knee into a lunge position.
4. Push off your right foot and return to the starting position. 
5. Repeat for the desired number of reps.
6. Repeat on the other side.

#10: Lateral Lunge with Resistance Band

Using a resistance band will add difficulty to this lunge variation, as it will pull your knees inwards. You will need to work on keeping your knees from collapsing and sticking to their proper position.

1. Place a resistance band around your ankles.
2. Stand tall with your feet together, chest up, and shoulders back, looking straight ahead. 
3. Take a big step to your right, hinge forward at the hips, and sit back as you would sit back in a chair, bending your right knee into a lunge position.
4. Push off your right foot and return to the starting position. 
5. Repeat for the desired number of reps.
6. Repeat on the other side.

#11: Lateral Lunge To Runners’ Jump

Let’s add a bit of plyometrics to these lunges for runners.

1. Stand tall with your feet together, chest up, and shoulders back, looking straight ahead. 
2. Take a big step to your right, hinge forward at the hips, and sit back as you would sit back in a chair, bending your right knee into a lunge position.
3. Push off powerfully with your right foot into a vertical runners’ jump, bringing your knee toward your chest and reaching your arms straight up into the air.
4. Land softly on your right foot.
5. Repeat for the desired number of reps.
6. Repeat on the other side.

#12: Curtsey Lunge 

1. Stand tall with your feet together, chest up, and shoulders back, looking straight ahead. 
2. Take a big step diagonally back with your left foot, bending your knees and lowering your left knee to the floor.
3. Push off your left foot and return to the starting position. 
4. Repeat for the desired number of reps.
5. Repeat on the other side.

There you have it. 13 lunge variations for runners to spice up your gym workouts and strengthen that body. 

If you liked these lunge variations for runners and would like some ideas for different squats, check out this next guide:

Squats for Runners Guide: How To, Benefits, + 20 Variations To Try