How to do the Lateral Lunge
Step by step
- Stand tall with feet together and hands ready in front for balance.
- Take a wide step out to one side.
- Sit your hips back into that side and bend that knee while keeping the other leg straight.
- Keep both feet flat and your chest up.
- Push off the bent leg to return to standing, then switch sides.
The thing people get wrong
Sit back into the hip of the bending leg and keep the other leg long - do not let the working knee cave inward.
Coaching cue
Point both feet straight ahead and keep them flat as you sit into the side.
Stay safe
Ease into the depth; stepping too wide too fast strains the inner thigh of the straight leg.
Make it easier or harder
- Easier: Take a shorter side step and stop higher until your hips loosen up.
- Harder: Pause for two seconds at the bottom of each rep.
Muscles worked
- Primary: Quads, Glutes, Hips
What to do instead
Same job, different movement — useful if you don't have the equipment or it doesn't feel right today.
Daily Coach builds this into a real weekly plan. It picks the exercises for your equipment and experience, swaps around injuries you tell it about, and tracks what you actually lifted.