Deficit Reverse Lunge: Target Your Lower Body Muscles Effectively

Range of motion is important for building muscle, getting strong, and developing healthy, mobile joints. It’s no coincidence that some of the most effective exercises also have the largest range of motion (ROM).

Deep squats, full pull-ups and chin-ups, and Romanian deadlifts are all great examples of large ROM exercises that produce great results.

However, some exercises have a fixed ROM because either the bar comes into contact with your body, e.g., bench presses, or your limbs touch the floor, e.g., regular push-ups.

If only there was a way to safely increase ROM to make these exercises more effective…

It turns out that there is a way to increase ROM, especially with floor-based exercises like push-ups and lunges. It’s called deficit training.

With deficit training, you perform your chosen exercise on a raised platform so you can descend further than usual. This creates a much more demanding workout that’s also good for mobility and flexibility.

In this guide, we take a look at deficit reverse lunges and explain why and how to do this awesome lower body exercise.

Deficit Reverse Lunges – Muscles Worked

Deficit reverse lunges are a compound exercise. That means they involve multiple muscles and joints working together. In fact, it’s fair to say that this exercise works virtually every part of your lower body!

The main muscles trained by deficit reverse lunges are:

Quadriceps

The quads are the muscles on the front of your thighs. As their name implies, there are four quadricep muscles: the rectus femoris, vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, and vastus intermedius. The four quadriceps are responsible for knee extension, and the rectus femoris is also a hip flexor.

Hamstrings

Located on the back of your thighs, the hamstrings are responsible for hip extension and knee flexion. There are three hamstring muscles: the biceps femoris, semimembranosus, and semitendinosus. The hamstrings are basically the biceps of your leg.

Gluteus maximus

The glutes are the deltoids of your hip. They are the largest and potentially strongest muscle in the human body. The glutes are responsible for hip extension, and the increased ROM in deficit reverse lunges means they get a great workout from this compound leg exercise.

Abductors

Located on the outside of your hips and thighs, the abductors lift your legs out and away from the midline of your body. The primary abductor muscles are gluteus minimus, gluteus medius, and tensor fascia latae. The abductors have an essential role to play in deficit reverse lunges as they help stabilize your knees and hips to prevent unwanted movements.

Adductors

The adductors are located on the inside of your thighs and are a group of three muscles: longus, brevis, and magnus. The adductors pull your legs in toward the midline of your body. During deficit reverse lunges, the adductors help stabilize your hips and knees and stop them from falling outward.

How to Do Deficit Reverse Lunges

Get more from deficit reverse lunges while keeping your risk of injury to a minimum by following these guidelines:

1. Set up a low platform, such as an aerobic step or one or two stacked weight plates. Your platform should be about 3-8 inches high. The higher the platform, the more demanding this exercise becomes.
2. Stand on the platform with your feet together and bend your knees slightly for balance and stability. Brace your core, pull your shoulders down and back, and look straight ahead.
3. Take a step back, place the ball of your foot on the floor, bend your legs, and lower your rear knee down to about an inch above the floor. Your rear knee must descend below the level of your front foot for this exercise to work.
4. Lean forward slightly for balance and to increase engagement of the target muscles. However, take care not to round your lower back, as doing so could lead to injury.
5. Push off your back leg and return to the platform.
6. Step off with the other leg and repeat.
7. Alternate legs for the duration of your set.

Tips:

• You can also do this exercise in a non-alternating fashion, i.e., do all the reps on one leg and then switch sides and do the same number on the other side.
• Hold dumbbells by your sides, a kettlebell in front of your chest, or a barbell across your shoulders to make this exercise even harder.
• Take a shorter step back to increase quadriceps engagement. Alternatively, take a bigger step back to emphasize your glutes and hamstrings.
• Most of the weight should be on your front leg. Using your rear leg for anything more than balance and a small amount of assistance will make this move far less effective.

Deficit Reverse Lunge Benefits

Not sure if deficit reverse lunges deserve a place in your leg workouts? Take a look at this list of benefits, and then make up your mind!

A low-tech but effective leg exercise

Considering how straightforward deficit reverse lunges are, they offer a lot of bang for your workout buck. They’re an excellent option for home exercisers and anyone who wants to train their legs without using a whole lot of fancy equipment or heavy weights.

Very knee friendly

Compared to forward lunges, deficit reverse lunges are very knee friendly. There is less shearing force on the joint, so they’re a great choice for anyone suffering from knee pain.

Identify and fix strength imbalances

While it’s normal to have one leg slightly stronger than the other, big left-to-right strength imbalances can cause joint pain and injuries. Deficit reverse lunges are a handy way to identify and fix any imbalances.

If you notice that one leg is stronger or more muscular than the other, simply do an extra set or two of this exercise on your weaker side to bring it back up to par.

Improve mobility, flexibility, stability, and balance

Deficit reverse lunges involve a lot of different elements. Not only do you step backward and forward, but you must work to control inward and outward knee and hip movements, too. Also, your knees and hips work through a larger-than-normal range of motion.

This all adds to a very functional exercise that won’t just build strength and muscle mass but will also improve your mobility, flexibility, stability, and balance.

More work per rep without adding weight

Deficit reverse lunges involve a larger range of motion than regular reverse lunges. This means your muscles do more work per rep compared to regular lunges. If you want to make lunges more challenging but don’t want to resort to adding a lot of weight to your workouts, deficit reverse lunges are a logical progression.

A very scalable exercise

You can vary the intensity of deficit reverse lunges pretty easily. For example, raise or lower your front foot to change the range of motion or use weights to overload your muscles. As such, deficit reverse lunges are suitable for most beginner, intermediate, and even advanced exercisers.

An excellent exercise for athletes from all sports

Most sports involve running or sprinting. Deficit reverse lunges train the muscles responsible for these activities and will have a positive effect on your sporting performance. Improvements in balance, mobility, etc., will also be beneficial for athletes.

Drawbacks

While deficit reverse lunges are a mostly beneficial exercise, there are also a few drawbacks to consider:

Balance may be a problem for some exercisers

Stepping backward off a platform into a lunge may be challenging for some people, and you may lose their balance. Balance will improve with practice, but in the meantime, you can do this exercise next to a wall and use it for support.

Requires good hip mobility

One of the main selling points of the deficit reverse lunge is also a drawback – the larger range of motion. Lowering your rear knee down below the level of your front foot requires good hip mobility. If you’ve got tight hips, make sure you start this exercise with a low deficit, e.g., 2-3 inches. Only increase your ROM as your flexibility improves.

Not a good maximal strength exercise

Like all lunge exercises, deficit reverse lunges are not a good move for building maximal strength. Instead, they work best when done for medium to high reps and with light to moderate weights.

Doing any kind of lunge with very heavy weights and low reps (1-5 per leg) is a recipe for accident and injury. As such, deficit reverse lunges are better for hypertrophy or muscle building than building superhero-level strength.

7 Deficit Reverse Lunge Variations and Alternatives

Deficit reverse lunges are a highly effective lower-body exercise, but that doesn’t mean you need to do them all the time. There are several variations and alternatives you can use to keep your workouts productive and interesting:

1. Deficit split squat

If you find switching from one leg to the tricky, you’ll probably find this exercise a little easier. With deficit split squats, you do your reps without moving your feet, so there are no transitions to coordinate. However, while this exercise is certainly simpler, it works all the same muscles as deficit reverse lunges.

Steps:

1. Place two thick bumper plates or low platforms about two feet apart. Place one foot on each one, so you are in a split stance. Pull your shoulders back, brace your core, and look straight ahead.
2. Bend your legs and lower your rear knee down to about an inch above the floor. Make sure your rear knee is below the level of your feet.
3. Stand back up and repeat.
4. Rest for a moment, swap legs, and then do the same number of reps.

Muscles targeted:

• Primary: Quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus.
• Secondary: Abductors, adductors.

Benefits:

• A slightly easier exercise compared to deficit rear lunges.
• A better exercise for beginners.
• Easy to scale by adjusting the step height or using weights.

Tips:

• You can also do this exercise by raising just your front foot.
• Hold dumbbells by your sides, kettlebells at shoulder height, or a barbell on your back to make this exercise more demanding.
• Use a longer stance to increase glute and hamstring engagement or a shorter stance for more quads activation.

2. Deficit Bulgarian split squat

The Bulgarian split squat is another effective unilateral leg exercise that develops balance, mobility, and muscle strength. But you can make it even more effective by adding a deficit to increase your range of motion. This is a good step up from deficit reverse lunges and ideal for intermediate exercisers.

Steps:

1. Place a low platform about two feet in front of an exercise bench. Then, with your back to the bench, place your front foot on the raised platform and your other foot on the bench behind you. Pull your shoulders down and back, brace your core, and look straight ahead.
2. Bend your legs and lower your rear knee down toward the floor so it travels lower than your front foot.
3. Push yourself back up and repeat.
4. Rest a moment, swap legs, and do the same number of reps on the other side.

Muscles targeted:

• Primary: Quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus.
• Secondary: Abductors, adductors.

Benefits:

• Requires and develops better mobility and balance than deficit reverse lunges.
• A very glute-centric leg exercise.
• A good progression if you have mastered deficit reverse lunges.

Tips:

• Do this exercise next to a wall if you find it hard to maintain your balance.
• Increase the height of the front step as your mobility improves.
• Do this exercise with weights to make it more challenging.

3. Deficit forward lunge

While backward lunges tend to hit your glutes and hamstrings, forward or front lunges are more quads-dominant. However, this also means that front lunges are a little harder on your knees. Deficit forward lunges are an excellent alternative to many squat-type exercises.

Steps:

1. Place a low platform, e.g., a bumper plate or aerobics step, about two feet in front of you. Stand with your legs together, arms by your sides. Pull your shoulders down and back, brace your abs, and look forward.
2. Step out and place your front foot on the raised platform.
3. Bend your legs and lower your back knee down toward the floor, so it’s below the level of your front foot.
4. Push off your front leg and return to the starting position.
5. Switch legs and repeat.
6. Alternate legs for the duration of your set.

Muscles targeted:

• Primary: Quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus.
• Secondary: Abductors, adductors.

Benefits:

• More load on the quadriceps than deficit reverse lunges.
• Good for racket sports players, e.g., tennis, squash, etc.
• An excellent exercise for developing better balance.

Tips:

• Increase the height of the platform to make this exercise harder.
• Use a shorter stance to increase quads activation.
• Do this exercise using an alternating leg action, or, if you prefer, do all your reps on one leg before swapping sides.

4. Hindu squat

You don’t need a deficit to increase your range of motion for some exercises. In fact, there are plenty of movements that involve a big ROM and develop mobility and strength in equal measure. The Hindu squat is one of the oldest and most well-documented exercises and involves a large ROM at the hips and knees.

Steps:

1. Stand upright with a shoulder-width stance and your arms by your sides.
2. Begin the movement by extending your arms straight out in front, so they are parallel to the floor.
3. Inhale, push your hips back and descend into a deep squat while lifting your heels off the floor.
4. As you lower yourself towards the floor, pull your arms towards your body and circle them behind you.
5. At the bottom of your movement, you should be sitting on the balls of your feet, and your hands should be above your toes.
6. Exhaling sharply, push your body up to the starting position and raise your arms so that they are extended in front of you. Your feet should now be flat on the floor.
7. Repeat for recommended repetitions.

Muscles targeted:

• Primary: Quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus.
• Secondary: Deltoids, core, trapezius, rhomboids, latissimus dorsi.

Benefits:

• A complete lower body workout in one exercise.
• Good for developing balance and mobility.
• Done for high reps, Hindu squats are an excellent cardio conditioning exercise.

Tips:

• Simply raise and lower your arms if you find it hard to coordinate your upper body with your legs.
• Time your breathing with your squats – inhale as you descend and exhale as you come back up.
• Look straight ahead and not down to make balancing easier and maintain better posture.

5. Cable lunge

Using a deficit is not the only way to make lunges more challenging. For example, you can use dumbbells, kettlebells, or a barbell, too. Alternatively, you can try this awesome, if unusual, cable lunge variation. It’s an excellent exercise for your entire lower body and core.

Steps:

1. Attach a D-shaped handle or rope handle to a low pulley. Hold it with both hands and then take 1-2 steps back to tension the cable. Stand up tall, brace your abs, and pull your shoulders down and back.
2. Take a large step forward, bend your legs, and lower your rearmost knee down to within an inch of the floor.
3. Push off your front leg and return to the starting position.
4. Do your next rep with the same leg or alternate sides as preferred.

Muscles targeted:

• Primary: Quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus.
• Secondary: Abductors, adductors, trapezius, rhomboids, deltoids.

Benefits:

• An excellent alternative to more traditional lunge variations.
• Increases the overload on the quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings.
• Safer and more knee-friendly than using freeweights.

Tips:

• Keep your chest up, and core braced throughout.
• Experiment with holding the handle in both hands and one hand to see which you prefer.
• You can also do reverse cable lunges and use a deficit to make this exercise more challenging.

6. Deficit step-through lunge

Can’t decide between deficit forward or reverse lunges? Then do them both! Deficit step-through lunges combine front and back lunges to hammer your quads, glutes, and hamstrings in no-time flat. This is a very challenging but rewarding exercise.

Steps:

1. Stand on a low platform with your feet together and your arms by your sides. Look straight ahead, brace your abs, and pull your shoulders down and back.
2. Take a large step forward, bend your legs, and lower your front knee down to within an inch of the floor.
3. Next, push off your front leg and step straight back into a reverse lunge. Again, bend your legs and lower your knee down to within an inch of the floor.
4. Step forward again and repeat.

Muscles targeted:

• Primary: Quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus.
• Secondary: Abductors, adductors.

Benefits:

• A very challenging, time-efficient exercise.
• A great move for athletes from all sports.
• A very dynamic exercise that’s perfect for circuit training, HIIT, and other fat-burning or conditioning workouts.

Tips:

• Try this exercise with dumbbells by your sides for a more demanding workout.
• You can also do this exercise with an alternating leg action, swapping sides after each forward/backward lunge.
• Try double deficit step-through lunges by placing platforms in front and behind you, too.

7. Deficit deadlifts

Lunges aren’t the only exercise that benefits from a deficit. Deadlifts do too. Like deficit lunges, deficit deadlifts increase your range of motion to make the exercise harder and better for your mobility. Be warned, though; deficit deadlifts are a lot tougher than standard deadlifts, so don’t go too heavy too soon.

Steps:

1. Place your platform on the floor. A 45-pound Olympic weight plate is ideal, or you can use a couple of stacked high-density mats, an aerobic step box top, or something similar.
2. Adopt your normal deadlift stance – normally with your feet between shoulder and hip-width apart. If you are standing on a weight plate, you may need to place two side by side to give you a wide enough platform, putting one foot on either plate. 
3. Squat down and grab the bar with a double overhand or alternating grip. Not sure which one to use? Check out our article on grip variations.
4. Lower your hips, lift your chest, and straighten your arms. Brace your abs and slightly arch your lower back. You should feel like a tightly coiled spring, ready to explode.
5. Drive your feet into the floor and stand up. Do not let your hips rise faster than your shoulders, and do not round your lower back. Keep your arms straight.
6. At the end of your rep, make sure you are standing fully upright but don’t lean back.
7. Push your hips backward , bend your knees, and lower the weight to the floor under control. Don’t just drop it. Because you are standing on raised blocks, it may feel like a long way down to reach the floor. Make sure you stay tight until the bar touches down.
8. Let the weight settle, reset your start position, get tight, and do another rep.

Muscles targeted:

• Primary: Quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus, erector spinae.
• Secondary: Latissimus dorsi, trapezius, biceps, deltoids, forearms.

Benefits:

• An excellent way to make deadlifts more challenging without lifting more weight.
• A good exercise for increasing strength at the bottom of the deadlift.
• A VERY effective glute and hamstring-dominant exercise.

Tips:

• Chalk your hands for a more secure grip.
• Take off your shoes and do this exercise in your socks for a more stable lift.
• Deficit deadlifts work best when done for low to moderate reps and medium to heavy weights, e.g., 4-8 reps.
• Wear a weightlifting belt for a more stable lower back.

Deficit Reverse Lunge Workout

While there is nothing wrong with doing a few sets of deficit reverse lunges whenever the mood takes you, you’ll get more from this exercise if it’s part of a balanced lower body workout. Here is a deficit reverse lunge-based workout for you to try. Do it 1-2 times to develop a muscular, functionally strong lower body.

But before you begin, make sure you spend a few minutes warming up to prepare your muscles and joints for what you are about to do. Start with 5-10 minutes of cardio followed by dynamic mobility and flexibility exercises for your hips, knees, and lower back.

#	Exercise	Sets	Reps	Recovery
1	Deficit reverse lunge	4	8-10 per leg	2 minutes
2	Heels elevated goblet squat	3	10-12	90 seconds
3	Single-leg Romanian deadlift	3	10-12 per leg	90 seconds
4	Sissy squats	2	12-15	60 seconds
5	Barbell hip thrust	2	12-15	60 seconds
6	Isometric wall squat	1	ALAP	N/A

Read more about warming up for strength training here.

Deficit Reverse Lunges FAQs

Do you have a question about deficit reverse lunges? Don’t worry – we’ve got the answers!

1. How often should I do deficit reverse lunges?

Deficit reverse lunges are pretty intense, so you’ll probably need a day or two of rest between workouts. Aim to do them 1-3 times per week on non-consecutive days, e.g., Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, to allow time for your muscles to recover.

That said, you don’t need to do deficit reverse lunges every time you train your legs. As good as they are, you’ll get bored of them if you do them too often. So, feel free to mix up your leg workouts and include some of the alternatives and variations listed in this article.

2. How many reps and sets of deficit reverse lunges should I do?

Your deficit reverse lunge rep range depends on several factors, including your training goals, fitness level, exerciser status (beginner, intermediate, advanced), and whether you are using extra weight or not.

However, in most cases, you should do between 6-30 reps per leg and take each set to within a couple of reps of failure. Lower reps (which are usually accompanied by heavy weights) don’t work very well with this exercise, and it’s generally best to do more reps per set than load yourself down with heavy dumbbells, etc.

Regarding the number of sets – two to four should be plenty. If you feel you need more than four sets to fatigue your muscles, you are probably not training close enough to failure or are resting too long between each one. Time your rest periods and stick to 60-90 seconds.  

3. Can I do deficit reverse lunges with weights?

Most definitely! If you can do more than 20-30 reps per leg or simply do not enjoy high-rep training, using weights will bring your rep count down to a more reasonable level. However, a little weight goes a long way with this exercise, so you won’t need a lot to make it harder. Using too much extra weight too soon could leave you feeling very tired and sore!

Loading options for deficit reverse lunges include:

• Holding dumbbells by your sides
• With a kettlebell in front of your chest
• Holding a barbell on your shoulders
• Wearing a weighted vest

4. Which is better – deficit reverse lunges or Bulgarian split squats?

These exercises are so similar that it’s hard to choose between them. They both work the same muscles and load your muscles with more or less the same amount of weight. They feel slightly different, with deficit reverse lunges being more glute/hamstring dominant and Bulgarian split squats hitting the quads a bit more, but any differences are relatively small.

So, which should you do? Choose the one you enjoy best! Or, you could alternate between these two great exercises or even do them both in the same workout. There really is no reason to choose between them.

5. Can I use a bigger deficit for reverse lunges?

Depending on your mobility, you may be able to use quite a big deficit for your reverse lunges. However, the caveat is that you must lower your rear knee down below the level of your front foot. If the deficit is so significant that you cannot do this, you are pretty much wasting your time, and the bigger deficit is just for show.

So, choose as big a deficit as your mobility permits, but remember that a significant deficit should be accompanied by an increased ROM.

6. Lunges hurt my knees; will this exercise be okay for me?

Reverse deficit lunges are generally more knee-friendly than regular lunges, especially forward and walking lunges. That’s because there is less shearing force on your knee joint, and keeping your front shin vertical is easier, which also takes pressure off your knees.

That said, the increased ROM in deficit reverse lunges could aggravate your knees if you have pre-existing joint pain. If they do bother your knees, skip the deficit altogether and just do regular reverse lunges. They’re almost as effective and even easier on your joints.

7. Do I have to do deficit reverse lunges in my leg workouts?

As great as deficit reverse lunges are (and we’re definitely fans of this exercise!), not everyone like them, and they may not be right for all training goals.

For example, if you are a powerlifter and want to squat HUGE weights, deficit reverse lunges don’t offer many benefits. In contrast, if you want athletic-looking legs, a toned butt, and to improve your balance and mobility, deficit reverse lunges could be a valuable addition to your workouts.

So, don’t feel you have to do deficit reverse lunges if you don’t like them or they don’t match your training needs.

Deficit Reverse Lunges – Wrapping Up

Friends don’t let friends skip leg day, or so the popular meme says. Well-developed legs are a must if you want to look and perform at your best. A lot of lifters think this means squats, squats, and more squats, but there are plenty of other movements that are just as effective as the so-called king of exercise.

Deficit reverse lunges are an effective, knee-friendly leg exercise that can build muscle and improve lower body mobility. And, best of all, you don’t need a whole lot of equipment to do them. So, whether you train in a gym or at home, you should be able to do this great exercise.

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