Strengthen Your Legs: Master the Duck Walk Exercise

There are a lot of exercises named after animals. In many cases, these exercises emulate the movements of powerful animals, like tigers (push-ups), bears (crawling), and cobras (stretching).

However, there are exercises named after less intimidating animals, too, that are no less effective. Spider curls (biceps) are one example, and downward dogs are another (stretch.)

And now you can add another animalistic exercise to your training program – duck walks. While this exercise definitely looks funny, it’s surprisingly challenging and will soon have your legs shaking and burning.

In this article, we reveal why and how to do duck walks.

How to Do Duck Walks

Get more from duck walks while keeping your risk of injury to a minimum by following these guidelines:

1. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Brace your core.
2. Bend your legs and squat down as deeply as you can without rounding your lower back. Ideally, your thighs should be below parallel.
3. Shift your weight into one leg and, without rising up, take one step forward.
4. Shift your weight across on your front leg and take another step forward.
5. Continue for the desired number of reps or distance.

Pro Tips:

• Do not allow your thighs to rise above parallel to the floor.
• Only step forward once your supporting foot is flat on the floor.
• Keep your chest up – do not lean further forward or allow your lower back to round.
• Go forward for the required number of steps, e.g., 10, and backward for the same distance.
• Extend your arms in front of you for balance.

Duck Walk Benefits and Drawbacks

Not sure if duck walks deserve a place in your workouts? Consider these benefits and then decide!

Anywhere, anytime

The only thing you need to do duck walks is enough space to squat and walk. This makes duck walks ideal for various workouts, including HIIT, circuit training, and regular reps and sets.

Build a deeper squat

Duck walks involve holding and moving in a low squat position. This may help increase your squat depth. If you want to squat deeper, duck walks may improve your hip and knee mobility so you can finally go ATG.

Improve your endurance

Endurance is your ability to resist fatigue. Better endurance will help you run further, do more lower-body exercise reps, make everyday activities less tiring, and boost your general athletic performance. If you want your legs to take longer to get tired, duck walks could help.

Develop mental toughness

A long set of duck walks creates an intense burn and tests your determination. You’ll want to stop after just a few reps, but you must keep going. This develops stronger muscles AND a stronger mind, which is why duck walks often feature in military PT sessions.

Increase your lower body mobility

As well as being an effective conditioning exercise, duck walks require and develop better mobility. With practice, you should find this exercise not only unlocks squat depth but also stretches and mobilizes your ankles and knees and opens your hips.

A great way to warm up before a lower-body workout

Doing duck walks is a great way to get your body ready for the demands of front and back squats, rear foot elevated split squats, leg presses, lunges, etc. Begin your strength training warm-up with light cardio followed by mobility and flexibility exercises, and then do a couple of sets of forward, backward, and lateral duck walks.

While duck walks are a mostly beneficial exercise, there are also a few drawbacks to consider:

Knee pain

You’ll need healthy, stable knees to perform duck walks. People with existing knee pain may find that duck walks make it worse. There is also a risk of acute knee injury with duck walks, especially if you are unused to holding a deep squat.

Not much of a strength or muscle-builder

While duck walks are an effective lower-body muscular endurance and mobility exercise, they aren’t really hard enough to develop muscle mass or strength. Regular barbell squats, leg presses, deadlifts, etc., are better for this purpose.

However, weighted duck walks are a better option for building muscle and strength, and there are examples of this variation are below.

Duck Walk – Muscles Worked

Duck walks are an ambulatory exercise, and they involve multiple lower body muscles. The main muscles trained by duck walks include:

Quadriceps

Known as the quads for short, these are the muscles that most people feel working during duck walks. There are four quadriceps muscles: rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius, and vastus medialis. The quads are responsible for extending your knees, and the rectus femoris is also a hip flexor.

Gluteus maximus

The gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in the human body. Known as the glutes for short, this muscle is basically your butt. The glutes extend your hips.

Hamstrings

Located on the backs of your thighs, the hamstrings oppose the quadriceps and are responsible for knee flexion and hip extension. The three hamstring muscles are the biceps femoris, semimembranosus, and semitendinosus.

Abductors

The abductors are a group of muscles located on the outside of your hips and thighs. They are responsible for lifting your leg out and away from the midline of your body, which is a movement called abduction. The abductors are the gluteus minimus, gluteus medius, and tensor fascia latae. These muscles work mainly as stabilizers during duck walks.

Adductors

The adductors are located on the inside of your thighs. Their main function is pulling your legs in toward the midline of your body, which is a movement called adduction. The three adductors are longus, brevis, and magnus, meaning long, short, and big. Like the abductors, these muscles work mainly as stabilizers during duck walks.

Gastrocnemius and soleus

Known collectively as your triceps surae, gastrocnemius and soleus are your upper and lower calf muscles. Together they work to extend or plantarflex your ankles. The gastrocnemius is also a knee flexor, albeit a relatively weak one.

Hip flexors

The hip flexors include a couple of different muscles, including the psoas major, iliacus, and rectus femoris. As their collective name suggests, these muscles flex your hips, pulling your legs forward as you transition from one duck walk step to the next.

Core

Core is the collective term for the muscles of your midsection, including the rectus abdominis, obliques, and transverse abdominis. These muscles work together to stabilize your lumbar spine so it doesn’t collapse during your duck walking workout.

7 Duck Walk Variations and Alternatives

Duck walks are a challenging lower-body conditioning 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. Lateral duck walks

Lateral duck walks involve traveling sideways instead of forward and backward. This increases hip abductor and adductor activation. Lateral duck walks are not necessarily better than regular duck walks, but some exercisers will appreciate the variety they provide.

Steps:

1. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Brace your core.
2. Bend your legs and squat down as deeply as you can without rounding your lower back. Ideally, your thighs should be below parallel.
3. Shift your weight into one leg and, without rising up, take one step to the side.
4. Shift your weight across on your other leg and take another step.
5. Continue for the desired number of reps and then reverse direction and return to the start.

Muscles Targeted:

• Primary: Quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus, abductors, adductors, calves.
• Secondary: Core.

Benefits:

• A good exercise for athletes.
• A useful duck walk variation you can use to keep your workouts interesting.
• An effective lateral hip opener.

Tips:

• Keep your chest up throughout.
• Do not move one leg until your supporting foot is planted flat on the floor.
• Stay low – rising out of the squat position makes this exercise easier and less effective.

2. Goblet duck walk

Goblet squats are an excellent alternative to front squats. The goblet squat is more forgiving and comfortable and encourages you to keep your chest up and your core and upper back engaged. Goblet duck walks offer all the same advantages and benefits and are a great way to make duck walks more challenging.

Steps:

1. Hold a kettlebell in front of your chest so the handle is just below your chin. Pull your upper arms into your sides and brace your core.
2. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart.
3. Bend your legs and squat down as deeply as you can without rounding your lower back. Ideally, your thighs should be below parallel.
4. Shift your weight into one leg and, without rising up, take one step forward.
5. Shift your weight across on your front leg and take another step forward.
6. Continue for the desired number of reps or duration.

Muscles Targeted:

• Primary: Quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus, abductors, adductors, calves.
• Secondary: Core.

Benefits:

• A good duck walk variation for developing strength and muscle mass.
• The weight acts as a counterbalance and may make the movement easier for some people.
• A convenient way to make duck walks more progressive. Increase the weight as you get stronger.

Tips:

• Chalk your hands to stop them from slipping.
• Start light – a little weight makes a significant difference to this exercise.
• Take small steps to avoid losing your balance.

3. Duck walk with a weight plate

No kettlebell? No problem! You can also step up your duck walk game with a standard weight plate. This is a very simple way to make duck walks harder and better for building muscle and strength.

Steps:

1. Hold a weight plate in front of your chest and brace your core.
2. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart.
3. Bend your legs and squat down as deeply as you can without rounding your lower back. Ideally, your thighs should be below parallel.
4. Shift your weight into one leg and, without rising up, take one step forward.
5. Shift your weight across on your front leg and take another step forward.
6. Continue for the desired number of reps or duration.

Muscles Targeted:

• Primary: Quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus, abductors, adductors, calves.
• Secondary: Core.

Benefits:

• A simple way to overload your legs and make duck walks more challenging.
• Increases core and upper back engagement.
• The weight acts as a counterbalance, which may make this exercise easier than regular duck walks.

Tips:

• Start light, as this exercise is harder than it looks.
• Drop the plate and continue unweighted to push your legs harder and longer.
• You can also do lateral duck walks with a weight plate.

4. Prisoner duck walks

You don’t have to use an external weight to make duck walks more demanding. In fact, just repositioning your hands can be enough to make duck walks harder. This variation forces you to keep your chest and torso up, making them tougher and better for developing mobility.

Steps:

1. Place your hands on your temples and press your elbows back to open your chest.
2. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart.
3. Bend your legs and squat down as deeply as you can without rounding your lower back. Ideally, your thighs should be below parallel.
4. Shift your weight into one leg and, without rising up, take one step forward.
5. Shift your weight across on your front leg and take another step forward.
6. Continue for the desired number of reps or duration.

Muscles Targeted:

• Primary: Quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus, abductors, adductors, calves.
• Secondary: Core.

Benefits:

• A simple way to make duck walks harder without adding weight.
• Good for improving upper and lower body mobility.
• Makes it harder to lean forward and cheat during duck walks.

Tips:

• You can also do lateral and backward prisoner duck walks.
• Take care not to pull on your neck, as doing so could cause injury.
• Wear a weighted vest to make this exercise harder.

5. Cable duck walks

Cable duck walks load your muscles from a different direction. Rather than working solely against gravity, you also have to overcome horizontal forces, which makes the exercise feel quite different. This doesn’t mean cable duck walks are in any way better than the regular version, but the variety may help keep your workouts fresh and interesting.

Steps:

1. Attach a rope handle to a low pulley. Hold the ends of the rope in each hand.
2. Squat down so your thighs are at least parallel to the floor.
3. Staying in the squat position, shift your weight over onto one leg and step back with the other.
4. Continue walking backward until the cable is fully extended.
5. Walk forward again until the weights almost touch down.
6. Continue for the desired number of trips.

Muscles Targeted:

• Primary: Quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus, abductors, adductors, calves.
• Secondary: Core.

Benefits:

• An unusual way to load duck walks and make them more challenging.
• A good exercise for developing better balance.
• A useful progression from regular duck walks.

Tips:

• Combine cable duck walks with cable rows to engage your upper body as much as your legs.
• You can also do this exercise with a resistance band.
• Stand sideways onto the cable machine, hold the handle in one hand, and do lateral duck walks instead of forward and backward.

6. Barbell duck lunge

Duck walks require plenty of hip mobility to do correctly. Getting and staying in a low squat is hard when you’ve got tight hips. Duck lunges feel similar and train your muscles in much the same way. However, you don’t need the hip mobility of an elite gymnast to do them properly.  

Steps:

1. Rest and hold a barbell across your upper back. Brace your core.
2. Take a large step forward, bend your legs, and lower your rearmost knee to within an inch of the floor.
3. Staying low to the ground, step forward and into another lunge.
4. Continue for the desired number of reps or distance.

Muscles Targeted:

• Primary: Quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus, abductors, adductors, calves.
• Secondary: Core.

Benefits:

• A less technically-demanding exercise than duck walks.
• An excellent way to make walking lunges more challenging.
• A viable alternative to duck walks, so great for adding variety to your workouts.

Tips:

• Do this exercise without weights to make it more manageable.
• You can also do this exercise with a kettlebell or dumbbell held in front of your chest, i.e., goblet duck lunges.
• Do backward duck lunges to hit your muscles from a different direction.

7. Frog walks

Frog walks are a great preparatory exercise for duck walks. They help open your hips and get you accustomed to staying in a deep squat. They’re not as challenging as duck walks, so this is also a good exercise for beginners and less fit individuals.

Steps:

1. Squat down and place your hands on the floor in front of you. Push your knees apart and lift your chest. Brace your core.
2. Move your hands out in front of you and then double-footed hop your feet forward.
3. Move your hands forward again and repeat.
4. Continue for the desired distance or number of reps.

Muscles Targeted:

• Primary: Quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus, abductors, adductors, calves.
• Secondary: Core.

Benefits:

• An excellent lower body warm-up exercise.
• A good way to mobilize your hips and knees.
• Less challenging than duck walks as both feet are grounded, which makes balancing easier.

Tips:

• Place your palms flat on the floor (harder) or rest on your knuckles (easier) as preferred.
• Move your hands further forward to increase the length of each hop and make this exercise more demanding.
• Pause for 3-5 seconds in each deep squat to maximize hip mobility. Try to get into a deeper squat as your hips open and your muscles relax.

Duck Walk FAQs

Do you have a question about duck walks? No problem, because we’ve got the answers!

1. How often should I do duck walks?

Duck walks are a low to medium-intensity conditioning exercise, so you can do them more often than, say, heavy barbell squats or deadlifts. However, to avoid overuse injuries, it’s probably best to limit performing this exercise to 2-3 times per week.

Duck walks can be hard on your knees, and doing them more often could result in overtraining and knee pain.

 2.  How many reps and sets of duck walks should I do?

Unfortunately, it’s hard to say how many reps of duck walks you should do because it depends on your fitness and strength. Some people will be able to do more than others. Ultimately, this is a question only you can answer.

Begin your set and do as many reps as you can in good form. Stop when you feel your technique is starting to falter or your legs are burning so much that you cannot continue. That’s how many reps you should generally aim for. Gradually increase your rep count as you get stronger and more accustomed to the exercise.

In terms of sets, 3-4 should be sufficient. If you can do more, you are probably not working hard enough or are resting too long between efforts. Doing more sets will not necessarily produce better results.

3. Where in my workout should I put duck walks?

Duck walks are a versatile exercise you can do at various points during your workout.

For example, you could do duck walks in your warm-up to prepare your lower body for the other exercises you are going to perform. Alternatively, you could do duck walks at the end of your program as a finisher. You could even do them on rest days as a mobilizer and way to get your blood flowing to enhance recovery.

Give all these options a try to see what works best for you.

4. Are duck walks safe?

Duck walks are not the safest exercise you can do for your legs, but nor are they the most dangerous. People with healthy hips and knees and good mobility should be able to do them with minimal risk.

However, if you’ve got bad knees or suffer from hip pain, you should probably skip this exercise and do something less intense, such as duck lunges.

Of course, any exercise can be dangerous if not performed correctly, so make sure you duck walk with good technique to minimize your risk of injury.

5. How should I warm up for duck walks?

Warm up for duck walks like you’d warm up for squats, lunges, or leg presses. Begin with a few minutes of easy cardio, followed by dynamic mobility and flexibility for your hips, knees, and lower back. In addition, stretch your calves, as duck walks require good ankle mobility.

Once you are ready, begin with short, easy sets of duck walks, focusing on your range of motion and perfecting your technique.

Then, when you are ready, do your first working set of duck walks.

6. Will duck walks give me more muscular legs?

Duck walks are an effective endurance and conditioning exercise, but they probably won’t do much for your strength or muscle size. They’re not really intense enough to challenge your muscles and make them grow.

There is a reason that bodybuilders and powerlifters don’t usually do a lot of duck walks – there are better exercises for building muscle size and strength. That said, weighted duck walks ARE more demanding and could lead to increases in strength and muscle size.

7. Duck walks hurt my knees – what gives?

There are a couple of reasons that duck walks might hurt your knees.

Firstly, duck walks involve a deep squat and lots of knee flexion. Poor mobility or worn articular cartilage may make this position uncomfortable. Unfortunately, not everyone is built to squat deep.

Secondly, shifting your weight from one leg to another may cause your knee joints to twist. This can also cause pain and suggests you need to work on your joint stability by doing more unilateral leg training.

Finally, duck walks involve supporting your weight on one leg. This may be too much load for some people.

If duck walks hurt your knees, don’t ignore the pain and carry on regardless. Instead, switch to an exercise that doesn’t bother your knees. If the pain persists, get it checked out, as there may be an underlying injury that needs fixing.

Duck Walk Guide – Wrapping Up

Duck walks are an old-school, low-tech endurance and conditioning exercise. They’re also an effective way to develop better mobility, flexibility, and stability. Use them as a warm-up before your next squat workout or as a high-intensity finisher at the end.

However, while duck walks are a challenging exercise, they can also be hard on your knees, so take care when performing them.

Waddle your way to better-conditioned legs with duck walks, but don’t be surprised if you are the only person in the gym that does this funny-looking exercise!

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