How to Do a Lateral Lunge: Form, Mistakes and Variations for Beginners

To do a lateral lunge, stand tall, take a big step out to one side, sit your hips back and bend that knee while your other leg stays straight, then push through the bent leg to step back to the middle. It is one of the simplest ways to train your legs side to side, building strength in your glutes, quads and inner thighs while gently opening up your hips.

Squats, deadlifts and most lunges move you forwards and backwards, so this one fills a gap. You need no kit to start.

What is a lateral lunge?

A lateral lunge, also called a side lunge, is a lunge where you step out to the side. One leg bends and takes most of your weight, while the other stays long and straight. It is a close cousin of the Cossack squat, a deeper version where you stay low and shift from one leg to the other, which makes a good later progression.

What muscles does a lateral lunge work?

• Glutes on your bent leg, including the side of your hip, which help you sit back and push back up.
• Quads on the front of your bent thigh, which control the lowering.
• Adductors, the muscles along your inner thighs, which control the step out and help pull you back to the centre.
• Hamstrings, core and feet, which steady your hips, trunk and planted foot.

Sitting further back with a slight forward lean tends to bring in more glute, while staying upright puts more work into your quads. Neither is wrong.

Does a lateral lunge help mobility as well as strength?

It can help with both. As you sit into the bent leg, the inner thigh of your straight leg lengthens under control, which is why many coaches use lateral lunges in warm-ups. You do not need to sink all the way down on day one. Go as low as you can with your heel flat, chest proud and straight leg straight, and your range will usually improve with regular practice. If you feel a pinch in the hip or groin rather than a stretch, take a shorter step and stay higher.

How do you do a lateral lunge, step by step?

Practise with bodyweight first, with a doorframe or sturdy chair in front of you to hold if you wobble.

• Stand tall. Feet hip-width apart, toes forward, hands clasped at your chest.
• Brace. Breathe into your belly and gently tighten your core.
• Step out wide. Take a big step to one side and land with that foot flat, toes forward or very slightly out. Aim wide enough that your straight leg feels a gentle stretch at the bottom.
• Sit back. Push your hips back and bend the stepping knee, as if reaching for a low chair behind you. Your other leg stays straight, foot flat.
• Check the bottom. Bent knee over your middle toes, heel down, chest facing forward, weight through the middle of your bent foot.
• Push back to the middle. Drive the floor away through your bent leg and bring your feet together, finishing tall.
• Repeat or switch. Do all your reps on one side, then the other, or alternate once you feel steady.

What are the key form cues to remember?

• Sit back, not down. Your hips travel back and to the side before your knee bends much.
• Toes forward, heels down. Both feet stay flat for the whole rep.
• Long leg, long stretch. Keep the straight leg straight and let the inner thigh lengthen.

What are the most common mistakes, and how do you fix them?

What are the easier and harder versions?

Move up a rung when you can do 3 sets of 10 on each side with good control, and step back down if your form slips.

• Rung 1, supported side shift. Feet wide, holding a doorframe or sturdy chair in front of you. Without stepping, sit your hips back and over to one side, then the other.
• Rung 2, supported lateral lunge. The full step out and back, hands lightly on the support.
• Rung 3, counterbalance lateral lunge. No support, arms reaching straight out in front as you sit back, which makes balance easier.
• Rung 4, bodyweight lateral lunge. Hands at your chest or on your hips.
• Rung 5, goblet lateral lunge. Hold one dumbbell or kettlebell close to your chest, as in a goblet squat. The weight in front acts as a counterbalance, so many people find it easier to sit back with a tall chest.
• Rung 6, slider lateral lunge. One foot on a towel on a smooth floor, or on a slider. Slide it out as you bend your other leg, then pull it back in, which works your inner thigh hard.
• Rung 7, Cossack squat. Feet wide, sink low into one leg with the toes of your straight leg pointing up, then shift across. It needs good hip and ankle mobility, so build up slowly.

How many sets and reps should you do?

For most beginners, 2 to 3 sets of 6 to 10 reps per side, twice a week, is plenty. Rest 60 to 90 seconds between sets, finish each set with a rep or two in the tank, and stick to bodyweight for the first week or two while you find your depth.

Once 3 sets of 10 per side feel controlled, hold a light dumbbell or kettlebell at your chest, often around 4 to 8 kg, and drop back to 8 reps. Build the reps back up before adding weight. As a warm-up, 1 or 2 easy sets of 5 per side is enough.

The UK Chief Medical Officers' guidelines advise adults to do muscle-strengthening activity on at least two days a week, working the major muscle groups. A lateral lunge fits well in a simple full-body session alongside a squat or hinge, a push, a pull and a core move.

Why are lateral lunges good for runners?

Running looks like a straight-line sport, but on every single-leg landing your hips work side to side to keep your pelvis level and your knee in line.

• It trains side-to-side control, a direction that squats and forward lunges rarely challenge.
• It strengthens the inner thighs, which most plans give little direct work. Our guide to adductor and groin strength for runners covers more moves, including the Copenhagen plank.
• It rounds out your leg work. Pair it with reverse lunges so each leg is trained forwards, backwards and sideways.

Strength training more broadly supports running too. A 2024 review of studies in middle- and long-distance runners found strength training may improve running economy, meaning you use less energy at a given pace, with heavier lifting and mixed methods showing the clearest effects.

Why do team-sport players need side-to-side strength?

Football, rugby, hockey, netball and basketball are full of side steps, cuts and sudden stops. Each one asks a single leg to take your weight out to the side and push you back the other way, which is the lateral lunge pattern done fast.

The inner thigh takes a lot of load in these sports. In a 2019 trial of 652 semi-professional male footballers in Norway, teams that added a simple adductor strengthening programme, based on the Copenhagen adduction exercise, had a 41% lower risk of reporting groin problems over the season than teams training as normal. That programme did not use lateral lunges, so the takeaway is that inner-thigh strength is worth training, not that one exercise prevents injury.

What does a 4-week lateral lunge plan look like?

Do two sessions a week, with at least one easy or rest day between them. If your balance and mobility are already good, start at week 2.

If week 4 feels comfortable, repeat it, adding reps first and then weight.

How do lateral lunges fit into a week with running?

• Use them in warm-ups before a run, match or leg session.
• Pair full sets with easy days, ideally not the day before a long run or hard session.
• Keep hard leg days apart. Avoid heavy leg work and HIIT on back-to-back days.
• Ease off in race week to one light warm-up set, or leave them out.

A plan that treats running, strength and HIIT as one helps here, so your leg days support your runs instead of competing with them. Edge Pro builds a fully personalised plan around your goals, ready within 24 hours, with a real coach you can message anytime about your form or a busy week. It starts with a 7-day free trial, which needs a card.

This article is general guidance, not medical advice. If you are new to exercise, returning from injury, or managing a health condition, speak to your GP before starting, and see a physio for any niggle that does not settle.