Lunges vs Squats – Introduction
Lunges vs squats which is better for your strength and fitness?
It’s often said that squats are the king of lower body exercises.
And while squats are undeniably effective, it would be a mistake to assume that everyone who works out needs to do them or that they’re safe and effective for all exercisers.
Don’t misunderstand what we’re saying here – squats ARE a fantastic exercise, but they might not suit some exercisers who could get better results from alternative exercises.
One potential alternative to the mighty squat is lunges.
These exercises are quite different and yet share many of the same benefits.
So, in the battle of lunges vs squats, which is the better exercise for strength and fitness?
We reveal the answer!
What are Lunges?
Lunges are a semi-unilateral exercise which means they emphasize one leg at a time.
However, they’re not considered one of the true unilateral exercises as you still use both legs.
That said, about 60% of your weight will be on your front leg, which leaves 40% on your back leg.
Lunges are a versatile exercise, and there are lots of different variations to choose from.
These include:
- Bodyweight lunges
- Lunges with dumbbells
- Lunges with barbells
- Forward lunge
- Reverse lunges
- Walking lunge
- Lateral lunge
- Side lunges
- Step-through lunges
- Deficit lunges
- Stationary lunges
However, to keep things simple, in this article, when we say lunges, we’re talking about the regular, alternating, forward lunge done with or without weights.
Muscles Worked During Lunges
Lunges are a compound exercise, which means they involve multiple muscles and joints working together.
The main muscles involved during lunges are:
- Quadriceps – muscles on the front of the thighs
- Hamstrings – muscles on the back of the thighs
- Gluteus maximus – muscles on the back of the hips
- Adductors – muscles of the inner thighs
- Abductors – muscles of the outer hips and thighs
In addition, if you do the weighted variety, your upper body will also get a bit of a workout, especially your core, shoulders, back, and forearms.
However, lunges are most definitely a lower body exercise.
How to Do Lunges
Lunges are a straightforward exercise that’s easy to learn.
Follow these steps to do them correctly:
- Stand with your feet together and arms by your sides.
- Hold dumbbells in your hands if you wish, or rest and hold a barbell across your shoulders.
- Take a large step forward, bend your legs, and lower your rearmost knee down to within an inch of the floor.
- Your front shin should be more-or-less vertical and your torso fairly upright.
- Push off your front leg and stand back up.
- Step forward and out with the opposite leg and repeat.
- Alternate legs for the duration of your set, doing the same number of reps on both sides.
Lunges with Dumbbells
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Lunges vs Squats Pros and Cons
Can’t decide if lunges are the right exercise for you?
Consider these pros and cons:
Pros:
Develop better balance
Balance is your ability to keep your center of mass over your base of support.
Balance is an important fitness component, especially in sports.
It also tends to diminish with age, which is why older people are often more prone to falls.
Lunges develop and preserve your balance better than most bilateral or two-legged exercises.
Improved hip mobility
Lunges involve a large range of motion at your hips, making them a lot like a moving stretch.
Done regularly, lunges could help improve your hip mobility, leading to fewer aches, pains, and even less pulled muscles.
Train both legs equally
Lunges allow you to identify and then fix left-to-right muscle imbalances.
With bilateral exercises, you could be pushing with one leg more than the other without realizing it.
Lunges make spotting such discrepancies much easier.
Very functional
Lunges replicate walking, running, and jumping.
As such, they’re one of the most functional movements and could improve your performance both in and out of the gym.
If you want to run faster or further, lunges will probably help.
Less external weight required
Putting 60% of your body weight on one leg means, compared to squats, you probably won’t need to use such heavy dumbbells or barbells to overload your legs.
That’s good news if you don’t have a lot of weights in your home gym.
Using less weight also means less stress on your lower back.
Top 10 Benefits of Lunges
Cons:
There are a couple of drawbacks to consider, too:
Not really suitable for low reps and very heavy weights
Because of the increased balance component of lunges, using very heavy weights for low reps would probably be dangerous.
Very heavy strength training is best done bilaterally, for example, with squats and deadlifts.
Balance may be a limiting factor
You may lose your balance before your muscles fatigue, bringing your set to a premature end.
However, this is also an indicator that you probably need to do more balance training!
More technically demanding than some other leg exercises
Lunges involve more movement, more coordination, more balance, and better stability than many comparable bilateral exercises.
As such, they may take a little longer to master compared to things like leg presses, hack squats, and goblet squats.
However, most people should still be able to master them within a few workouts.
What are Squats
Most people are familiar with squats.
After all, if you remember, they’re often known as the “King of All Free Weights Exercises!”
That said, as well as being a great exercise, squats are a movement that most of us perform many times a day.
Sitting down and standing back up again is an example of squatting in everyday life.
Like lunges, there are lots of different types of squats, including:
- Bodyweight or air squats
- Barbell back squat
- Barbell front squat
- Dumbbell squats
- Goblet squats
- Overhead squats
- Safety bar squats
- Zercher squats
- Box squats
Like lunges, squats are a versatile exercise that can be used to achieve a range of fitness goals.
However, unlike lunges, the squat exercise is also one of the powerlifts.
In fact, it’s the first lift contested in powerlifting competitions.
For clarity, and for the purposes of this article, whenever you see the word squats, assume it means back squats with a barbell as these are arguably the most widely performed variation.
Muscles Worked During Squats
Squats involve all the same muscles as lunges.
The most obvious difference between lunges and squats is that squats work both your legs evenly and simultaneously.
The main muscles trained by squats are:
- Quadriceps – muscles on the front of the thighs
- Hamstrings – muscles on the back of the thighs
- Gluteus maximus – muscles on the back of the hips
- Adductors – muscles of the inner thighs
- Abductors – muscles of the outer hips and thighs
Doing squats with weights also tends to increase upper body and core engagement.
How to Do Squats
Squats are a common and well-known exercise.
But, despite this, they can still be a little tricky to learn and master.
If you are new to squats, start off with a light weight and only increase the load when you’re confident you can do them correctly.
- Set a barbell in your squat or power rack at just below should-height.
- Duck under the bar and rest it across your upper back – the trapezius, and not your neck.
- Hold the bar with an overhand, slightly wider than shoulder-width grip.
- Unrack the bar and take a step back.
- Stand with your feet roughly shoulder-width apart, toes slightly turned out.
- Brace your core and pull your shoulders down and back.
- Look straight ahead.
- Push your hips back and bend your knees.
- Squat down until your thighs are roughly parallel to the floor.
- Take care not to round your lower back.
- Stand back up and then repeat.
- Walk back into the rack and place the bar down on the supports to finish your set.
See How to Do Squats Properly With Or Without Weights for additional details on proper form and squat variations.
The Official Squat Checklist
Squat Pros and Cons
Can’t decide between lunges vs squats?
Consider these additional squat pros and cons:
Pros:
Lift heavier weights
Squats are tailormade for heavy weights.
That means they’re especially good for building strength.
After all, squats are part of powerlifting, whereas lunges are not!
Fewer balance limitations
You don’t need amazing balance to do squats.
However, lunges are far more balance-centric.
As such, with squats, you are free to focus more on lowering and lifting the weight and don’t need to worry about balance so much.
Cons:
Less functional
Other than squatting yourself up and out of a chair or lifting something heavy off the floor, most everyday movements happen one leg at a time, including walking, running, climbing stairs, kicking, or jumping.
As such, squats are a little less functional than lunges.
Spine compression
Squats allow you to lift heavy weights.
While that’s good for building muscle and getting stronger, it’s not so good for your back, and heavy weights compress your spine.
Lunges tend to be effective with less weight.
You need a squat rack
Barbell squats are best done in a squat rack.
That way, if you cannot complete a rep, the bar won’t come crashing down on you and cause injury.
In contrast, lunges are often done with dumbbells, and you can just put them down when you reach the end of your set with no concerns about getting crushed by a heavy barbell.
6 Key Benefits of Squats
Lunges vs Squats – Comparison
Now you know a little more about lunges and squats, it’s time to judge these two exercises by a few different criteria:
Strength
Trying to do lunges with a very heavy weight is a recipe for disaster.
With your weight split 60/40 between your front and back leg, and a narrow base of support, you are much more likely to lose your balance.
In contrast, squats are usually a very stable exercise that’s perfect for lifting heavy weights.
The Clear Winner: Squats!
Hypertrophy (muscle building)
Most bodybuilders do squats and lunges in their lower body training.
They usually squat with heavier weights but then do some lighter lunges to further tax their muscles and get a good pump.
As such, both exercises could help you build muscle, and lunges are probably just as effective as squats.
Winner: It’s a draw!
Sporting performance
While squats will make you stronger, which should improve athletic performance, lunges are more likely to mirror the demands of running, kicking, throwing, and other single-leg activities.
Unless you are a powerlifter or rower, the two main examples of bilateral sporting movements we could think of, sports tend to happen one leg at a time, which is why lunges may be the best exercise for your performance-boosting workouts.
Winner – lunges!
Ease of learning
Lunges and squats can be tricky to learn for different reasons.
Lunges involve a reasonable level of balance and coordination, while squats, especially with a barbell on your back, can feel unnatural.
Which one is easier to learn depends on the person doing the exercise.
But, as most people tend to squat at least a few times a day, that should be a more familiar movement.
Winner: Squats, but only just!
Safety
Squats and lunges can both be done safely.
But, heavy barbell back squats should always be done in a power rack.
Lunges, done with a barbell, could also lead to injury if you lose your balance.
After all, your arms will be busy holding the bar in place, and you won’t be able to use them to stabilize yourself.
That said, dumbbell lunges are very safe because a) the weight is by your sides, which enhances balance, and b) you can drop the dumbbells if necessary and don’t need a squat rack.
Winner – lunges (if you use dumbbells)!
Lunges vs Squats – Wrapping Up
Lunges and squats are both excellent exercises.
In fact, they complement one another perfectly, so they both deserve a place in your workout.
For this reason, both squats and lunges play a prominent role in the US Army’s Physical Readiness Training (PRT) circuit training drills that are required for all individuals and units.
However, if you feel you must choose between these two compound movements, you should pick the one that best suits your goals.
For example, if you want the best results for getting stronger, lunges can help, but serious leg strength is built with heavy squats.
If you want to build muscle, either exercise will get the job done.
Lunges tend to involve more inner and outer thigh recruitment, which may make them the better bodybuilding choice.
For athletes, lunges are often the more sports-specific movement as they work your body as works on the sports field – one leg at a time.
But, if you want to get really strong for sports, squats are the way to go.
Finally, lunges are arguably safer than barbell squats because you can do them without a squat rack and, using dumbbells, can just drop the weights if you run into difficulties.
In truth, while there are differences between these two exercises that may make one look better than the other, both probably deserve a place in your workout routine.
However, you should put most of your energy into the one that best matches your training goal.
What’s Next
Traditional barbell back squats are a powerful compound exercise that targets your quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes.
They are a great way to get strengthen your entire body, and can also help improve your mobility, balance, coordination, and overall fitness.
The only problem is that squats can be pretty challenging, especially if you’re just starting out.
That’s why many exercisers, beginners, and more advanced choose to do squats with a squat rack.
See the 5 Best Budget Power Racks and Squat Racks for Sale in 2022 for more information and my top picks this year.
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Rich is a NASM-CPT (Certified Personal Trainer), an