I remember the first time I saw someone performing the curtsy lunge.
It was a movement pattern I had never seen before, and one I was not confident to perform with a gym crowd audience.
However, the more I researched the movement pattern, the more I saw the benefits of the exercise.
The curtsy lunge is a way to train a fundamental movement pattern known as the lunge. Maintaining strength in these fundamental movement patterns is key to maintaining strength throughout your lifespan.
Additionally, the curtsy lunge trains the muscles in the sagittal plane. This is unique for most gym goers who focus on lifts that are frontal-plain dominant.
The benefit? Challenging muscle groups to operate safely in different planes of motion using a fundamental movement pattern translates into real-world strength.
Now that you know a little more about the exercise, today I am going to provide you with instructions on how to perform it, how to add it to your workout routines, and provide some variations you can go and explore if you want to spice up your workouts in the future.
Keep in mind this is all for information purposes. Please consult with your health care provider before beginning any exercise program.
How to Perform the Curtsy Lunge
The curtsy lunge can be performed with weights. However, in this article, we are going to focus on the bodyweight variation of the exercise. As a result, this exercise can be performed anywhere you happen to work out – whether that be at home, on the road, or in the gym.
To perform the curtsy lunge:
- Assume an upright stance with your feet hip width apart.
- Determine which foot will be your starting foot and plant it firmly on the ground.
- Lift your other foot and bring your leg behind the leg of the foot you’ve planted on the ground so that your knee is behind you.
- Maintain an upright torso as you perform a fluid lunge with the leg you’ve planted on the ground.
- Brace your core, and press through your planted foot to contract your quads and glutes.
- Return to the starting position and plant the opposite foot on the ground to begin performing the same movement for the other leg.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
What Muscles Are Targeted When Performing Curtsy Lunges?
The curtsy lunge is a compound exercise that trains multiple muscle groups simultaneously. It will primarily target the muscles of the lower body including the quads, glutes, and adductors (inner thigh muscles).
Indirectly, it will also target the muscles of the core, hips, hamstrings, and calves.
How to Add Curtsy Lunges to Your Workouts
The placement of curtsy lunges within your workouts will depend on your goals for the exercise and what tools you are using to train your body. Some may use the exercise at the beginning of their workout if they perform bodyweight style workouts. Others who work out at the gym may use the exercise as an secondary or accessory lift to add extra volume to train the muscles of the legs and glutes.
Set ranges will generally be anywhere between 2-4 sets and rep ranges have a wide variety depending on the goals of the lifter. Most will perform between 8-12 repetitions. Some may choose to go as high as 15-20 repetitions for the exercise. When you see rep ranges listed in workout routines online, it is safe to assume that the reps listed should be performed for each leg.
If you primarily use full body workouts, the curtsy lunge can be an exercise you utilize to train the lunge movement pattern. Its placement will depend on the intensity of other exercises within your workout.
If you perform upper/lower workouts, the exercise may be used during your lower body workout days and will likely be one of the lifts used after your main compound lifts of the session. It may also be a primary exercise for those performing at home workouts or bodyweight only workouts.
If you perform push/pull/leg splits, the exercise will be utilized during your leg workouts and will likely be performed after your main compound lifts of the session.
Similarly, if you perform bro split style workouts, the exercise will be included during your leg workouts and will be performed after your main compound lifts.
Curtsy Lunge Variations
The curtsy lunge is a lunge variation itself. Many of the lunge variations can be supplemented for the curtsy lunge if you are uncomfortable or unable to perform the exercise.
Once I have more exercise guides added to the website, I will link to them for these variations.
- Dumbbell Curtsy Lunge
- Kettlebell Curtsy Lunge
- Lateral Lunge
- Bulgarian Split Squat
- Bodyweight Lunge
- Rear Lunge
- Walking Lunge
Conclusion
The curtsy lunge is great for anyone looking to build the muscles of the legs and glutes.
Since the exercise is a bodyweight exercise, it can be performed practically anywhere you decide to train It is also a versatile exercise that can be incorporated in nearly any workout training split such as bro split workouts, PPL splits, and Upper/Lower workouts.
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