What are the Differences in the Benefits of the Curtsy Lunge vs. a Regular Lunge?

Muscles Worked

All Lunges are a compound functional strength movement, that target your glutes, quads, hamstrings, and calves.

Regular Lunges targets the gluteus maximus.

The Curtsy Lunge targets the inner thighs along with your gluteus medius, and minimus which help improve your posture and stabilize your hips. The glute medius is an often neglected area of your backside, making the curtsy lunge a great variation to help increase strength and size. The curtsy lunge also strengthens joints and stabilizer muscles such as your core, hips, and ankles.

Benefits

1. Strength And Muscle Mass

The curtsy lunge is a compound functional strength movement, stimulating multiple muscle groups, joints, and stabilizers to help build more strength and size in your lower body and core. The curtsy lunge can help improve your functional movement and performance in multiple weight training exercises, running, sports, and daily activities.

2. Sculpted Booty

The curtsy lunge targets the glutes, specifically the glute minimus, medius and inner thighs. The curtsy lunge can help you build bigger, fuller, and stronger glutes. With stronger glutes you’ll also be able to push more weight, lift heavier and increase power and strength.

3. Core Strength, Stability and Balance

The criss-cross motion strengthens your core, hips, quads, calves and ankles,and improves stability and balance because it is a less stable position than a regular lunge.

3. Higher Base Metabolic Rate

The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you burn at rest. Strength training will help build more muscle mass, therefore burning more calories at rest, boosting your metabolic rate. Resting muscle tissue burns 6kcal/lb per day at rest, thus the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn.

4. EPOC

Post workout your metabolism stays elevated through a process called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). EPOC also known as the after-burn effect, refers to the oxygen and energy it takes for your body to repair your muscles and recover after a workout. Workouts with more strength training have been associated with a more substantial EPOC.