What Muscles Offset Dumbbell Lunge Work?

If you are looking for a move that targets your glutes and thighs, try the offset dumbbell lunge. By loading with a single dumbbell on one side of your body, you turn the classic lunge into a core challenge as well. You can do front or rear versions of the offset lunge, both of which target essentially the same muscles.

  1. Execution

    • To do the forward offset lunge, hold a dumbbell in your left hand. Bend your elbow to bring the dumbbell up to your left shoulder and hold it there throughout the rest of the exercise. With your feet hip-distance apart, engage your abdominal muscles so your body stays upright. Step forward 2 to 3 feet with your left leg. Your left knee will bend until it is close to a 90-degree angle and your hips drop. Allow your back knee to come close to touching the floor. By keeping your body upright and resisting the urge to lean forward with your trunk, you activate your core. Pause momentarily and then push off the heel of the left foot to return to start. Do eight to 12 repetitions on the left and then repeat the same number of repetitions on the right. For a rear version, step back with your left leg 2 to 3 feet and bend the right knee to a 90-degree angle.

    Legs and Buttocks

    • The primary muscle group targeted by the front and rear offset lunge is the quadriceps at the front of the thigh. The gluteus maximus, the largest muscle of the buttocks; the soleus, the smaller of the two calf muscles; and the inner thighs, or adductors, activate as syngergist, or assisting, muscles. The back of the thighs, or hamstrings, and the largest calf muscle, the gastrocnemius, work to stabilize your lower body as you lunge. The smaller gluteus minimus and gluteus medius located near the buttocks at the outer thigh also work as stabilizers.

    Core

    • Loading the dumbbell on one shoulder puts you off center, so your core has to work extra hard to keep you upright. For stabilization, a traditional lunge that is evenly weighted uses the erector spinae, a complex of muscles along the spine, the obliques at the sides of your abdomen and the quadratus lumborum, muscles in your back responsible for flexion and rotation. The offset lunge requires these muscles to work even harder to prevent you from leaning to one side.

    Upper Back

    • While the offset lunge is primarily a lower body and core exercise, muscles of the upper back also work to stabilize you. The upper and lower portions of the trapezius, a large triangular muscle that extends from the base of the head to the middle of the spine, stabilizes your upper body while lunging and holding the dumbbell. The levator scapulae, which lies along the back and sides of the neck, keeps your scapula -- or shoulder blades -- stable as you do the offset lunge.