StrengthIn review

Dumbbell Lateral Lunge

A side lunge with one dumbbell held at the chest.

This page is a working draft. A coach has not reviewed it, so read it as a starting point, not as checked instruction.

Pattern: Lunge
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Beginner
Mechanic: Unknown
Force: Unknown
Laterality: Alternating
Impact: Low
Trains where: Gym, Home
At home: Yes

How to do it

Set up

Hold one dumbbell vertically at your chest with both hands.
Stand tall with the feet together.

Do the rep

Take a wide step to the side and sit the hips back over that foot.
Keep the other leg straight and both feet flat.
Push off the bent leg and return to the start. Change sides each rep.

What counts as a rep

A rep counts when the bent thigh is close to parallel to the floor and you return to a full stand with the feet together.

One rep steps to the side, lowers until the bent thigh is close to parallel to the floor, and ends after the foot pushes back to a full stand; each side counts as one rep.

Breathing

Breathe in as you lower; exhale as you stand.

Cues

Hips back, chest up.
Both feet flat.
Knee follows the toes.

Common mistakes

Knee falling inward
What you seeThe knee moves inside the line of the foot.
FixPush the knee out so it stays over the toes.
A knee over the foot keeps the load on the hip and thigh muscles.
Rounding forward
What you seeThe back rounds and the chest drops toward the floor.
FixSit the hips back and keep the chest up.
An upright trunk keeps the load on the legs.

Stop the set if

Stop if you feel sharp pain in the knee or groin.
Stop if the feet slip.
End the set when you cannot push back to the start under control.

General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.

Muscles worked

Prime movers

Quadriceps · moderate confidence
Glutes · moderate confidence

Assisting

Adductors · moderate confidence
Hamstrings · moderate confidence
Deep core / trunk stabilizers · moderate confidence
Forearms and grip · moderate confidence

Equipment

Dumbbell

Hold one dumbbell vertically at your chest with both hands.

In the app

You log this by hand. The camera coach does not watch this movement yet.

Tracking: Camera candidate

How this page was checked

Draft. A coach reviewer has not signed this off yet.

Draft text is original copy for Wave 2 batch 11, adapted from existing Allena records and the owner rules approved 2026-10-12 (#340). No human review is complete.
Technique, cues, rep standard, breathing, stop cues, and error corrections need independent sources and the assigned review tier (blueprint two-source rule).
Programming roles, skill tier, failure cost, timed use, goal fit, and equipment follow the owner rules; the switch-on PR must confirm them.
Anatomy uses the CSV planning hints; the assigned review tier must confirm it.
Legacy relations and engine edges stay empty until the progression ladder lane and S2-CAT-005.
Timed use and goal fit copy ex_reverse_lunge, the closest Wave 1 record. The draft carries no Wave 1 review evidence.
Technique uses 1 dumbbell(s). Load is logged in kg with load-and-reps only; the bodyweight variant is a separate record.
The CSV says squat. The record uses lunge, as the Wave 1 and batch 4 lunges.
The CSV says bilateral. The movement is alternating and counts total_alternating, as the closest one-leg model.
The CSV bench-or-box is removed; the movement requires only dumbbells. Home changes from no to yes (rule 1).
Failure cost moderate: the user must control the stop with dumbbells or on one leg (rule 3).

All instruction and editorial text in this record is original draft copy written for Allena. Planning metadata comes from the internal Wave-2 blueprint CSV.

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