The curtsy lunge is a lunge in which the moving leg passes behind and crosses the supporting one, with a movement that recalls a curtsy. It has become popular in glute workout plans, often presented as the variation that «isolates» the gluteus medius and reshapes the backside.
It is worth being honest from the start: at the time of writing there is no indexed scientific literature on this specific exercise. A PubMed search for «curtsy lunge» returns no studies. Everything read online about its effects is an extrapolation from studies on front lunges, single-leg squats and step-ups. It is a reasonable extrapolation, but it remains a hypothesis: here we try to explain what we can really say and what we cannot.
⚠ Important: read this before continuing
The exercises and advice in this article are general indications and may not be suitable for your situation. Every person has a unique clinical history: what works for others could be counterproductive for you.
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What kind of movement it is
(The name comes from the English curtsy, the bow: the movement recalls that bow. It is written in many ways, cursty lunge, curtsey lunge, even curtsy lounge, and it is always the same exercise. In Italian: affondo incrociato.)
Starting standing, one leg steps back passing behind and to the outside of the other, while both knees bend. The supporting leg stays in front and bears most of the load; the crossing leg serves mainly as a reference, not as the main support.
Compared with the front lunge, the crossing puts the supporting hip into a position of relative adduction and asks the pelvis not to "drop" on the side of the raised leg. From here comes the idea that the gluteus medius, which is the main frontal stabiliser of the hip, works harder than in a straight lunge. It is a sensible biomechanical line of reasoning, but nobody has yet measured it with electromyography on this exercise.
What the studies really say
What we know concerns the exercises "next door".
In lunges the quadriceps lead, the glutes follow. An electromyographic study on twenty physically active people compared the single-leg squat, the front lunge and the lateral step-up: in all three the vastus lateralis and vastus medialis showed the highest activation, followed by gluteus medius and gluteus maximus. The single-leg squat surpassed the other two exercises on all the muscles measured except the rectus femoris (Muyor et al., 2020). The lunge, therefore, is not primarily an exercise "for the glutes": it is a leg exercise in which the glutes collaborate.
For the gluteus medius there are better documented choices than the lunge. A systematic review with meta-analysis examined 56 studies to find which therapeutic exercises exceed the threshold of 40% of maximal voluntary contraction in the various segments of the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus. Among those that manage it appear the pelvic drop in its variants, standing isometric hip abduction, the single-leg bridge, side-lying abduction combined with internal hip rotation, the lateral step-up and lateral steps with elastic resistance. No form of lunge appears among the options indicated by the review (Moore et al., 2020). This does not mean the lunge has been tested and rejected, but that it is not among the exercises for which a documented recommendation exists on this muscle.
On the gluteus maximus, by contrast, the lunge holds up well. A systematic review of exercises with external load places the traditional lunge among those that generate very high activation of the gluteus maximus (above 60% of maximal voluntary contraction), although at the top of the ranking are the step-up and its variants (Neto et al., 2020).
Be careful how these numbers are read. The amplitude of the electromyographic signal measures how much electrical activity the electrode picks up during that movement: it is not a measure of how much that muscle will grow or become stronger from training it for months. A methodological review dedicated precisely to this point explains that inferring long-term adaptations, such as hypertrophy and strength, from comparisons of EMG amplitude is an unjustified logical leap (Vigotsky et al., 2018). "More active" does not automatically mean "grows more".
You do not lose fat in specific areas. The idea of "slimming" the thigh by working the thigh does not hold up. In a study of 104 people who trained only one arm for 12 weeks, skinfold measurement suggested a localised reduction in men, but magnetic resonance imaging, far more sensitive along the whole segment, showed a loss of subcutaneous fat that was generalised and not concentrated in the trained limb, regardless of sex (Kostek et al., 2007). Training builds muscle where you train it; body composition changes in a diffuse way and depends above all on the overall energy balance.
In summary: the curtsy lunge is a good strength exercise for the lower limb, useful and demanding. But the targeted aesthetic benefits attributed to it online do not have the support that is claimed.
And for the knee and hip?
A second set of promises concerns prevention: "strengthens the muscles that stabilise the knee", "prevents injuries". Here too the evidence is more lukewarm than what is read.
A systematic review with meta-analysis and GRADE assessment concluded that the evidence on the effectiveness of hip strengthening in musculoskeletal conditions of the trunk and lower limbs is scarce: in patellofemoral pain the short-term effect (within 3 months) on pain and strength rests on evidence of very low quality, drawn from only two studies with 48 participants in total and compared with doing nothing (de F Silva et al., 2022). Another review compared isolated hip strengthening with classic knee-based strengthening in patellofemoral pain: both improve pain and function, and in the overall analysis no statistically significant differences emerge between the two approaches, although in a couple of studies pain fell sooner in the group working on the hip (Na et al., 2021). Put plainly: training the hip is useful, but it is not the magic shortcut that replaces everything else.
As for the famous "knee caving inwards" as a predictor of injury, a systematic review of field-based screening tests for the risk of anterior cruciate ligament injury found limited evidence on their ability to really predict who will get injured: among the five methods examined, only the Landing Error Scoring System showed predictive validity, and in a population of young athletes (Fox et al., 2016). Be clear about what this means: it concerns screening tests on people with no symptoms, not those who already have pain, swelling or a knee that gives way; in that case a clinical assessment is needed. Caring about alignment during the exercise remains sensible for working well and without discomfort, it is simply not an insurance policy against injury.
How to perform it
- Standing, feet at hip width, weight evenly distributed.
- Step one leg back, taking it behind and outwards, crossing behind the supporting leg. The crossing should be moderate: there is no need to go far.
- Lower by bending both knees, keeping the torso upright and the pelvis as level as possible.
- The front knee stays over the foot, it does not collapse inwards.
- Push through the front foot to rise.
You can alternate the legs or complete all the repetitions on one side. A 1-2 second hold at the bottom helps control the movement in the first sessions.
An important point: before trying these exercises, make sure you have received a correct diagnosis. People often think they have one problem, but the real cause of the pain is another. Doing the wrong exercises can make the situation worse instead of better.
Common mistakes
- Crossing too far. This is the most common mistake: the further the leg goes, the more the pelvis rotates and the supporting knee ends up out of line. A contained crossing is enough.
- Seeking balance instead of strength. If you are wobbling, you are not training the glutes: you are managing a fall. Use a chair or a wall for support until the movement is stable.
- Torso leaning too far forward, which shifts the work and increases the demand on the back.
- Going down beyond control. The stopping point is where you can keep the pelvis level, not where the knee reaches the floor.
Variations and progression
With bodyweight the exercise is appropriate to start. To progress you add load (dumbbells or a barbell), increase the range starting from a raised step, or slow down the eccentric phase. The version with support on a chair is the right choice at the beginning or if balance is precarious.
If the goal is explicitly the gluteus medius, it makes sense to add exercises that in electromyographic studies reach high intensities on that muscle: lateral step-up, single-leg bridge, lateral steps with a band, side-lying abduction.
When to stop and ask for an opinion
This is a training exercise, not a treatment. Speak to a doctor or a physiotherapist before including it if you have:
- knee or hip pain that appears during or after the movement, or that wakes you at night;
- joint swelling, a sense of locking or "catching" in the knee, a feeling that the knee gives way;
- a recent trauma, a sprain, a surgical operation or an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction not yet fully rehabilitated;
- deep groin pain, that radiates or comes with limited hip movement;
- fever, general malaise, persistent night pain or pain that appeared with no mechanical cause: these are situations that need to be assessed by a doctor, not managed with exercise.
Pain that increases repetition after repetition is a signal to stop, not to push through.
How to fit it into the week
Three sets of 10-12 repetitions per side, two or three times a week, are a sensible starting point for those who train on their own. It works well combined with bilateral pushing exercises (squat, hip thrust) and specific abduction work. Like any strength exercise, results depend on consistency and progressive loading over time, far more than on the choice of a single variation.
If you have pain ongoing, or you are not sure this movement suits your case, the physiotherapists at Ri-Hub can assess your situation and adapt the programme online.
You might also be interested in:
Patellofemoral Syndrome: Causes, Symptoms, Exercises and Treatment Which Sport With Back Pain? A Guide to Safe Activities Warm-Up Before Training: A Complete Guide to Preparing at Your Best
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Sources
- Muyor JM, Martín-Fuentes I, Rodríguez-Ridao D, Antequera-Vique JA. Electromyographic activity in the gluteus medius, gluteus maximus, biceps femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis and rectus femoris during the Monopodal Squat, Forward Lunge and Lateral Step-Up exercises. PLoS One, 2020. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32236133/
- Moore D, Semciw AI, Pizzari T. A systematic review and meta-analysis of common therapeutic exercises that generate highest muscle activity in the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus segments. International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, 2020. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33344003/
- Neto WK, Soares EG, Vieira TL, et al. Gluteus maximus activation during common strength and hypertrophy exercises: a systematic review. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 2020. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32132843/
- Vigotsky AD, Halperin I, Lehman GJ, Trajano GS, Vieira TM. Interpreting signal amplitudes in surface electromyography studies in sport and rehabilitation sciences. Frontiers in Physiology, 2018. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29354060/
- Kostek MA, Pescatello LS, Seip RL, et al. Subcutaneous fat alterations resulting from an upper-body resistance training program. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2007. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17596787/
- de F Silva A, Maia LB, Mendonça VA, et al. Efficacy of hip strengthening on pain intensity, disability, and strength in musculoskeletal conditions of the trunk and lower limbs: a systematic review with meta-analysis and GRADE recommendations. Diagnostics, 2022. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36552918/
- Na Y, Han C, Shi Y, et al. Is isolated hip strengthening or traditional knee-based strengthening more effective in patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome? A systematic review with meta-analysis. Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 2021. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34377715/
- Fox AS, Bonacci J, McLean SG, Spittle M, Saunders N. A systematic evaluation of field-based screening methods for the assessment of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury risk. Sports Medicine, 2016. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26626070/
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