I did squats with curtsy lunges every day for a week — here's what happened to my body

Man performing bodyweight squat outside by the ocean during outdoor workout

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I have never met, nor am I ever likely to meet “royalty.” And so, performing a curtsy was not something I had ever considered I might practice or find myself doing.

However, when I saw an exercise moving from a squat into a curtsy lunge, I was intrigued. And with no royalty in sight, so began my latest challenge. I suggest using one of the best yoga mats for this move, for extra purchase as you step back into the lunge. Ready to go, here’s what happened when I performed squats combined with curtsy lunges every day for one week, and why I’m now hooked.

What are squats with curtsy lunges?

This combined move is what it says it is: you perform a squat and then you perform a curtsy lunge. The basic squat is an excellent move for strengthening a huge range of muscles, including your glutes (maximus, medius and minimus), quads (the muscles along the fronts of your thighs), hamstrings (at the back of your thighs) and adductors (along the inner thighs, which you might be unfortunate to know from a groin strain).

To a lesser degree, squats also work your hip flexors and calf muscles, and, to maintain good form, you’ll recruit your core muscles. Of course, you’re getting some cardio work, too.

Adding the curtsy lunge increases the cardio element and improves your range of motion, also engaging the inner thighs. The lunge variation really hits the gluteus medius muscles or “outer” glutes located toward the outside of the pelvis, which sit on top of the deeper gluteus minimus and are vital for proper hip function. As such, the move deserves your attention.

How to do squats with curtsy lunges

Curtsy Squat to Squat - YouTube

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Stand with your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart.
Engage your core, shift your weight toward your heels and lower into a squat. Keep your chest high.
Push through your heels to return to the standing position.
With your hands together in front of you, or on your hips, step your right foot back and to the left, behind your left leg.
Lower down until your shin is parallel to the floor (or go as low as you comfortably can). Keep your chest proud.
Push off from your left foot to return your right foot to the standing position.
Repeat for reps on one side, then the other, or alternate. If you alternate, count both sides as one rep, and aim for 10-20 on each side.

I did the squat with a curtsy lunge every day for a week and this is what happened

I loved it

I’m not going to keep you in suspense: I loved this move. For various reasons, I like a lot of exercises and dislike others, but once in a great while, I try one that just hits all the sweet spots.

This is such a move. It’s a winning combination of strength and cardio work, and it delivers a mighty stretch if you’re in the mood to push things a little. And I was.

It’s a double whammy of work

I’ve done a couple of squat challenges for Tom’s Guide — the single-leg seated squat and the sumo squat — and I found both beneficial and enjoyable (I still do the latter most days of the week, and use the former to test for muscle imbalance).

But this one was, frankly, the most fun. The chief reason is that it added more movement; it felt active. And because there is a considerable range of motion involved, I couldn’t lose myself in the repetition of simply moving up and down.

I did 30 on the first day and had to work hard for the final five. By the end, I was breathing hard. On day seven, I did 50. Of course, this has nothing to do with improved fitness over a mere week; rather, it was about good form and muscles that were becoming used to the effort required.

This is a relatively easy move to do a few times, but if you push the reps, you’ll really feel it — in a great way.

There’s fancy footwork

It’s easy to get your foot position wrong on this one, as you move from squat to curtsy lunge and back. Don’t let your knees track too far over your feet when you squat, and when you move into a curtsy lunge, try to avoid the heel of your foot sliding out to the left or right.

The further you step out for the lunge, the deeper the stretch you’ll feel in your glutes and inner thighs, but be careful not to overdo it. The stretch is a bonus; it’s not the point of the move.

It acts as a brilliant warm-up

For a couple of days, I tried this move before a morning run and found it a terrific wake-up call for my legs and cardio system. By the time I left the house, I was warmed up and ready to go.

I confess I don’t always warm up before a run (I really should) and on those days that I did, I was easily able to get into a rhythm, rather than cursing myself for starting on sleepy legs that thought they were still tucked up in bed.

Whether you do it as part of a warm-up or not, return to a standing position after each curtsy lunge. It’s tempting to rise into a semi-standing position, perform a half-squat, and then move into another lunge.

Remember: squat, stand, lunge, stand and so on. After a while, the move will feel smooth.

Verdict

I felt the exercise through my glutes and quads and the stretch in my glutes was most welcome. I spend a lot of the working day sitting at a desk, which means these big muscles just sit around doing nothing, so I enjoyed the movement involved and could feel the benefit when I ran afterward.

All squats and lunges will develop strength and build muscle, but this one, for me, has it all. Take a bow!

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John is a writer and editor based in London. He was worked for magazines such as Runner’s World, Men’s Health, Women’s Health and Cosmopolitan. A keen runner, what he lacks in ability he makes up for with enthusiasm and excuses.