Should I step forward or backward with the bar overhead?

This version steps forward, which asks more of balance because the front leg has to stop the step under the load. Stepping back is usually easier on the knees as well: in healthy women, the forward lunge produced higher quadriceps force and kneecap joint loading than the backward lunge. If your knees complain, switch to a reverse step or try the Landmine Overhead Reverse Lunge.

What grip width should I use?

The version shown uses a grip just outside shoulder width, the same as an overhead press. Many weightlifters and CrossFit athletes use their wider snatch grip instead, especially when they snatch the bar into place. Either works as long as the elbows stay locked and the bar stays over the middle of the body.

How do I get the bar overhead safely?

Take the bar from a rack at about shoulder height and press it overhead or drive it up with a Push Press before the first step. Experienced lifters may take it up with a Barbell Snatch instead, but a press or push press is the safer choice for most people.

How much weight should I start with?

Start with a PVC pipe or an empty bar until every rep stays locked out and balanced. The working load is set by what you can hold steady overhead, so it is usually far lighter than what you use for a Barbell Lunge.

What should I do if I lose my balance?

Push the bar away from you and let it fall forward or behind you while you step the other way, and never try to save it by bending the arms. Bumper plates and a clear space around you make this safe, so set both up before you load the bar.

Is this the same as an overhead walking lunge?

It uses the same overhead hold and lunge, but here you step back to the start after each rep instead of traveling forward. The walking version covers distance and suits conditioning workouts, while the stationary version needs less space and makes each rep easier to control.

Barbell Overhead Lunge

What Is the Barbell Overhead Lunge?

Barbell Overhead Lunge is a compound exercise that primarily targets the quads and glutes and also engages the shoulders, upper back and core, which hold the bar locked out overhead for the whole set. It is an advanced-level movement: each rep is a forward lunge performed under a barbell held at arm's length, so balance, overhead mobility and trunk control usually limit the load long before leg strength does.

The exercise builds single-leg strength and a stable overhead position at the same time, which is why it shows up in CrossFit and functional fitness programs. Barbell overhead walking lunges were part of CrossFit Open workout 16.1 at 95 lb for men and 65 lb for women, with the back knee touching the floor on every rep. Weightlifters use overhead split-stance work as an accessory for the receiving position of the Barbell Split Jerk. In a session it fits after the main lifts, with light loads and moderate reps per leg, since a missed rep means dropping a bar from overhead.

The front leg does most of the work, with the quadriceps straightening the knee and the glutes extending the hip, while the back leg helps with balance and the push back to the start. In a lab study of the forward lunge, leaning the trunk forward raised gluteus maximus and hamstring activity compared with keeping the trunk upright. The overhead bar rules out that lean, so this is an upright-torso lunge in which the hips do less of the work than in a lunge with a forward lean, and the deltoids, upper back and abdominals work hard to keep the bar stacked over the middle of the body. Stepping back instead of forward, as in the Landmine Overhead Reverse Lunge, makes balance easier, while the Dumbbell Overhead Lunge lets each arm stabilize its own weight.

It suits intermediate and advanced lifters who already lunge well under load and can hold a bar overhead without arching the lower back. Build the leg pattern first with the Bodyweight Lunge and the Barbell Lunge, and the overhead position with the Barbell Overhead Press and the Barbell Overhead Squat. When both feel solid, start the overhead lunge with a PVC pipe or an empty bar.

Muscles Worked

MuscleActivation

Gluteus Maximus: Primary
Vastus Lateralis: Primary
Vastus Medialis: Primary
Adductor Magnus: High
Deltoid: High
Rectus Femoris: High
Erector Spinae: Medium
Gluteus Medius: Medium
Rectus Abdominis: Medium
Upper Trapezius: Medium

Instructions

Load the bar with bumper plates and clear the floor around you, so you can drop the bar safely if you lose balance.
Take an overhand grip just outside shoulder width, the same grip as an overhead press.
Press or push press the bar overhead from a rack or from the front of your shoulders, and lock your elbows.
Stand tall with your feet about hip-width apart, the bar directly over the middle of your feet and slightly behind your head, and your shoulders pushed up into the bar.
Brace your abdominals and keep your ribs down so your lower back does not arch.
Take a long step forward with one leg and plant the whole foot.
Lower straight down until your back knee is just above the floor, your front thigh is about parallel to the floor and your back heel is up.
Keep your torso upright, your arms straight and the bar stacked over your body throughout the descent.
Drive through the whole front foot to stand up and step back to the starting position.
Alternate legs on each rep, then lower the bar to your shoulders under control to finish the set.

Common Mistakes

Bending the elbows
Soft elbows let the bar sink and shift the load off locked-out arms onto the shoulders and triceps, which makes the bar harder to control.
Letting the bar drift forward
A bar that moves in front of the head acts on a long lever, so the shoulders and lower back fight it on every rep and the set often ends in a dropped bar.
Arching the lower back
Flaring the ribs to get the bar overhead hides limited shoulder mobility and puts the strain on the lumbar spine instead.
Lifting the front heel
A step that is too short pushes weight onto the ball of the front foot and the front knee, which shrinks the base of support under an overhead load.
Letting the front knee cave in
Allowing the front knee to collapse toward the midline twists the knee and makes the split stance wobble under the bar.
Dropping onto the back knee
Falling the last few inches instead of lowering under control bangs the back knee into the floor and jolts the bar overhead.

Injuries

Barbell Overhead Lunge is a medium risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The legs rarely limit it. The risk comes from holding a barbell overhead while balancing on a split stance, where any loss of position puts the load outside the base of support.

The shoulders and lower back take most of the strain. Lifters without enough overhead mobility tend to bend the elbows, let the bar drift in front of the head or arch the lower back to get the bar over the feet, all of which load the shoulder joint and the lumbar spine. The front knee takes the lunge load, and it is irritated most by caving inward or by a short step that drives it far forward. Use bumper plates, a clear space and a load you can lock out for every rep, and practice dropping the bar forward or behind you while stepping the other way before you add weight.

If the overhead position is the problem, regress to the Landmine Overhead Reverse Lunge, the Dumbbell Overhead Lunge or the Barbell Front Rack Lunge, and work on overhead mobility separately. If the lunge itself is the problem, go back to the Barbell Lunge or the Barbell Split Squat. Progress by adding load in small steps, adding reps per leg, or moving to overhead walking lunges once each rep stays clean.

Stop the set if the elbows start to bend, if you can no longer keep the bar over the middle of your body, or if you feel pinching or pain in the front of the shoulder, pain in the knee or pain in the lower back. Fatigue in an overhead lunge shows up as a drifting bar before it shows up in the legs, so end the set at that point rather than grinding out more reps.

Overview

Primary Focus: Quads and glutes
Equipment: Barbell
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Advanced

Alternative Exercises

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Should I step forward or backward with the bar overhead?: This version steps forward, which asks more of balance because the front leg has to stop the step under the load. Stepping back is usually easier on the knees as well: in healthy women, the forward lunge produced higher quadriceps force and kneecap joint loading than the backward lunge. If your knees complain, switch to a reverse step or try the Landmine Overhead Reverse Lunge.
Q: What grip width should I use?: The version shown uses a grip just outside shoulder width, the same as an overhead press. Many weightlifters and CrossFit athletes use their wider snatch grip instead, especially when they snatch the bar into place. Either works as long as the elbows stay locked and the bar stays over the middle of the body.
Q: How do I get the bar overhead safely?: Take the bar from a rack at about shoulder height and press it overhead or drive it up with a Push Press before the first step. Experienced lifters may take it up with a Barbell Snatch instead, but a press or push press is the safer choice for most people.
Q: How much weight should I start with?: Start with a PVC pipe or an empty bar until every rep stays locked out and balanced. The working load is set by what you can hold steady overhead, so it is usually far lighter than what you use for a Barbell Lunge.
Q: What should I do if I lose my balance?: Push the bar away from you and let it fall forward or behind you while you step the other way, and never try to save it by bending the arms. Bumper plates and a clear space around you make this safe, so set both up before you load the bar.
Q: Is this the same as an overhead walking lunge?: It uses the same overhead hold and lunge, but here you step back to the start after each rep instead of traveling forward. The walking version covers distance and suits conditioning workouts, while the stationary version needs less space and makes each rep easier to control.