Smith Curtsey Lunge

The Smith Curtsey Lunge targets your glutes, quads, and hamstrings while improving balance and coordination.

To perform the exercise:

  1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and position the Smith bar at shoulder height.
  2. Step back with one leg, crossing it behind the other to lower into a lunge.
  3. Keep your front knee aligned with your ankle and lower your hips until your back knee nearly touches the ground.
  4. Push through your front heel to return to the starting position.

How to perform the Smith Curtsey Lunge

  1. Set up. Set up in a stable, balanced starting position appropriate for the Smith Curtsey Lunge using your smith machine.
  2. Brace and execute. Brace your core, control the descent, and move through a full pain-free range of motion while emphasizing your quadriceps.
  3. Reset. Reverse the movement under control and reset between repetitions, keeping your form crisp on every rep.

Coaching cues

  • Move with intent — every rep should feel deliberate, not rushed.
  • Drive force through your quadriceps rather than momentum.
  • Keep your breathing steady: exhale on the hard part, inhale on the reset.

Common mistakes

  • Using too much weight and losing positional control.
  • Cutting the range of motion short and missing the target muscle.
  • Letting your spine round or hyperextend instead of staying neutral.

Detailed cues, common mistakes, and demonstration video are available in the Fitly app.

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