Legs · Smith Machine
Smith Curtsey Lunge
How to do the smith curtsey lunge, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Smith Machine
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- Lunge
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Stand under the Smith bar with it resting across your upper back and unrack it. Step one leg back and across behind the other into a curtsey, lowering until your front thigh is about parallel, then drive through your front heel to stand. Finish your reps and switch legs.
- 1Feel your front-leg quad and glute work, with the outer glute loaded by
- 2the crossover
- 3Keep your chest up and your front knee tracking over your toes
- 4Drive through your front heel to return to standing
Common mistakes
- Don't let your front knee cave inward as you cross behind
- Avoid leaning your torso forward over the front leg
- Don't crash the back knee down; lower under control
Muscles worked
The smith curtsey lunge mainly works the quads and glutes, with the hamstrings, calves, and adductors assisting.
- QuadsPrimary
- GlutesPrimary
- HamstringsSupport
- CalvesSupport
- AdductorsSupport
- Lower BackMinor
- Upper TrapsMinor
- Upper AbsMinor
- Lower AbsMinor
- ObliquesMinor
Kovo programs the smith curtsey lunge for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More quads exercises
- How to do the resistance band squat
- How to do the resistance band squat to press
- How to do the resistance band thruster
- How to do the resistance band squat walk
- How to do the barbell squat
- How to do the barbell bulgarian split squat
Last reviewed June 2026.