Dumbbell Lunge - Step Foward vs Step Back?

[That70sShowDude]

How are leg muscles altered between stepping foward (walking lunges) vs stepping back to the original position?

Same muscles? Different muscles? More hamstring? More quad?

[rdferguson]

Stepping back is often recommended to focus on quads since you tend to reduce the length of your stride when stepping backwards. Personally, I don't see much point in trying to alter lunges to focus more on quads, since they're a very quad-dominant exercise to begin with. If your stance actually ends up being the same regardless of whether you step forwards or step backwards, then the only difference I can think of is that you might develop a little more coordination by stepping backwards, but it should focus on the same muscles.