8 Lunge Exercises You Have to Try

First, lets talk about the LUNGE

Lunges are one of the top compound movements (multi-joint movements) that I always incorporate in my personal workouts and the programs I build for my clients. There are different variations and techniques when doing lunges to target different parts of your legs. Lunges are a great way to target the quads, hamstrings, and glutes with one exercise. Here, I’ll show you some tips and tricks on doing lunges the right way to get the most out of the exercise.

4 BENEFITS OF LUNGES

Lunges are functional movements. This means, it helps with day to day movements, such as; bending, lifting, twisting, carrying, etc. Also improves performance with sports related activities, because lunges are functional and train your body to stress the muscles and joints in different situations it can help prevent injuries.

Improves core stability and balance. The lunge is categorized as a unilateral movement, meaning it trains one side of your body separately from the other. When performing the movement you are forcing your body to use other muscles to keep your balance. *If you notice you have a hard time with balance when doing unilateral movements, try building your core and back muscles to help with stability.

Increases hip flexor flexibility. Tight hip flexors are very common from sports injuries, neglecting stretching, or sitting at a desk all day. When performing a deep lunge you will naturally stretch the hip flexors.

Improves posture. So many people have poor posture because of their lifestyle and having a sedentary job. When you have good posture, it not only brings confidence, but it helps with breathing and painful body aches.

PAIN WHILE LUNGING

Even though lunges have so many benefits, some will feel stress or pain in the knee. Here is three things to consider while addressing the pain.

Tight Hip Flexors. Excessive use of hip flexion (sports) or sitting for long periods of time can cause these muscles to become tight and shortened resulting in an “anterior pelvic tilt” which causes weakness in your glutes and core muscles. This postural deviation leads to muscle compensation and will put stress on your knee and hips. Try foam rolling your TFL muscle and the RECTUS FEMORIS muscle and stretching your hip flexors. *Always foam roll before stretching.

Weight Distribution. Is most of your bodyweight distributed through your quadricep muscles or are you using more hip/glute muscles when going in and out of the lunge movement? Try performing the reverse lunge first and see if the pain is better. If it is, try changing the way you lunge and how you distribute your weight to avoid the pain.

Take a step back. If you are still feeling pain, try going back to the basics and do smaller steps while lunging and over time as the pain fades away you can increase your lunge distance and weight. *Focus on building core stability during this period.

THE WORKOUT

Power Skips

Reverse one leg back into lunge position
Arms positioned like you are running.
Keep weight in front leg
Push through your front leg and drive your back knee forward and up.

BB Deep Reverse Lunge

Weight is placed on upper body like a squat.
Standing up straight with core engaged.
Leg goes into the reverse lunge position going deeper than normal motion.

Bulgarian Split Squat

Find a bench or elevated surface.
Back leg goes on to the elevated surface.
Core is tight and torso is upright.
Move down into lunge position.
TIP: Make sure your body is moving down not forward & knee shouldn’t move too far in front of your toes.

Lateral Lunge

Standing upright with core tight.
Take one step to the side.
Putting weight back into your hips and not forward into your knee.

DB Walking Lunge

Standing shoulder width apart.
Take one step forward and lower the back knee.
Keeping your upper body upright.
Push through your front heel and take your next step.

Bodyweight Reverse Lunge

Standing up straight with core engaged.

Leg goes into the reverse lunge position.
Knee goes down while keeping torso upright.
Drive through your front heel to bring the back leg forward.

ma360 fitness -Reverse to Kick.gif — Reverse Lunge to Forward Kick

Reverse Lunge to Forward Kick

Standing up straight with core engaged.

Leg goes into the reverse lunge position.
Knee goes down while keeping torso upright.
Drive through your front heel to bring the back leg forward and kick!

Bodyweight Forward Lunge

Standing up straight with core engaged.

Leg goes into the front lunge position.
Knee goes down while keeping torso upright.
Drive through your front heel to push your front leg back.

STAY HEALTHY, STAY HAPPY

Thank you for visiting the MA360 Blog and we hope you come back to our future posts. If you have questions post comments below or send me an email at malyndasarmy@gmail.com.

-M