Lunges

 A great exercise that ties in all 3 of the major muscles in the lower body; quads, hamstrings and glutes.  A lunge is an exercise that beginners and advanced people in the fitness world can do, an exercise that feels great to do as well as feels awesome when it is done.

I have pin pointed out certain areas to look for while doing the lunge, to maximize the intensity of the exercise in order to get the results you are looking for.

To start the exercise, set your position in a ‘proposal’ type, angle your thigh parallel to the floor and draw your rear knee inwards, all the pressure will be on the front leg and your rear will act like a rudder to control balance.

Begin the movement by pushing through the heel of your front foot, keeping your quads and glutes flexed.  Extend your movement upwards to about 3/4 of your full range of motion, keeping the flexion in the quad, extend your rear knee as you motion upwards and remember to bring the knee as close to the floor to get the full stretch in the front quad on the way down.  Do not bounce the motion, use strict form to target the 3 major muscles in order to get a deep stretch and flexion.
Keep your front knee behind your toes, you will avoid injury this way as well as keep the pressure on the 3 muscle groups.  You will also get more range of motion generating a deeper stretch and deeper breakdown of the muscle.

 Remember to bend that rear knee to keep the pressure on the front leg, your rear leg should be somewhat relaxed and its only use is to keep control over the motion and to keep balance.
Do not put your hands on your knees, it will take the pressure off the quad as well as limit your range of motion, it also has a potential to round the lower back which will take away the use of your core in this exercise. 
  • You should be doing around 10-15 reps per leg on this exercise, effective range of motion as well as squeeze and flexion need to be targeted on this exercise.
  • When the exercise becomes less challenging, use weight in order to get a deeper contraction.  Always be careful of the amount of weight that you use while doing proper form as the heavier the weight the more potential there is to bounce.
  • Change the position of the weight, dumbbells by your side is always a great way to do the exercise but changing the position to your shoulders can change the dynamic of the exercise.  Changing from dumbbells to a barbell can also change the dynamic too.
  • Be more creative, super set with a isolated hamstring exercise or glute exercise to really tear down the muscles.
One of my favorite exercises to do while working multiple body parts is to be in the lunge position while doing overhead presses, being more creative you can change your planes by adding a corkscrew effect while doing the press as shown below.

Remember, always push yourself to the highest potential while doing any exercise, make the exercise work for YOU!  There is a difference in doing an exercise and getting the most out of it, push yourself to the max while doing the exercise, whatever it may be and immediately see the difference.  Control the exercise rather than let it control you, keep interested by variation and intensity! Improvement is a step by step basis that you have the ability to do, keep up the good spirit while training and the benefits will follow.  

0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply