Lunges – How To Get them right

Lunges are a great exercise and should be part of everyone’s workout routine. There are a few things that put people off doing lunges, which I will cover in today’s post. Because done properly they are one of the best exercises you can do. Lunges – How to get them right.

What Muscles Do Lunges Work?

There a several different types of lunge (more on that later), each working your muscles slight differently, but the quads, hamstrings and glutes are all heavily involved regardless of which lunge variation you do. So all the major lower body muscles are working making it a great major muscle group, complex exercise.

What Are Keys to Lunges?

The mostly commonly known and performed variation is the front lunge so I will base the following on that exercise.

The way that I teach the front lunge to my clients is to break it down into 2 parts. But before I get into that, here’s what most people do wrong. They lunge forward with the front leg, then when that front leg hits the floor they keep travelling forward. The means your bodyweight travelling to far forward meaning you are (a) putting excess stress through the front knee, (b) making it easier to lose your balance, (c) making it harder to actually get deep into the lunge position and get the most out of the exercise.

If you think about lunging forward then ‘sitting down’ (not literally obviously) the exercise will go a lot smoother. Once you stride forward, and take a big stride as well, think about immediately bending the back knee and go straight down. Almost like you are in an elevator. Do this slowly, under control and keep your head and shoulders back. Then push back to the starting position.

What if Lunges hurt my knees?

The first thing to say is that a lot of pain can be eliminated by doing the exercise correctly (as outlined above). If you are lunging too quickly, off balance, without taking a big enough stride you will likely experience knee pain. So firstly make sure your technique is right. But if you still feel pain, try a different lunge variation.
What Lunge Variations are there?

Back Lunges

Generally this causes less strain on the knees.

Position:
Stand upright with knees bent and stomach braced.
Technique:
Take as big a stride backwards as possible with 1 leg.
Bend the knee as you make contact with the floor and push back up through the heel of your front foot.
The more you are able to bend the knee the more difficult the exercise becomes.
Points To Remember:
Keep your back upright and straight throughout.
Make your stride backward as far as possible for maximum benefit.

Side Lunges

Targets the inner thighs a little more.

Position:
Stand upright with stomach braced and knees bent.
Technique:
Stride sideways as far as possible and bend your knee as you contact the floor.
Press back to starting position through heel of foot.
Points To Remember:
Ensure your weight is always through heel of foot.
Ensure back remains straight.

Split Squats

Otherwise called split lunges, works very similarly to the lunge but without moving the feet.

Position:
Adopt a split stance with one leg forward and 1 leg back.
Make stance as wide as possible.
Technique:
Bend both knees so back knee goes towards floor.
Lower the back knee as far as possible, then press back up through the front heel.
Points To Remember:
Ensure front knee does not extend further than end of foot.
Keep back straight and upright.

Conclusion – Lunges – How To Get them right

Lunges are a highly effective exercise. So make sure you are doing them properly and trying the different lunge variations.