Lunge Exercise

There are no Absolutes in the World of Health and Fitness But...

Saying the lunge exercise is the very best exercise for your legs and butt is as close as you come to the absolute truth.

Lunges are one of the best functional exercises.  Functional exercises are exercises which work your body in multiple planes of motion like activities of daily living.

Lunges are a multi joint movement which can strengthen the muscles or your lower body while your improve your stabilization and balance.

Lunges are very safe and effective for almost everybody and require little or no equipment to get a great workout.

There are so many reasons to perform the lunge exercise.  Lunges should be one of the base exercises in your fitness program regardless of your goals.

Here you Will Find How to Properly Perform Lunges and How to Modify them to Create a Time Efficient Full Body Workout

How do you Properly and Safely Perform Lunges ?

If you read about the best leg exercises you should already know that the knee is actually made up of 3 separate joints.

Instead of going through the anatomy and physiology of the joints, cartilage, ligaments, tendons, muscles and bones of the knee joint you can look at common knee injuries to help you understand how to perform lunges properly to avoid injury.

Tibiofemoral Joint Injuries Seldom Occur in the Gym Setting

You may have heard about knee injuries such as a torn ACL, MCL ligaments and meniscus which is the cartilage of the knee.

These injuries are associated with the tibiofemoral joint which is the articulation between your femur the largest bone in your body, and the tibia or shin bone.

The tibiofemoral joint is supported by 4 ligaments and cartilage which aid to joint stability.  To tear a ligament in the knee usually involves an acute trauma such as getting tackled.

Patellofemoral Overuse Injuries are the Most Common Knee Injuries for Non-Athletes

The patellofemoral joint is the articulation between your patella (knee cap) and the quadriceps tendon.

The patellofemoral joint strengthens the motion of leg extension and protects the knee joint.  Unlike most movable joints in the body patella does not articulate with another bone.

Since the patella is moveable muscle imbalances can cause the patella to move out of correct alignment.  Combined with repetitive motion such as running, walking, climbing stairs, weight training and doing lunges muscle imbalances can lead to the common overuse injuries with the patellofemoral joint.

You may have heard of different common overuse injuries to the knee called runners and jumper's knee which are part of patellofemoral pain syndrome.

Bad exercise form can exacerbate this and that is the reason why proper form of the lunge exercise is so important.

Since the Lunge Exercise is a Multi-Joint Functional Exercise it is Best Used as a Full Lower Body Exercise

What this means is when you perform lunges you should use the form which will benefit your entire lower body.  If you use the form in which you put all your weight on your front foot you will put most of the stress on the quadriceps.

While this way to perform lunges isolates the quadriceps, it puts excess stress on the patellofemoral joint which can lead to overuse injury.  It is best to focus safer and more effective exercises for the quads if your goal is to isolate them.

To Perform the Lunge Exercise Most Effectively Keep your Ankle Directly Below you Mid Knee

When you perform any lunges lunge forward and place your body weight on your front heel before your toes.  As you lower your torso towards the floor you should concentrate your body weight on the back 2/3 of your foot and never your toes.

In the bottom position your back knee should be about 1 inch off of the floor and your back toe should be pointing straight ahead.  Since the lunge exercise is a lower body exercise you must keep your torso upright and your upper body in good posture.

Another Benefit of Proper Lunge Form is You Stretch Your Hip Flexors which Allows You to Work Your Butt More Efficiently

Before you try any Advanced Lunges you Should Master the Basic correct form of the Lunge Exercise

Here are the most basic forms of the lunge exercise which involve only your lower body.  You can perform holding dumbbells for weight or just with your body weight.

Beginner Lunge Exercise

Walking Lunges

Walking lunges are the most very basic form of the lunge exercise.  They are great because they are a functional exercises which helps you increase functional strength.

Functional strength will help you live daily life more efficiently as well as improve your balance and coordination for athletics.

Start:  Stand with your shoulders in neutral posture and draw in your core.

Begin the motion:  Step forward, gliding your foot along the ground until your heel touches a few feet in front of you.  As your front toe lands you should bend your front and rear legs until your rear knee is about 1 inch above the floor.  Your front heel should be directly below your knee.  Both legs should bent at around the same angle which is around 90 degrees.

From the bottom position you have many options.  For the basic lunge you should lift your body up at the same time you bring your hips forward until you are in the original standing position.

Push Back Lunges

Push back lunges are another great functional exercise.  If performed properly they can help you develop explosive power in your lower extremity as well as tone and build your hamstrings, quadriceps and glutes.

Start:  Make you are on a non-slick surface.  Stand upright with your core tight and your shoulders in neutral posture.

If you have weights you can either hold them hanging down to the side or from a high hang at shoulder level.

Regardless of where you hold the weights make sure they remain close as possible to your center of gravity or the middle of your body.

Begin the motion:  Lunge forward gliding your foot along the ground to where you land on your heel first and then your toes in front of you.

Lower your torso straight down with little forward motion once your front heel hits.  Your back knee should be about 1 inch above the ground.

Pause here for a second then explosively push yourself back to the original position and alternate.  Do not allow the weights to swing or your upper body to lean forward or back for the duration of this lunge exercise.

Intermediate Lunge Exercise

Front Foot Elevated- Stationary Lunges / Split Squats

Elevated stationary lunges can also be called split squats.  They are a great multi joint legs and butt exercise which can be effective with just your body weight.

Start:  Put your front foot up on an elevated surface.  Position your knee so the middle of the knee joint is right on top of your ankle.  Hold a pair of dumbbells in the low or high hang position.

Scoot your back foot back until your can create around a 90 degree angle with your back leg to match your front leg.  The balls of your back foot should be on the floor.  Draw in your core and keep your shoulders retracted.

Begin the motion:  Slowly lower your torso straight down towards the floor.  Your upper body should remain upright with a neutral back.

Do not let your knee move foreword at all if you are trying to work your butt.  When your back knee approaches the floor pause for a second and lunge back up to the top position.

Modifications:  You can increase the difficulty of these legs and butt exercises if you use an controlled unstable surface for your front foot.  A BOSU ball would be a good choice.

Rear Foot Elevated- Stationary Lunges / Bulgarian Split Squats

Bulgarian split squats are another version of the lunge exercise.  Your rear foot beiing elevated increases the challenge for you to balance on your front foot.

Start:  You can use a weight bench or any elevated surface which is comfortable for these.  Put your rear foot up on the surface.  Whatever you choose to rest your rear foot on, make sure it allows your toes to point in the same direction as your knees.

Hop your front foot forward until the middle of your knee is directly on top of your ankles.  This requires pretty good balance.  You can hold on to something if your balance is poor.

Begin the motion:  Keep your upper body as upright as possible and lower your torso towards the floor.  Try not to have any foreword motion of your front thigh.

Modifications:  If you decide to perform these legs and butt exercises while you hold on to something, you should use extra resistance.  If you set up close to a squat rack you can position the bar to where you can hold on for balance.  If you decide to hold on, you can hold a dumbbell in the same hand as the forward leg.

Lunges with Twist

Lunges with twist are an exercise which will allow you to gauge your progress.  If are able to properly perform lunges with twist, you are most likely ready to progress to the most difficult advanced lunges.

If you haven't mastered the lunges with twist you should practice until you master them before you move on to the advanced lunges.  The previous lunges have all been lower body only with not upper body movement.  Lunges with twist work your lower body as well as your core and obliques.

Start:  You can either perform these walking provided you have enough free floor space or stationary if space is limited.

You can perform this with a weight such as a medicine ball or just with your outstretched hands.  Stand up tall with your core drawn in and your shoulders in neutral alignment.

Begin the motion:  Lunge one foot forward and land with your heel or the back 2/3 of your foot first.  Your lunge should be far enough to where your knee is directly above your ankle and your front and back legs are close to a 90 degree angle.

From the bottom position with your back knee about an inch off of the floor extend your arms with the medicine ball.  Keep your core tight and rotate your upper body and the medicine ball over the front leg as far as you can while you maintain your drawn in core.

Modifications:  You can perform multiple stationary lunges for each lunge or multiple twists each time you lunge for a more intense workout.  This is a good exercise to use at the beginning, middle and end of your medicine ball workouts.

Advanced Lunge Exercise

Advanced lunges are about adding multiple exercises and multi-joint motions to your lunges.  This will allow you to work a very large amount of your body mass.  This is important to maximizing your time in the gym but requires mastery of the lunge exercise.

Lunges with Lateral Raises

Lunges with lateral raises allow you to isolate your shoulders while you perform the best lower body exercise which of course, is the lunge exercise.

Just a reminder, if you are trying to lose weight or tone up, and you are not skinny it is best to use mostly multi-joint exercises in your workout plan and avoid isolation exercises such as lateral raises.  This is a great way to get in some lateral raises while you perform a lunge which works the large muscle group.

Start:  Stand up with a pair of dumbbells at your side.  Your upright upper body posture should remain constant for the duration of your lunges.  Draw in your core, take a deep breath.

Begin the motion:  Lunge a foot forward gliding it along a couple inches above the floor.  Land on your heel and set your toes down while you keep the majority of your weight on your heel.

Lower your torso.  As your back knee approaches the floor pause with your torso upright in the middle of both legs which should be at congruent angles.  Perform a lateral raise and lower your arms as you lunge back up to the original position.

Modifications:  You can also perform front raises separately or along with your lateral raises.  You can perform multiple stationary lunges in between each step to increase the difficulty as well.

Lunges with Biceps Curls and Shoulder Press

Lunges with biceps curls and shoulder press are one of the most advanced forms of the lunge exercise.

In this lunge exercise you will perform a full lower body dynamic contraction with an isolation movement for your biceps, and then from a balanced position a multi-joint movement for your deltoids and triceps.

Start:  Get focused and stand up tall with a pair of dumbbells at your side.  Keep your core tight and your upper body should be upright for the duration of this entire complex movement.

Begin the motion:  Lunge forward as usual putting your heel down first and making sure your upper body is in the center of gravity.

Perform a biceps curl when your body is completely stable at the bottom of the lunge.  After you perform your curl keep the dumbbells at shoulder level in a high hang position.

Lunge back up to a balance and perform a shoulder press.  Try to keep your balance and let the weights come all the way down to your sides at the original position and repeat.

Modifications:  You can add a stationary lunge in between each step to make this exercise more difficult.  You can also add a biceps curl during each stationary lunge and multiple shoulder presses during each balance.

There are many different possibilities to modify this advanced lunge exercises which are limited to your imagination.  Just remember that safety and science should always come first.  Once you have the basics mastered, then you can improvise.

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