Building The Success In The Best Lower Body Exercise…Lunges

I know when I workout, I want to know the most efficient way to get to my goals. The tricky part is when I or others say this, it is that we usually have multiple goals at once. You may want to add more muscle, but you also want to move well, have control over the body so you don’t get injured, you may also want to develop strength that carries over to things you enjoy in life, and you may want to help alleviate chronic aches/pains in areas of your body. That is why I keep trying to have people understand that lunges may be one of the top exercises you can use.

Why when we have squats and deadlifts?

Better Muscle Balance

People talk a lot about working the quads to help their knees and developing great lower body strength. However, it is not just about having good quad strength, but balanced quadricep strength. As this 2010 study, “The effect of closed-kinetic chain exercises and open-kinetic chain exercise on the muscle activity of vastus medialis oblique and vastus lateralis” explains, compared to both a double legged squat with isometric adduction and a leg extension machine, the lunge, “The lunge exercise produced the VMO:VL ratio (1.18:1) closest to the idealized ratio of 1:1. Potential clinical recommendations can be made proposing the lunge exercise as a key tool in early rehabilitation when restoring preferential VMO:VL ratio is essential.”

It has also been found that lunges are VERY powerful means of improving the hamstrings as well. A study, “Forward Lunge: A Training Study of Eccentric Exercises of the Lower Limbs” found that soccer players increased their hamstring strength 35% with walking lunges. If we compare that with the results that the popular Nordic leg curl improved hamstring strength by 11% in athletes, we can see how effective lunges can be!

Then we have the fact that lunges are incredibly effective for building glute strength as well. In the study, “Improved Muscle Activation In Performing A Body Weight Lunge Compared To The Traditional Back Squat”, found that lunges used the glutes MORE than squats.

Even more so, they discussed the benefits being far more than just muscle activation, “The lunge allows the athlete to be in a more sport functional position. From the basic lunge position of the knees flexed to 90 ̊ we can begin to train explosive recovery moves, which would transfer over to competition. Ideally, athletes should be training their kinetic chain fluidly and dynamically; the more dynamic the activity the more fluid the athlete’s movement and posture will be in competition. As a coach, personal trainer or athletic trainer, we should begin to worry when movement gets rigid because of the susceptibility to injury.”

Using Mobility & Stability

Part of the great amount of muscle activity that lunges create comes from the need for mobility and stability. Interestingly, studies (like “Improvements in Hip Flexibility Do Not Transfer to Mobility in Functional Movement Patterns”) have shown just improving mobility of an area (like the hips) doesn’t mean people necessarily squat or lunge better. That is because, as the study states, the body has to learn how to coordinate the specific pattern which requires a balance of providing stability at the right time and places during the movement.

In fact, probably the best way to improve lunges is to teach how to lunge both from the right intent during the movement to progressive movements as we will show.

Why Most Fail During Lunges

With all the benefits I COULD share about lunges, the problem comes that a lot of coaches and lifters think they can’t use lunges. That is because most people “fall” not lunge when they perform the movement. One of the first cues is that both feet are vitally important to the lunge. That is why using half kneeling positions with the focus of how we are using our feet is a great way to introduce these concepts.

Coach Kari Negraiff shows one of our favorite DVRT half kneeling exercises that teach better lunging. Focusing on driving into the ground and resisting lateral movement is one of the biggest ways we can develop strength/stability for better lunges.

Even more so, they discussed the benefits being far more than just muscle activation, “The lunge allows the athlete to be in a more sport functional position. From the basic lunge position of the knees flexed to 90 ̊ we can begin to train explosive recovery moves, which would transfer over to competition. Ideally, athletes should be training their kinetic chain fluidly and dynamically; the more dynamic the activity the more fluid the athlete’s movement and posture will be in competition. As a coach, personal trainer or athletic trainer, we should begin to worry when movement gets ridged because of the susceptibility to injury.”

Using Mobility & Stability

Part of the great amount of muscle activity that lunges create comes from the need of mobility and stability. Interestingly, studies (like “Improvements in Hip Flexibility Do Not Transfer to Mobility in Functional Movement Patterns”) have shown just improving mobility of an area (like the hips) doesn’t mean people necessarily squat or lunge better. That is because, as the study states, the body has to learn how to coordinate the specific pattern which requires a balance of providing stability at the right time and places during the movement.

In fact, probably the best way to improve lunges is to teach how to lunge both from the right intent during the movement to progressive movements as we will show.

Why Most Fail During Lunges

With all the benefits I COULD share about lunges, the problem comes that a lot of coaches and lifters think they can’t use lunges. That is because most people “fall” not lunge when they perform the movement. One of the first cues is that both feet are vitally important to the lunge. That is why using half kneeling positions with the focus of how we are using our feet is a great way to introduce these concepts.

Coach Cory Cripe shows that one of our favorite ways to get people to build better lunges is to use our up downs. They help people feel more comfortable decelerating into the position, build stability in the hips and core, learn how to create power through both feet, and we can progress the movement by just changing where we position the load on our body!

Before we show some simple ways of using more advanced lunges into your workout (like our MAX lunges) you can use many of these progressions (we have many more in our DVRT system) to help understand what a good lunge feels like and why it is so impactful to so many fitness goals. Okay though, want a simple overall body workout (notice I didn’t say easy?) that will help drive home the point? Check out the workout below!!

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Note: This is a classic DVRT workout so the name Rotational Lunge instead of MAX Lunge existed. Remember, this movement is about RESISTING rotation.