The challenges of modern city life and business life can be physically exhausting. For those who work for a long time or have a sedentary life, posture disorders can create an unhealthy body and undesirable situations. In order to prevent these problems, it is important to include adequate sleep, a balanced and healthy diet and sports regularly in your life. In this way, you can get the look you want and protect your health. You can also avoid the physical challenges of life.
What does the lunge move do?
Our body has large muscle groups in the hips and legs. One of the movements that works these muscles is the lunge exercise. The lunge movement, which means ‘front lunge’ in Turkish, can be practiced at home at the beginner level as well as have advanced variations. It is a preferable exercise to look fitter and especially for tight hips and legs. Other benefits of lunge movement can be listed as follows:
- It increases the rate of metabolism.
- It helps to make body lines more prominent.
- It is an effective exercise in tightening the legs and buttocks.
- It also helps you burn calories by working more than one muscle group.
- It strengthens the leg muscles and provides the body to gain balance.
- It strengthens the body symmetrically.
- It also improves your posture by affecting the back and abdominal muscles.
- It helps to prevent problems caused by standing or sitting for a long time in the legs and hips.
How to lunge?
The lunge exercise, which has many variations, can be performed using weights as well as with the body’s own weight. In order to learn the starting movement correctly, it is recommended to do repetitions without using weights. As you progress, you can do the exercise using dumbbells. Your progress can be accelerated by increasing reps and weight gain. The steps to be followed in order to do the standard lunge movement correctly can be listed as follows:
- If you are performing the movement without using weights, you can keep your hands on your waist. If there is weight, the palms should be kept facing the body.
- Feet should be shoulder-width apart and stand upright.
- Inhale as you step one foot forward.
- Start moving towards your knee with your left foot.
- Make sure your knee doesn’t touch the ground. If this contact occurs, the efficiency of the movement decreases.
- The first stage is thus completed. Then start breathing out.
In order for this exercise to be performed correctly, it is important to keep your torso perpendicular to the ground while performing the movement. You can look straight ahead during the exercise to stay upright. This allows you to focus more easily on the movement. In addition, you should not move quickly at the time of landing. This should be done for your health and the functioning of the hind leg muscles. At the beginning stage, a 3-set workout may be appropriate. You can do 8-12 reps per set.
What should be considered for correct lunge movements?
Working by paying attention to the most common mistakes in the lunge exercise can be beneficial for your learning. The mistakes that usually beginners make in the lunge movement can be explained as follows:
- In this exercise, it is difficult to maintain balance in the first stage. For easy balance, your feet should be shoulder-width apart. While taking a step forward, this gap should be maintained and the feet should not come close to each other.
- Leaning the upper body forward reduces the benefits of the movement. Take a step forward so that the shoulders and back are in line without bending at the hips.
- In the exercise, take a big step forward so that the soles of your feet touch the ground. In a short stride, the heel can stay in the air. In this case, balance problems occur because the load will not be evenly distributed.
- Since it is difficult to balance in the first stages, one of the problems encountered is that the knees approach each other and turn inwards. The exercise must be completed at the same distance without deteriorating the initial foot span. For this, it is recommended to practice without using weights.
What muscles does the lunge exercise?
The lunge movement actively works the lower part of the body along with bending. Therefore, it acts on many muscle groups at the same time. It is an effective exercise when the movement is performed correctly and done regularly. For this reason, it is often preferred in full body training programs that work the whole body. The muscle groups that it affects and works can be listed as follows:
- Abdominal muscles
- back muscles
- hip muscles
- Quadriceps (front leg muscles)
- Hamstrings (muscles at the back of the upper leg)
- Calves (muscles on the back of the lower leg)
One of these muscle groups, the quadriceps muscle allows us to make many leg movements. With the lunge movement, you can develop this muscle group. Lunge exercise is one of the exercises that work the quadriceps muscle the most. The quadriceps is a long muscle that reaches from the knee to the thigh area. The characteristics of the quadriceps muscle, which is one of the largest muscles in the body, can be listed as follows:
- It makes the thigh bend and provides movement.
- Knee cap movements are made by this muscle.
- This muscle works actively in basic movements such as walking, running and jumping.
- It is important for the balanced movement of the body.
- This muscle group works during twisting, bending and rising again.
- Internal and external rotation is provided by this muscle.
What are the types of lunge exercise?
Once you start practicing the standard lunge correctly, you can try various variations. Doing the same exercise for a long time can slow muscle growth after a while. Working the muscles at the same difficulty does not affect their capacity. For this reason, it is recommended by athletes to add new movements to their exercise programs from time to time. The types of lunge movement are as follows:
- Step-up lunge: It is an exercise done using a step board. Stand two steps behind the step board. After the standard step movement, the step board is climbed with the leg left behind. The other foot is bent at the knee and opened forward to 90 degrees. It is an effective exercise in terms of cardio. It can be preferred for tightening the legs.
- Full body lunges: Weight is used for this exercise. When the lunge is completed, the weights are lifted up while in the upright position. With this movement, besides the hip and leg muscles, the shoulder area is also worked.
- Side lunges: This exercise can be done with or without weights. As with the lunge, you do not take a step forward. Bend one leg and step to the side. The other leg is stretched as much as possible.