Lunge

Below I’ve attached a very good video that effectively describes how to do a lunge properly by a gym professional. His technique is by far one of the best and most stable that I have seen, do have a look at how he is doing it:

Lunge variations
Once you have mastered the normal lunge as described in the video you can also consider doing other variation which will also help you balancing and give a better overall workout rather than just the basic lunge. These increase the challenge of the core muscles to maintain perfect alignment of the lumbar spine and pelvis.

1. Lunge and twist.
Use a stick or light bar for this exercise placed upon the back of your neck and shoulders.

Go down into the lunge position and hold it at the bottom. Turn your shoulders towards the front leg. Do it slowly and focus on keeping your knee and pelvis completely still. The twist increases the demand of the hip muscles to maintain alignment.

2. Lunge and lift.
Use a medicine ball for this exercise – 3-5 kg is appropriate.

Lunge forward holding a ball out in front of you. As you do so, lift the ball with straight arms overhead. Pause at the bottom position and push yourself back up. The aim is to keep the ball overhead whilst maintaining a perfect neutral spine position. The lift overhead increases the demand on the transverse abs and obliques to maintain the neutral spine position.

3. Lunge and chop.
You need a pulley cable machine or some elastic resistance tubing for this one. The cable or elastic need to be head height.

Stand to the side of the cable machine (elastic) and grab the handle with two hands. Go into the lunge with the foot away from the cable forward. Your hands will now be by your head. Keeping your arms straight, pull the cable (elastic) down and across your body. Your hands will now be by your opposite hip. It’s just like chopping an axe across your body. Slowly return to the start position.

The object of the exercise is to keep your pelvis aligned while the abs and obliques work hard during the chop movement. This exercise is very difficult to perform with perfect alignment. It is best to start with small weights.

 Lunge - Part 1