Troy Hurst holds a Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Carroll University. He is a physical therapist specializing in both athletic and vestibular rehabilitation with an emphasis on performance running.
Lunges are a pretty common movement in our daily lives. We may not give much thought to it, but unconsciously we are activating those muscles often each day. Everytime you kneel down to pick something up off the floor, you’re activating the muscles needed for a lunge. When you see a friendly baby crawling in the park, you can’t resist getting down on your knees and having a cute banter. These movements activate many of the same muscle groups required for lunges.
Excelling at lunges isn’t an easy task. One can always use the wall as a tool to master this technique. This article discusses a wall lunge and why it is one of the most effective and functional lower body exercises. Keep reading to discover some interesting insights!
A wall lunge is a bodyweight exercise that targets the glutes, quadriceps, and hamstrings (1). It is one of the lunge variations, where one foot is placed on the wall for an added anterior (forward) weight shift. This targets the front leg more, as compared to a traditional lunge, much like a Bulgarian split squat.
The steps to perform a wall lunge are:
Since this lunge variation is more challenging than a traditional lunge, you should make sure you have the traditional lunge mastered before attempting a wall lunge. Some common mistakes while performing a wall lunge include allowing your front knee to extend significantly beyond your toes, as well as rotating the back knee externally to find stability.
If you have significant hip flexor or quadricep tightness, or weakness in the hips, glutes, or throughout the lower extremities, you may find that you are using compensatory movement patterns which may cause more harm than good. Performing this exercise with the supervision of a certified personal trainer, strength coach, or physical therapist is a good idea if you are able to, particularly the first few times.
A lunge, in itself, is a challenging exercise. You may need to start with full or partial split squats, then move to forward and backward lunges, then elevate your back leg on a step, then a Bulgarian split squat, before finally working your way up to a wall lunge.
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A Russian lunge is also known as the Cossack squat. It is a dynamic lower-body exercise that improves flexibility, mobility, and strength in the legs and hips (2). In this exercise, one must step out to one side and bend one knee while keeping the other straight.
Here is how you can perform a Russian lunge:
This is another lunge variation that requires some initial training. If you are new to Russian lunges, we suggest starting with a shorter step with less depth and slowly increasing the distance and depth as your flexibility improves. Also, be sure that the knee of your bent leg tracks over your ankle and that same foot remains flat. This exercise can be quite effective if you learn the correct form and adhere to a consistent routine.
Read more: Wall Pilates Challenge: Using Wall As Your Workout Buddy
As we age, our muscle mass starts to decline unless we take charge and do the right things to keep it in control. Lunges are one of the exercises that can prevent lower body muscle mass reduction and as a benefit, cut down the risks of falls and injuries.
Both forward and reverse lunges are highly effective, highly functional lunge variations. Forward lunges involve stepping forward into the lunge while your back foot remains planted in place, while reverse lunges involve stepping backward into the lunge while your front foot stays put.
Forward lunges tend to shift the focus slightly more to your quadriceps, while reverse lunges typically recruit more of your hamstrings and glutes. However, both variations will target your quads, hamstrings, and glutes quite well.
Forward lunges also tend to require better balance and stability than reverse lunges because the majority of your body mass is dynamic during a forward lunge as your back heel comes off the ground and you “catch” yourself with your front foot. In contrast, since more of your weight stays over the front leg in either lunge variation, a reverse lunge results in dynamic movement of less body mass and your stationary leg (the front leg in this case) remains flat-footed throughout.
Reverse lunges are typically more comfortable for people with knee and ankle pain because it is a closed-chain lunge variation, while a forward lunge is open-chain. To summarize, the differences between rear and forward lunges are as follows:
That being said, both forward and backward lunges have their advantages. It is a good idea to learn how to do both types properly and include them in your strength training.
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Lunges and squats are both very functional and effective lower body exercises. Lunges have more of a unilateral focus where you’re working more on one side at a time, while squats are completely bilateral as you work on both sides of your body equally.
Neither is necessarily better or worse than the other, as both are compound exercises that focus on functional movement patterns with high muscle recruitment. Squats have less of a balance component and are completely bilateral, which typically allows for more weight to be moved, while lunges require a level of balance and stability that provides increased activation of numerous stabilizer muscles, but in return, allows for less weight to be moved.
For best results, incorporate variations of both into your training program.
There is no single lunge that is the hardest for everyone. This totally depends on your strengths and weaknesses. Some of the variations that have higher complexity for the average fitness enthusiast are weighted jump lunges, plyometric Bulgarian split squats, and slider lunges.
Split squats and lunges are very similar, but there is a key difference – split squats keep your feet in one place, while lunges involve stepping. Both work the same muscles in your lower body.
Lunges are effective for a few reasons. First, they are a compound exercise that work multiple muscle groups at the same time. They are also very functional. A lunge movement pattern is one that is used regularly in daily life, such as kneeling to tie your shoes, getting onto or off of the ground, or picking things up. They provide a great challenge to the stability muscles, which also help with balance.
Zombie lunges are simply a walking lunge but without alternating legs. In other words, you would step forward with your right leg each rep for a set number of times or distance, then switch sides.
Now that we have covered the basics of lunges, we can better understand why lunge variations are considered one of the most effective and functional exercises for people of all ages. Whether you are just starting your fitness journey and are practicing with some supported partial lunges, or you are embarking on more advanced variations such as a plyometric Bulgarian split squat, there are lunge variations to meet you at your current fitness level.
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