by Molly Rausch L1 Certified Personal Trainer and Certified Athletic Trainer
Hello everyone! This week’s “Fitness Tip of the Week” is about lunge form. Static lunge, side lunge, walking lunges, curtsy lunge, jumping lunge, etc, etc. There are so many variations to the lunge to help get you strong and increase stability in multiple planes of motion.
When done properly, the lunge is a very effective exercise for many different reasons. It is great for strengthening your quads, glutes, and calves. It helps improve balance through both static and dynamic stabilization. It also can be used to get that heart rate up during cardio workouts.
Why form is important
It wouldn’t be a “Fitness Tip of the Week” if I didn’t throw in some injury prevention information. Similarly to the squat, the lunge is a complex movement. What this means is there’s a lot of joints to be aware of. If the lunge is done incorrectly, you can sustain injuries to your knees or low back. If you don’t pay attention to knee position, all the stress from the movement transfers to the knee instead of staying in the quads. If you don’t support your upper body by engaging your core, your mid and low back will take the stress.
Tips on Forward Lunge Form
- Head: chin should be up
- Shoulders: Pulled back and away from your ears
- Core: engaged, with chest tall and back flat
- Torso: shoulders, hips, and head should all stay in line with each other
- Back leg
- Heel should be facing up toward the sky
- Knee should be bent to 90 degrees
- Knee should stay a few inches off the ground
- Front leg
- Toes facing forward with most of the weight in front foot
- Knee should stay behind toes
- Knee should be bent to 90 degrees
If you have any questions on this topic, please feel free to contact me at mrausch@healthworksfitness.com or comment below!
Molly’s Fitness Tip of the Week 