LEG DAY WORKOUTS It can be overwhelming when you want to do more than the bare minimum to challenge your lower body. Would you choose squats, leg presses or deadlifts? These are all great options for working your quads, hamstrings, and glutes—but all of these exercises keep your feet firmly planted on the floor. When your goal is to develop leg strength, balance, and movement while building muscle, you need to get moving. That’s when you should add lunges to your routine.
Standard lunges require you to take a step forward, and you can even string reps together to move from one end of the gym to the other. This can go a long way toward your training goals—but for some, knee problems can make lunges a major pain. Solution: Turn the lunge in the opposite direction. When you return to the exercise instead of forward, you will avoid the possibility of moving the front knee too far forward and into a painful position. Even better, you’ll be able to replicate the forward drive you get in explosive movements like sprinting. “It’s a great way to get out of lunges,” says Ebenezer Samuel, fitness director at Men’s Health , CSCS
The reverse lunge is more than just putting one leg behind you and sinking. Before practicing on your own, be sure to pay attention to the subtleties of the movement for a safer, smarter daytime workout for your legs.
Benefits of Reverse Lunges
Unlike squats and deadlifts, they are bilateral exercises (Having the sides of your body work together), the reverse lunge allows you to train unilaterally, working one side of your body at a time. Unilateral exercises can be an invaluable tool in your training kit to address muscle imbalances, helping to make your body more symmetrical (and therefore less prone to injury). Since you’re only working with one side at a time, you’ll also hone your balance and coordination skills, which will benefit your athletic endeavors. You’ll target your quads, hamstrings, and glutes, hitting most of the major muscles in your lower body.
Once again, the advantage of the reverse lunge over the standard forward lunge variant is that you will be able to prevent the front knee from moving too far forward and causing pain, which is quite a Nice FAQ. The reverse lunge variation lets you drive forward while standing, mimicking the explosive movement of a sprint.
Since the reverse lunge frees your arms, you can also use just about any loading tool to add resistance. Start with just your body weight, but you can supplement your training with multiple positions of dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells, sandbags, and more. The world is your oyster – once you have the basic form, of course.
How to do a reverse lunge
●Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Squeeze your hips and shoulder blades, keeping your gaze neutral at a point directly in front of you.
●You can perform lunges with just your body weight, or use various tools such as dumbbells, kettlebells, or barbells held in multiple positions. To keep things simple, start by holding a pair of dumbbells, one in each hand, level with your hips.
● Step one leg back and slightly out, landing on the toes first. Try to avoid hitting your knees on the ground. Keeping your chest upright, bend your knees at right angles to your legs.
●Left the front foot off the ground and step forward with the rear leg to the starting position. Squeeze your core for balance, keeping your torso in a firm upright position.
●Perform 3 sets of 8 to 10 repetitions per leg, or work off 5 minutes in 45 seconds, 15 seconds.
3 Reverse Lunge Variations
Once you get used to the standard version of the reverse lunge, you Try these variations to improve your training.
Reverse Lunge Upgrade
Adding this summer-friendly variation is another athletic element to your lunges.
●Stand with your feet together, tighten your core, and look straight ahead. Back to the reverse lunge, bend your knees to about a 90-degree angle. Loop your arms like a sprinter (i.e. swing your left arm up if you step back with your right leg). For this particular change, allow your torso to lean forward a little – this will help what happens next.
●Push your back knee up and hold it in a raised position for a quick beat. Again, synchronize your arms with your legs.
● Go back to the lunge again with the same leg. Immediately after the back foot hits the ground, leave the ground to switch feet quickly. Circulate your arms like running. Use Khan’s tips to help determine the rhythm: Drive, Switch.
● Use the other leg to move directly to the next rep.
●Perform 2 3 rounds of 10 repetitions on each side.
Double Jump Reverse Lunge
With this expert variant, in stressful situations Accumulate more time and work on multiple planes.
●Start doing reverse lunges.
●While maintaining a low position, transition to a bent-knee lunge, bringing your back leg over the midline of your body. While taking this step, also consider turning your gaze away from the forward move away from the position. By doing this, you’ll be able to change the direction of your hips and shoulders – only the front leg stays on the ground.
● Gently jump from the bent-knee lunge back to the reverse lunge position, then stand up and look forward again.
●Complete three sets of 8 to 10 reps.
Two reverse lunges
Start standing, place the kettlebell in front of your chest, The forearms are perpendicular to the ground and the core is tightened.
Step back into a reverse lunge with your right leg, aiming for the right side at an angle to your front knee. Push back to standing, squeezing your glutes.
Go back to the reverse lunge again, this time taking a smaller step, aiming to get your back knee close to the back of your front ankle when you’re at the bottom of the lunge Time. Keep your front heel on the floor.
● Press back to stand. That’s 1 pair of repeats.
● Work back and forth for 40 seconds, then rest for 20 seconds. Do 3 sets on each side.
Men’s Health fitness editor Brett Williams is a NASM-CPT certified coach, former professional football player and technology journalist , he splits his workout time between strength and conditioning training, martial arts and running. You can find his work elsewhere in Mashable, Thrillist, and other stores.
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