Bodyweight Lunge

What is Bodyweight Lunge:

The Bodyweight Lunge is a unilateral lower-body exercise that targets the quadriceps and glutes while engaging muscle groups like the hip muscles and core for stability. It involves stepping one leg forward and lowering your hips until both knees form around 90-degree angles, then pushing back to the starting position.

Key Benefits:

  • Size and Strength: Works the quadriceps and glutes, promoting muscle growth and strength improvement.
  • Lower Body Mobility: Enhances hip, knee, and ankle mobility, contributing to better movement performance in daily activities and sports.
  • Lower Back Support: Activates and strengthens the core muscles, especially the spinal erectors, to maintain balance and stability throughout the movement.
  • Balance and Coordination: Develops stability and control, especially for single-leg strength.
  • Functional Strength: Improves leg extension strength, hip extension strength, core stability, hip mobility, ankle mobility, and overall fitness, improving performance in daily activities and sports.
  • Versatile and Scalable: This can be performed with or without added resistance, making it adaptable for all fitness levels.
  • Convenience: This exercise can be performed virtually anywhere without equipment, making it accessible and convenient for most individuals.

Variations:

  • Cossack Squat: A squat variation that targets the hip adductors (inner thighs). It is performed by adopting a wide stance and lowering the body to one side at a time, keeping the opposite leg straight.
  • Pistol Squat: A single-leg squat variation performed by squatting on one leg while keeping the other leg fully extended and flexed at the hips.
  • Dragon Squat: A single-leg squat variation performed by squatting on one leg while moving the other leg behind the working leg at the lowering phase of the movement without it touching the ground.
  • Split Squat: A variation where you perform a stationary lunge-like movement on one leg for a set. Unlike lunges, no leg alternation and forward or backward stepping motion are involved.
  • Weighted Lunges: A lunge variation performed while holding weights, such as a barbell or dumbbell, to add resistance and increase intensity.

How to perform Bodyweight Lunges:

  • Starting Position: Stand upright with your feet hip-width apart, and place your hands on your hips or wherever you prefer to help you balance.
  • Execution: Step one foot forward far enough for your knees to form around 90-degree angles at the descent, keeping your torso upright and your core engaged. Lower your hips until both knees are bent at around a 90-degree angle. Your back knee should hover just above the ground while your front knee is directly above or a little past your ankle. Hold this position briefly, then push through the heel of your front foot to return to the starting position.
  • Repetition: Complete the same movement with the other leg, alternating legs for each repetition.

Breathing Technique:

Proper breathing is crucial for maximizing performance and maintaining stamina throughout the exercise. Experiment with what you're comfortable with and let you perform your best. For starters, you can try the following:

  • Inhale: Inhale at the starting position or as you lower your body.
  • Exhale: Exhale after returning to the starting position.
  • Forward/Backward Stepping Motion/Variation: While the front and reverse lunges target the same muscle groups, they differ slightly in muscle emphasis, particularly the quads and glutes. However, this difference depends more on your technique and how you perform the lunge than on the variation itself. Therefore, for practicality, choose the variation you feel most comfortable with and prefer rather than focusing on the minor differences between them.
  • Unnecessary Feet Movement: Avoid overcompensation or unnecessary movement of your feet and keep them firmly in place. While it is okay to move your feet to better position yourself, it is advisable to be firm before starting the descent, considering unnecessary movement can potentially mess up your movement efficiency and performance, especially if you plan to do it with added weight.
  • Knees Over Toes: Unless you are experiencing knee pain or undergoing rehabilitation that specifically restricts knee movement beyond the ankles and toes, don't hesitate to allow your knees to pass over your toes to help build joint resilience.
  • Knees Alignment: While knees caving in is quite normal due to some overcompensations or lack of mobility when the intensity is relatively high, try to keep your knees going in the same direction your feet are facing.
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    Additional Information:

    Ways to make it easier:

    • Focusing only on the Concentric or Eccentric phase
    • Decreasing the Range of Motion - partial reps, only go as far as you can handle
    • Holding onto something for support
    • Regressing to an easier variation/exercise

    Ways to make it harder:

    • Playing with the Tempo & adding an Isometric phase (pause/hold)
    • Adding resistance - wearing a weighted vest or using a dumbbell/barbell
    • Progressing to a harder variation/exercise