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Lunges: Muscles Worked, How-To, Variations, and More

Written by Resurchify | Updated on: July 13, 2022

Lunges: Muscles Worked, How-To, Variations, and More

Our body is built with 600 different muscles, which have their own functions. Some help us move or locomote, lift or sit, stand, and do many other activities. Others work on digestion, breathing, and vision as well. Our heart is a muscle by itself that works 24x7 and pumps blood throughout our body. Our major body suction is done by our muscles, which make them an essential part of our body. So in order to keep our body muscles healthy, we must maintain a healthy weight, eat the right kind of food, and exercise every day.

There are moderate aerobic exercises, vigorous aerobic exercises, and strength training. On such strength training exercises are the lunges, which work on the leg muscles. There are many variations to lunges, stressing different types of leg muscles. It’s a super functional workout that keeps you going and strengthens your thighs and core. In this article, we will learn the various benefits of lunges, the variations, and some mistakes while performing the activity. 

Our Leg Muscles In Short

While working out, they make certain mistakes; apart from not working out at all, does not understand our body and the type of exercise it needs to strengthen it. The same goes with the lunges. So before we get anywhere, let us understand our thighs and legs as a whole in short. Our lower limbs consist of the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and the gastrocnemius and soleus.

The quadriceps are a group of 4 muscles that comprise the bulk of the muscle on the front of the thigh. When these muscles work together, they perform knee extensions. One of the muscles, the rectus femoris, assists in hip flexion. Coming to the next, the hamstrings comprise three muscles that make up the back of the leg. Together these muscles work on the extension of the hip and knee flex. And finally, the glut includes three muscles that perform a variety of actions hip extension, trunk extension, external hip rotation, hip internal rotation, and hip abduction. But the gluts are mainly involved in hip extension.  

So when you perform lunges, you work on all the muscles simultaneously, making them strong and improving flexibility.  

10 Benefits Of Lunges

Lunges come under the top three best compound movement exercises for the legs. Let’s see why lunges are such a fantastic exercise.

Improves The Body Posture

Lunges involve keeping your heads up and shoulders, back, and spine straight. When your muscles are forced to work in this way during the whole exercise, they start replicating the pattern in everyday life. When you strengthen the muscles that help to improve your posture naturally, they enhance the body posture and keep your spine and back in shape.

Improves Body Balance

Lunges are a unilateral movement, which means it trains one side of the body at a time separately. When you put yourself into a lunge or any other movement that throws your body off balance, the body compensates for it by engaging the muscles to prevent you from falling. The more lunges or any such exercise you perform where your body needs to balance itself, the more the body balance will get better over the passage of time and regular workout.

Good For The Spine

If you are a workout freak, then you’re performing many such activities which compress the spine, shoulder press, and back squats, which may cause arthritis and back problems in the future if not done correctly. But when you perform lunges, your body decompresses the spine and takes out some of the strain, thereby minimizing all such issues related to the back.

Improves Core Stability

Now you may be thinking that this is a dominant leg workout, but it also works on the core muscles. It activates the abs greatly as our body tries to balance itself. It strengthens the abdominal region. When you lunge in an upright position, your back and abdomen are engaged together in order to keep you straight and balanced.

Works On Weaknesses And Muscles’ Symmetry

As discuses earlier, lunges are unilateral exercises. Performing lunges in regular intervals can help to improve imbalances in the leg. While you squat, if you have a weaker leg, then one leg can compensate for the other, making them look balanced. But lunges are a bit different; it forces the body to improve the strength of the weaker leg so it balances with the other.

Improves The Hip Flexor Flexibility

The hip flexors are a group of muscles located towards the front of the hip, which helps to move the leg and knees towards the body. If the hip flexors are tight, it can lead to all sought of injuries and pains associated with the hipbone. Hence, they need to be stretched and worked out, and lunges do the best in this case. It stretches the hip flexors naturally as you move. The lower and deeper you perform the movement, the more the muscle stretches.  

Better Glut Activation

Although squats are known to activate the glutes, lunges do wonders too. They have more gluteus medius muscle activation as one leg is used at a time. So more activation means more muscle growth, and more muscle growth would ultimately result in bigger, stronger, and more visible gluts.

Helps To Improve Injury Resilience

Lunges are functional movements, which means that they render used for daily or sport-related activities. So it is not just a self-improving movement. It also has an everyday purpose. However, because it can be applied to many different aspects of life, it helps to stress the muscles, joints ligaments in the situation, which could be injured. If you have strong, flexible legs and hips, you are simply less likely to fall over, and as a result, you’ve fewer chances to hurt yourself.

Can Mix It Up With Various Other Movements

There are a lot of ways to vary the lunges; they can be mixed up with different exercises, so you don’t really get bored by making lunges. You can go for simple bodyweight lunges, barbell lunges, backward dumbbell lunges, or even lunge walks and lunge hops. As a result, you’ll have many types of exercises to do instead of going monotonous, which would prevent you from going to the gym at times. You can keep yourself on track and have fun as you work out and train your legs, cores, and abdomen, thereby staying fit and healthy.

The Brilliant Exercise For The Leg

Believe it or not, lunges work on the whole thighs and the buttock region. The particularly targeted muscles are the quadriceps, hamstrings, and the gluteus maximus. As you perform the lunge movements, all the muscles in your legs, along with the lower body, work together. Squats and deadlifts have their own benefits and must be performed on leg day, along with this must-do leg exercise- the lunges.

Lunges Variation and Target Muscles

Lunges can be performed in many different ways, and each has its own benefits. Here we will discuss 13 different lunge variations that you must do if you want those tight legs and pumped bums. Apart from all this, it also promotes and stronger pelvis floor. You can try each one of them and then decide which one is your favorite and much more convenient. With time you will slowly realize your legs and thighs to be stronger along with your pelvis floor.

Stationary Forward and Backward Lunge Alternative

This is a classic lunge form. Any beginners can start with this. You need to be stationary for this one and lunge one leg at a time. Now, how to lunge? Put one leg forward and drop your body down, just like you do while you squat. The knees should be behind the toes. Do not go forward or backward; you just need to go straight down. If you can, you can make sure you make a 90-degree at your knee. Make sure to keep your chest up straight and keep repeating this with alternative legs. You can start with 10 repetitions with each leg and work on your legs. This type targets the thighs.

To do the backward lunges, you just have to change your leg position and keep it behind and then lunge. In this way, you will work on your glut muscles as well.

Stationary Pulse

Lunge pulses utilize your body weight to activate muscles of the lower body. First, get into a lunge position and then keep yourself in that position and lift the top few inches and then come down again to create a pulse. You can go for two pulses at a time to start and increase as per your endurance. Remember to keep your back straight and engage your core muscles.

Stationary With Front Kick

While doing this one, ensure to keep your body balanced. First, go down, do a lunge, and once you are up, do a free kick as you engage your core and muscles. This will help your body maintain a good symmetry as you lift a leg to give a free kick with the back leg. Make sure not to fall and hurt yourself while you do so.

Stationary With Glut Kick Back

This variation works greatly on your glut muscles and helps lift them and make them firm and strong. Here you have to make a lunge, get up and then kick back with the back leg. You will stress on one leg at a time and make sure to balance your body.

Lunge Walks

This is a fun way to do the lunges. It keeps you moving instead of keeping you static at a place and works on all the leg muscles. To do this, put your body straight down in a lunge position, hold for 4 sec or so, and then walk forward in the same position with alternative legs. Repeat 10 to 12 times if you are a beginner and increase as much as your body takes.

You can intensify this variation by holding dumbbells. It works on your arm muscles as well and puts more weight on your leg muscles along with your body weight.

Elevated (Front Or Back Foot) Lunge 

This variation keeps you stationary. You need a surface that is a little elevated (at least one foot). It is like the classic lunges with one foot slightly elevated. All you need to do is put one leg on the elevated surface and put yourself down to lunge and get back to position. You can always intensify by using dumbbells or other free weights. Work on one leg at a time and then change. 

Lunge Angled Walk

To lunge and walk in an angled way, you need to put one leg at an angle as you walk instead of keeping them straight as you do in a lunge walk. As you get back to a standing position, step diagonally and lung walk in the same way. It will stress your quadriceps, hamstrings, and gluts. Moreover, as it includes spreading your legs a bit and walking, the inner thigh muscles get activated as well. This can also be modified by holding dumbbells.

Lateral Lunges

Lateral lunges focus on the glutes, inner thighs, quadriceps, and hamstrings as well. To perform this, you need to step out to the side and lunge by putting weight on one leg at a time. You must also indulge your glut and core muscles to make them more effective. You can perform this alternatively or one leg at a time; you have your own way of doing it. Make sure to step as per your tolerance and flexibility; do not force your body all at a time. You may end up injuring yourself.

Curtsy

You may be aware of this way of greeting people, right? Well, you have a lunge variation here, too, which works majorly on your gluts. To perform this step, your need to put one leg back and around for the curtsy and put your body down; just the way you lunge and stand back. Repeat with each leg and feel the burn on your gluts and hamstrings. You can always hold dumbbells to boost the effect, but take it easy initially.

Bulgarian

The Bulgarian lunges work not only on the quadriceps, hamstrings, and gluts but also works on the calve muscles and inner thigh muscles. To perform this variation of lunges:

  1. Find a place on knee-high platforms, like a bed or bench.
  2. Keep one leg behind and rest your toe on it.
  3. Keep your torsos and shoulders upright; now, slowly put your body down and get back to normal position.

It is recommended to be careful while you perform this exercise as one leg is on a surface that is 2-3 feet above and not on the ground. Therefore, you need to maintain a good balance while performing this variation.

Rocket Lunge

Rocket lunges are a medium-intensity polymeric version of lunges and are, of course, a great way to build your stability and landing capabilities from the air. This variation works on all your leg muscles and cores as well. To perform this, get yourself to the lunge position and keep your opposite arms from your legs, so your right arm is out with your left leg and your left arm the dot with your right leg, and as you come into the air, you will switch. So you will go off the ground and go back. So basically, you will shoot your right leg up, and then as your left leg goes off the ground, your arms will counterbalance themselves. 

It is not really difficult once you know how to do it. Just make sure to land carefully on your toes and control the rest of your body with your arms. 

Step Up Into Reverse

The step-up and reverse lunge is interesting. It keeps your leg’s muscles, your core, and your back fully engaged and in motion. As you will be lifting yourself up, your body would need to balance itself, and hence it would improve your body symmetry as well. Find a strong surface before you start doing this exercise, so you don’t fall off while you’re standing on it. Get into position first and then step up on the elevated surface, with one leg pushing through your heel to stand up on the surface while you bring your front knee to your waist. Make sure the other leg should be at 90 degrees. Come down from the platform and keep the leg you raised in the air behind you and drop into a lunge. Return to normal position; repeat the set 10- 15 times in the beginning and then increase as your body tolerates.

Alternating Jump Lunge 

If done correctly, it strengthens the hip flexors, quadriceps, calves, and hamstrings. It keeps you moving, and as it includes jumping, it raises your heartbeat, which works as cardio. You would need a lot of strength to do this. Always start from less and then increase the reps. It will also improve your ankle stability. You need to ensure that your core is tight; if you lose the tightness, you will end up hurting yourself. 

To do this, you need to take your leg back on your toes, just a heel to toes movement. Make sure that everything is lined up. Center your body and dip down to lunge. Once you start here, jump up and land softly with your front leg landing on the heels and your back leg on your toe. Keep alternating your legs and land heel to toe as you come down. 

Mistakes NOT To Make While Performing Lunges

People tend to make mistakes while they perform lunges and end up either injuring themselves or having less overall muscle gain. Let us discuss the various mistakes, so you make sure not to make them as you perform the lunges. 

Mistake 1: Not Aligning your ankle with your hips and knees

Believe it or not, this mistake will end you up with knee and ankle injuries; if not today, then future. Unlike squats, lunges demand left-right stability, and if you lack this stability, you will only injure your knees. Your knees must be aligned with your ankle, as you will need to be in the right direction. If one hip is higher and the other side, which creates a left-to-right pelvic tilt, it can lead to an injury or imbalance over time. So it is better to ditch the dumbbells and go with the bodyweight. Apart from that, go with the reverse lunges instead of the forward ones, as you will have more body control. 

Mistake 2: Letting your Spine Collapse

If you don’t keep your core tight in any exercise, it will do no good to be, but it can definitely hurt your back. It isn’t much visible with the body weight, but the moment you carry those dumbbells, the extra weight causes more forward momentum, and you start to see a lot of rounded backs and knees blowing post toes. You have to keep yourself in the upright position with no spinal flexion. 

Mistake 3: Taking too long steps

If you want to increase the intensity of lunges, you need to pay attention to the leverage and motion range. Widening up your legs too much will cause your back and knees to take less time to travel to reach the floor, which drastically reduces the motion ranges of the exercise. Moreover, if your knees are too much out in front of your hips, you will not have enough leverage to push back to the standing position with the heavy bodyweight. So the ideal step is to form a 90-degree with both of your knees. 

Conclusion

Working out not only keeps you strong but also increases your life and makes you feel better by boosting blood circulation. It keeps the heart healthy and the weight in control. Exercise also boosts our immunity, which helps us fight diseases. Different exercises work differently on the body, but most essentially, they all help us build-up and keep us healthy.

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