In my entire fitness journey, there is one movement pattern that I avoided for years until powerlifting. The Lunge.
There is something about lunges that I did not like. Maybe because it was difficult movement for me to grasp or it tested my balance and coordination. I can be clumsy at times.
Either way, I have used many variations of the lunge since I started powerlifting and it’s one of the greatest movements I’ve used to see overall leg development, increased muscle mass and strength in my hamstrings, quads and glutes.
I’ve grown to like them over the years and it is a current staple in every programme that I run. If you want to see growth, improve your balance and coordination, let’s talk about how to progress in the lunge.
The Lunge is one of the seven functional movements that the body performs on a daily basis. They work the entire leg. Firstly, they target your leg muscles from a variety of angles as you move from one direction to another. Secondly, it’s not a main lift so it can take a back seat in most programming. If you are aiming to build lower body strength, you need to be doing unilateral (single-leg) exercises frequently.
One of the reasons that most people shy away from it is due to balance and lack of strength on one side. The goal is to build your confidence in this movement so you can start strengthening your legs and glutes.
Here is a follow along video as I break down the progression stages. Exercises that fall into this category include: split squats, curtsy lunges, reverse lunges, walking lunges, step ups etc.
Assisted TRX Split Squat
The first progression movement is the assisted TRX split squat. This stage is help you feel safe, develop your body awareness and build strength in your legs. Most gyms have a TRX bands but if you don’t have them available, you can use the cable machine. With any split squat variation, there are always two points of contact: the front foot and the back foot.
Assisted TRX Reverse Lunge
The second progression movement is the assisted TRX reverse lunge. There is only one point of contact with this exercise: your back foot. The TRX is there to help you as you become more aware of balancing on one foot at a time.
Assisted TRX Lunge With Knee Drive
The third and last progression movement with the TRX is the assisted TRX lunge with knee drive. The addition of the knee drive is to challenge you to focus on maintaining control, improving hip stability and slowly reduce the dependence on the TRX. Hip stability is one of the main reasons that lunges take a back seat. If you work on this, you will see a change in posture and balance. Hip stability is something that you don’t want to take for granted as you get older.
The next two progression movements do not include the TRX suspension bands. The aim is to remove the crutch and embrace the suck. You may find these challenging without the bands. I can assure you that you will get better and stronger at these as you put in the reps.
Bodyweight Split Squat
There are two points of contact that you should keep your mind focused on when performing the bodyweight split squat. The front and the back foot. With the front foot, you want to focus on press your feet into the ground as you push your body up. Your back foot is the non-working leg and similar to a kickstand to help you maintain balance.
Bodyweight Reverse Lunge
With the bodyweight reverse lunge, there is only one point of contact which is the back foot. Unlike the split squat, the back foot is your working leg and the front foot isn’t. Always use your back foot to press off the ground. This is going to help target your glutes and hamstrings more. Your knee can touch the floor but it shouldn’t be rested as it will remove the tension in the movement. You want to keep the tension in order to target the relevant muscle groups.
I hope that this breakdown of the lunge movement was helpful and informative. If you want to see the full video series of the lunge movement, you can find Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 on TikTok. Let me know what other movement patterns that you struggle with as I am working on an in-depth blog and video series for all seven movements. Don’t forget to like and subscribe to join the blog squad. Follow me on Instagram, Pinterest and TikTok for more powerlifting, wellness, and style content.
Until next time,
Folakemi
