How To Perfect Your Lunge Technique

As a strength coach, I see people doing lunges all the time which is great! They are such a good exercise for teaching trunk stability (core activation), helping to engage the glutes, quads, hamstrings and calf muscles. They are great for general stamina and muscle development and there are so many variations to them as well. But, somewhere along the way the correct technique for lunging has been forgotten and I see people regularly performing lunges incorrectly. So, what actually is a correct lunge?

A lunge is performed by:

• Taking a comfortable step forward and maintaining your torso in an upright (but not vertical) position.
• Shoulders down and relaxed and looking forward
• Pushing your hips back and down so that your knee stays over your ankle, bent at 90 degrees, moving in line with the second toe, and your weight is being primarily supported in this instance by your glute muscles and hamstrings.
• Driving off your heel and your glutes to return to standing position

So where do people go wrong you ask?

It is very easy in a lunge to not use your glutes or core correctly, turning it into a predominantly quadriceps exercise by allowing the knee to track forward to or over the foot and/or the torso leaning over it at the same time. This has been shown to not only increase the stress on the knee but also increase the stress on the hips (Fry, Smith, & Schilling, 2003) in an unnecessary fashion, which often transfers the dominant strain on to the hip flexors and the lower back, especially as the torso collapsing in both a squat or lunge is a sign of a weak core.

This kind of forward loading can also increase the likelihood of knee pain and potential injury under load ("Fitness Programs | Knee Movement & Proper Form during Lunge Exercises", 2016), as it changes the mechanics of the exercise away from the glutes and core, which are two of the main muscles it is designed to strengthen. 

Some of the other areas that lunges can be performed incorrectly are:

Lunges are a really great exercise, especially if you are unable to squat as there are so many variations to them, making them suitable for nearly everyone and are a great exercise for increasing balance and coordination as well as all round strength. Just remember if you’re not sure if you are doing them right either check in the mirror, watch back on your technique with the use of a video or ask for some help.