Lunges
Photography: Jillian Clark
Location: THE STORE
Words by:
Charman Driver
Who doesn’t want a stronger lower body?
Lunges target everything below the waist: Tighter booty, leaner legs, and firmer thighs—YES, please!
Try doing 20 squats a day—three or four times a week—to help develop the quads, hamstrings, calves, glutes, and inner thigh muscles. Pay close attention to form and use your core muscles.
Speaking of core, the experts at Harvard Health Publishing call lunges (along with squats and planks), core strengthening exercises.
Here, the experts at Harvard tell us the right and wrong way to lunge.
Lunges:
Right
• Knee of the forward leg is aligned with the ankle
• Heel of the rear leg is lifted off the floor
• Back knee bends enough to form a straight line from shoulder to hip to knee.
• Back is neutral, and chin is parallel to the floor.
• Shoulders and hips are even.
• Abdominal muscles are pulled in.
Wrong
• Body is slouching forward, not upright.
• Knee is not properly bent to form a straight line from shoulder to hip to knee.
• Back is curved and head is lifted.
Once your form is aced, try walking forward to further challenge your balance. If you feel knee pain, decrease the range of motion, and take smaller steps. Work harder by holding weights at your sides and increase lunge distance as your legs get stronger.