Lunge

The lung is a pretty simple movement that you’ve certainly carried out countless times before, but there are a few significant subtleties that you can consider in order to shield yourself from knee injuries further down the track.

Keeping your knee level with your toes is important—any sideways monitoring, and you’re causing needless wear and tear on your knee cartilage and ligaments around your knee joint.

And this is compounded if you let the weight of your front foot travel forward into the ball of your foot – make sure you keep the weight on your heel. In reality, this is really difficult to do while you’re going forward. It could be better to focus first on the spot and move back on the knee, making it possible to keep the front leg on the heel.

Finally, don’t try to connect your knee to the floor – make sure all the alignments are correct, reaching the right depth will come later.

• One Leg Move Forward
• Hold the foot of the front leg down
• Hold a straight back
• Lower body before the back of the leg hits the ground
• Forward leg shine stays largely vertical
• Along with full hip and knee extension
• Next move starts the opposite leg

Front Rack Lunge

Not everyone has the versatility to keep their elbows in a decent front rack spot, so don’t be afraid to ask your coach for the right adjustments if you feel awkward or if your wrists are twisted too far back to compensate. Other alternatives include putting a kettlebell in the goblet position, two kettlebells in the front rack position, or holding a plate in the chest.

• Hands on the sides of the shoulders
• Keep the bar with a relaxed grip
• Elbows high, shoulder to shoulder.
• One Leg Move Forward
• Hold the foot of the front leg down
• Hold a straight back
• Lower body before the back of the leg hits the ground
• Forward leg shine stays largely vertical
• Along with full hip and knee extension
• Next move starts the opposite leg

Back Rack Lunge

Remember to make sure that the barbel lies over the top of the upper back muscles, not the vertebrae. Ensure that your feet are parallel with your toes and that your weight is on the sole of your forefoot. If you’re struggling to stay aligned, or the barbell on your back feels like you’re moving your chest forward and down, then just stick to some of the kettlebell and plate options that we’ve discussed with the Front Rack Lunge before you build up your power.

• Bring barbell to a back rack position
• One leg steps forward
• Keep heel of forward leg down
• Raise heel of back leg
• Lower torso until back knee touches the ground
• Forward leg shin remains relatively vertical
• Complete at full hip and knee extension
• Opposite leg begins next step