Lunges!!

[TigerCub]

UGH!!! I hate lunges!

 

I try to do them, I really do - I know that they are important, but DAMN! They hurt.

 

I also suck at doing them.

 

I do 2 sets of 8 on each side.

 

I don't have good balance so only 1 hand has a weight in it (10lbs) and the other kind of touches the wall I'm next to because of my bad balance, and I just feel like I'm doing it all sucky

 

I tried to do the weights in both hands initially but I wobble so much on the way down - it was extremely tough and I'm sure looked super comical

 

Anywhos, I know they are important and I feel good feeling that soreness in my booté the next day, but I hate them.

 

Is it normal for knees to crack and feel pressure sometimes while doing them?

 

Is the 2 sets of 8 3x a week enough, should I be upping that?

 

Honestly, it's hard enough to finish the 2 of 8 as it is...I dunno.

 

What are you guys doing for lunges?

Does anyone other than me use a wall for balance?

[Cali408]

Just keep practicing. Try this, don't use a weight and every hour, do a set of 2 or 3 on each side. Focus on tensing everything, dig your toes into the floor. Strength is a skill, a practice. You're still getting the reps, but the quality of the reps is better.

 

Think of it this way, if you play the piano. Are you better off practicing 20 minutes every day, or practicing once a week for 2 hours?

[Emilia]

Is it normal for knees to crack and feel pressure sometimes while doing them?

 

Is the 2 sets of 8 3x a week enough, should I be upping that?

 

Honestly, it's hard enough to finish the 2 of 8 as it is...I dunno.

 

What are you guys doing for lunges?

Does anyone other than me use a wall for balance?

 

My balance has been vastly improved by doing deadlifts. I can stand on one foot for ages, stretch my quads pulling the ankle in with both hands while standing on the other foot. I do my lunges with 12lbs in each hand, each knee touching the ground before pushing up, standing upright, NOT leaning forward. I do them barefoot.

 

I'm guessing you probably wear trainers with quite thick soles? They make you tip forward sometimes. I've done a lot of my boxing training, lunges, workouts bare feet. Can't tell you what that does for balance. My ankle stabilisers are fantastic.

 

Also, the knee cracks/rubbing I think are signs that your quads are too tight. You need to stretch them, 30 seconds on each side properly (knees touching, facing forward, standing upright).

[tman666]

I have found that unweighted (bodyweight only) lunges are best if you're still trying to get your balance. You may also want to do some Bulgarian split squats to help strengthen your lunging muscles.

 

Also, pushing through on your front foot with your toe, as previously suggested, is going to work your quads, but you take a lot of your glute and hamstring out of the movement that way. I would recommend driving through with the heel of your foot in order to get a more complete training effect on your leg (which will have more carryover into your squat/performance as a whole). Not that quad work is a bad thing; just make sure it's not the ONLY way you do them.

 

My personal opinion is that lunges are a great assistance exercise to a main lift such as squats or deadlifts, but they don't make for a very good maximally loaded lift. I'm not saying that you shouldn't try to progress with the weight being used, but I would focus more on maintaining good form, performing quality reps, and increasing volume rather than just piling on more weight.

[TigerCub]

Just keep practicing. Try this, don't use a weight and every hour, do a set of 2 or 3 on each side. Focus on tensing everything, dig your toes into the floor. Strength is a skill, a practice. You're still getting the reps, but the quality of the reps is better.

 

Think of it this way, if you play the piano. Are you better off practicing 20 minutes every day, or practicing once a week for 2 hours?

 

 

That is good advice.

Thanks Cali

 

I will try doing a few without weights every few hours and see how that goes.

 

I'm actually sure that would be much better because when I do them the first few are always pretty good

[TigerCub]

My balance has been vastly improved by doing deadlifts. I can stand on one foot for ages, stretch my quads pulling the ankle in with both hands while standing on the other foot. I do my lunges with 12lbs in each hand, each knee touching the ground before pushing up, standing upright, NOT leaning forward. I do them barefoot.

 

I'm guessing you probably wear trainers with quite thick soles? They make you tip forward sometimes. I've done a lot of my boxing training, lunges, workouts bare feet. Can't tell you what that does for balance. My ankle stabilisers are fantastic.

 

Also, the knee cracks/rubbing I think are signs that your quads are too tight. You need to stretch them, 30 seconds on each side properly (knees touching, facing forward, standing upright).

 

I do deadlifts and squats before I do lunges.

I work out bare foot

And I have extra bad balance because I have MS.

 

What are ankle stabilisers?

 

Thanks for the tip on stretching. I do admit that I don't stretch too much before I do weights - I probably should.

I will try that from now on.

 

Also, I didn't really know if the knee is supposed to touch the ground, so I always just let it hover right above and wondered what I'm supposed to do - so thank you, that helps a lot!!

 

[TigerCub]

I have found that unweighted (bodyweight only) lunges are best if you're still trying to get your balance. You may also want to do some Bulgarian split squats to help strengthen your lunging muscles.

 

Also, pushing through on your front foot with your toe, as previously suggested, is going to work your quads, but you take a lot of your glute and hamstring out of the movement that way. I would recommend driving through with the heel of your foot in order to get a more complete training effect on your leg (which will have more carryover into your squat/performance as a whole). Not that quad work is a bad thing; just make sure it's not the ONLY way you do them.

 

My personal opinion is that lunges are a great assistance exercise to a main lift such as squats or deadlifts, but they don't make for a very good maximally loaded lift. I'm not saying that you shouldn't try to progress with the weight being used, but I would focus more on maintaining good form, performing quality reps, and increasing volume rather than just piling on more weight.

 

Hi Tman

 

I just looked up Bulgarian split squats - wowzers!! they look neat.

I can see how they would help with working on the balance thing, I will give them a try.

 

I always wonder if I'm doing things using good form, I find that as a beginner it is tough to always maintain good form, but will get better with more practice - so that's what I'm hoping for.

 

Thanks so much for your reply - your know how is always appreciated

[tman666]

Hi Tman

 

I just looked up Bulgarian split squats - wowzers!! they look neat.

I can see how they would help with working on the balance thing, I will give them a try.

 

I always wonder if I'm doing things using good form, I find that as a beginner it is tough to always maintain good form, but will get better with more practice - so that's what I'm hoping for.

 

Thanks so much for your reply - your know how is always appreciated

 

You're too kind, Tiger!

 

As far as good form, in general, you want to make sure that your knee isn't shooting too far past your toes. The further forward your knee goes over your toes, the more quad you're using, the more your foot pressure shifts to your toes, and the more your glutes/hamstrings are taken out of the equation. The other thing to focus on is keeping your torso upright, as Emilia mentioned.

 

In this video (

), the trainer does a pretty decent job of showing the difference between a lunge where your knee shoots too far forward and one that doesn't. Ignore the fact that she's wearing spring heeled cross-trainers (boo! hiss!).

[Cali408]

Sorry T-Man, I meant to say dig your feet in for balance, not to push the weight over the toe and make it more quad focused. My bad.

 

Working out bare foot is the correct thing to do.

[TigerCub]

Ignore the fact that she's wearing spring heeled cross-trainers (boo! hiss!).

 

That totally made me laugh!

 

I watched the video.

Helpful stuff!

I've been doing little steps this whole time

 

Now I know better - Big Step Forward

 

Thanks for the video Tman

[Sunshinegrl]

Balance comes as your core gets stronger.

 

Try doing this to help with balance. When you lunge forward and bring the other leg back to starting position, bring feet to shoulder width only instead of "together". You can still push through the heel and work the bootay just fine.

 

I do 1/4 mile of lunges and walking lunges once per week. Once a month I do 1/2 mile.

[AlexDP]

My balance has been vastly improved by doing deadlifts. I can stand on one foot for ages, stretch my quads pulling the ankle in with both hands while standing on the other foot. I do my lunges with 12lbs in each hand, each knee touching the ground before pushing up, standing upright, NOT leaning forward. I do them barefoot.

 

I'm guessing you probably wear trainers with quite thick soles? They make you tip forward sometimes. I've done a lot of my boxing training, lunges, workouts bare feet. Can't tell you what that does for balance. My ankle stabilisers are fantastic.

 

Also, the knee cracks/rubbing I think are signs that your quads are too tight. You need to stretch them, 30 seconds on each side properly (knees touching, facing forward, standing upright).

 

Do you mean double or single leg deadlifts? Because oddly enough my balance improves with double leg deadlifts too..

[TigerCub]

Balance comes as your core gets stronger.

 

Try doing this to help with balance. When you lunge forward and bring the other leg back to starting position, bring feet to shoulder width only instead of "together". You can still push through the heel and work the bootay just fine.

 

I do 1/4 mile of lunges and walking lunges once per week. Once a month I do 1/2 mile.

 

Thanks for the tip sunshinegrl

 

I've tried doing the walking lunges before, but because of limited space I don't usually do them, but now that it's nicer out, maybe I'll try them outside.

 

Thanks again

 

Oh and you are correct about the core strength. That is something I really need/try to build up with my exercises.

[ooglesnboogles]

I'm a little late to the party, and it would appear everyone else has said much more important and intelligent things then I have, but I'll toss my hat in anyway.

 

When I started my morning workouts, I could not do lunges at all. I would get two or three wobbly ones in, then give up for fear of tearing something by falling. It was pretty bad. But I kept it up, and after a few days (I do my morning workouts every day), I got much better at them. I can do 10 on each leg at any point I want now. The most I've tried is three sets. I stopped because it really kicks up my heart rate for some reason and I don't like feeling like that. But, I was still able to run up stairs later that day.

 

Speaking of which, I also take stairs two at a time. I've always done that, since I'm tall and it just feels better. But when I started getting stronger, I started trying to take two stairs at walking foot-pace. That is, instead of keeping movement pace with people taking stairs one at a time, I wanted to keep pace with my footsteps so that I climb the stairs twice as fast. Wow! That was pretty tough. I think I can do a single flight like that, though the two-flight staircases at my school are still too tough. Getting there though.

 

 

Keep working at em! You'll get better soon enough!

[Emilia]

I do deadlifts and squats before I do lunges.

I work out bare foot

And I have extra bad balance because I have MS.

 

I'm sorry to hear about your MS

 

Is it possible that maybe your legs are just too tired after deadlifts and squats? I do lunges before. I thought about this more last night and agree with tman that getting the form correct without weights probably helps - although in some cases I find that certain amount of weight gives me more stability. Trial and error.

 

Someone also mentioned walking lunges, excellent idea, I do them from time to time. No need to use weights, just make sure you get far down enough, have your back straight and not having your knee over your toes like tman said.

 

What are ankle stabilisers?

 

I just refer to ligaments, small muscles, etc everything there as stabilisers. Pushing through your heels, plyometrics (if possible with MS as they are hugely demanding), deadlifts, squats will help with balance.

 

Thanks for the tip on stretching. I do admit that I don't stretch too much before I do weights - I probably should.

I will try that from now on.

 

I warm up using the rowing machine before I do any strength training/explosive stuff and I use a couple of exercises I learned at Kundalini yoga (I had trouble with my lower back) but what I have found absolutely essential is stretching all the major muscle groups (each for 30 seconds on both sides) after exercise. Minor groups as well (like gluteus medius) after deadlifts or monster walks. The thing is regular stretching will keep you flexible. I know it's boring but I've found that was the only thing that kept my lower back mobile enough and pain free until my body got used to the asymmetry of boxing. I was the only person in my boxing group who didn't get sore the following day after a 4 minute jumping lunges Tabata session. That's because I stretched properly

 

Also, I didn't really know if the knee is supposed to touch the ground, so I always just let it hover right above and wondered what I'm supposed to do - so thank you, that helps a lot!!

 

 

Well you've got a lot of info from the others too. There are so many ways to do lunges which is what's great. Another killer is just to hold in the same lunge position for a while (let's say 30 seconds) then start pulsing (small up and down movement) for 30 seconds then hold it again then pulse again. All that without releasing the tension in your legs by standing up. Tell us how that went

[Emilia]

Do you mean double or single leg deadlifts? Because oddly enough my balance improves with double leg deadlifts too..

 

Double leg deadlifts. I stick to the traditional style because I'm still not 100% happy that my form is consistent for each and every lift. The best lift ever. What it does to the body in terms of 'solidity' is just something else.

[TigerCub]

Well you've got a lot of info from the others too. There are so many ways to do lunges which is what's great. Another killer is just to hold in the same lunge position for a while (let's say 30 seconds) then start pulsing (small up and down movement) for 30 seconds then hold it again then pulse again. All that without releasing the tension in your legs by standing up. Tell us how that went

 

WOW - that sounds like it would be really tough - I feel tension in my bum just thinking about it

 

hehe

 

Thanks so much for your input Emilia.

 

Good news: I tried doing the lunges like I saw in the video with the BIG STEP and it was a lot easier.

 

I did 5 in a row with my hand on my hips and no leaning against anything and my knees were kind of at 90 degrees when I bent and my lower knee touched the ground and I got up easily. I was really excited!!!!

 

But because I was already sore, I stopped.

 

But today is workout day again and I will do the 2x8 on each side with big steps and no weights for now just to get used to doing it using the correct form - I'm really excited about that!!!

 

You're also right about stretching. I know it should be done, and I admit to totally half assing it when I'm about to start.

 

Will definitely give stretching the attention it deserves from now on

 

Thanks again

 

P.S. and I'm gonna put that 30 sec hold + pulsing challenge on my goal list. I definitely want to see how I do with that - eventually

[TigerCub]

I'm a little late to the party, and it would appear everyone else has said much more important and intelligent things then I have, but I'll toss my hat in anyway.

 

When I started my morning workouts, I could not do lunges at all. I would get two or three wobbly ones in, then give up for fear of tearing something by falling. It was pretty bad. But I kept it up, and after a few days (I do my morning workouts every day), I got much better at them. I can do 10 on each leg at any point I want now. The most I've tried is three sets. I stopped because it really kicks up my heart rate for some reason and I don't like feeling like that. But, I was still able to run up stairs later that day.

 

Speaking of which, I also take stairs two at a time. I've always done that, since I'm tall and it just feels better. But when I started getting stronger, I started trying to take two stairs at walking foot-pace. That is, instead of keeping movement pace with people taking stairs one at a time, I wanted to keep pace with my footsteps so that I climb the stairs twice as fast. Wow! That was pretty tough. I think I can do a single flight like that, though the two-flight staircases at my school are still too tough. Getting there though.

 

 

Keep working at em! You'll get better soon enough!

 

Thanks so much for the reply and encouragement. It really helps to hear from others that these things are normal and will be worked past with practice and drive.

 

I really appreciate it

[ooglesnboogles]

Thanks so much for the reply and encouragement. It really helps to hear from others that these things are normal and will be worked past with practice and drive.

 

I really appreciate it

 

 

No problem! Your posts were just as encouraging to me!

 

Yeah, it's taken me quite a while to get to where I am (which is still far behind where I want to be). When I was doing this stuff every morning, I was making lots of progress. But since my schedule changed, I can't spare the 15-20 minutes (most of which was spent stretching anyway) so I have to find time in the afternoons. Recently, I've been trying to watch sports a little more. I don't really want to go that far, ya know, six pack and really cut up. But just seeing people doing stuff makes me want to get out of my chair. Plus, when I get excited by something that happened, I feel like working out. Sometimes it feels like UFC is the start of half of my workouts

[pbjbear]

I do lunges holding two 20 lb dumbbells. Took me about 8 months to get to that point though. Take it slooooooooooooooooooooowly. Lunges, squats and deadlifts can cause injuries if done incorrectly

[TigerCub]

No problem! Your posts were just as encouraging to me!

 

Yeah, it's taken me quite a while to get to where I am (which is still far behind where I want to be). When I was doing this stuff every morning, I was making lots of progress. But since my schedule changed, I can't spare the 15-20 minutes (most of which was spent stretching anyway) so I have to find time in the afternoons. Recently, I've been trying to watch sports a little more. I don't really want to go that far, ya know, six pack and really cut up. But just seeing people doing stuff makes me want to get out of my chair. Plus, when I get excited by something that happened, I feel like working out. Sometimes it feels like UFC is the start of half of my workouts

 

I hear that!

UFC fighters motivate you

UFC ring girls motivate me

[TigerCub]

I do lunges holding two 20 lb dumbbells. Took me about 8 months to get to that point though. Take it slooooooooooooooooooooowly. Lunges, squats and deadlifts can cause injuries if done incorrectly

 

Thanks pbjbear

 

I'm trying to be more conscious of correct form because yeah the consequences of doing it wrong can be serious.

 

When you first started doing lunges with weights in each hand, did you wobble a bit on the way down?

[ooglesnboogles]

I hear that!

UFC fighters motivate you

UFC ring girls motivate me

 

 

Haha I change my mind, I'm motivated by the ring girls too! Motivated by the desire to be with the ring girls, and by the want to look vaguely as ripped as the dudes punching each other in the ring...

 

Speaking of motivation, I.... am currently lacking it Time to stop reading the forums and get on with my day!

[StandingO]

I hear you. My experience has been the same with lunges. Knees hurting, wobbling. I always gave up on them. GF has done them for years and has no problems with heavy weight and keeping perfectly stable. She has good knees and strong hips and legs. I have bad knees and relatively weak legs for my upper body physque. Recently I decided to stick with it. Backed off to body weight and added stretching. Then more body weight. Worked though it and took it steady and slow. Months later now I add some weight and I am pretty stable. Proves that someone with bad knees can eventually make progress. My knees seem better too. Form, being warmed up, stretching and starting with nothing but body weight was the key. I was doing Goblet squats too so they probably helped a lot.

[TigerCub]

I hear you. My experience has been the same with lunges. Knees hurting, wobbling. I always gave up on them. GF has done them for years and has no problems with heavy weight and keeping perfectly stable. She has good knees and strong hips and legs. I have bad knees and relatively weak legs for my upper body physque. Recently I decided to stick with it. Backed off to body weight and added stretching. Then more body weight. Worked though it and took it steady and slow. Months later now I add some weight and I am pretty stable. Proves that someone with bad knees can eventually make progress. My knees seem better too. Form, being warmed up, stretching and starting with nothing but body weight was the key. I was doing Goblet squats too so they probably helped a lot.

 

Glad to hear how you got better at it.

Good for you!!

It's encouraging too .

 

I have been doing my lunges according to the link that was provided in page 1. Big step forward and bend @ 90 degrees.

I'm very happy to report that now (for the last 2 workout at least) I did 2 sets of 10 just body weight, but NO Hand on the wall for balance. I was able to do both hands on hips and I was able to get through the 2 sets of 10.

 

I did wobble a few times, but I'm keeping at it.

 

Like you, I plan to add weights in a little bit when I get more used to the form and improve my balance a bit.

 

Congrats again on you improvement.