A Move You Should Do MONDAY – Walking Lateral lunge

Today’s move is a tricky one, in that it requires you to move in the frontal (side) plane, but really strengthens muscles in the sagittal (front to back) plane. Try the walking lateral lunge.

You should feel this in the quadriceps and gluteal muscles of your lead leg. Make sure you shift your weight totally to the lead leg. This is the hardest part. Your butt should line up with your knee and your heel at the lowest part of this lunge. If you feel this exercise in the adductors, or inner thigh of your trail leg, you haven’t shifted your weight far enough to the lead leg.

Why does this matter?

The quadriceps and gluteal muscles are often easily compensated for by other muscles. People with weakness in these muscles often use the muscles of the trailing leg to make up for weaknesses in the front leg during lunges. In other words, their weight shift is incomplete. Versions of single leg squats, which is really what the walking lateral lunge is, helps expose weaknesses in these key muscles. And quadricep and gluteal weakness often lie at the core of knee and low back pain.

So give the walking lateral lunge a try and wake up a lazy leg.

Because nobody has time to be in pain.

Until next time…