Lunges for Beginners

I have three all-time favorite body-weight exercises: The push-up, the squat, and the lunge. All three are functional, modifiable, and best of all, extremely effective exercises.

Like the squat, the lunge often gets a bad rap — You often hear that they are "bad" for you. If so, that's a big problem because we are lunging all day long during our activities of daily living. No, it's not the natural movement of the lunge that is "bad," it's weak muscles around our joints that cause problems. Your goal, therefore, should be to strengthen these muscles in a safe, progressive manner so that you can enjoy pain-free movement for many years to come. Here's how to start doing just that:

The key to a move like the lunge is to build up strength gradually. There are an almost infinite number of variations of the lunge, from simple to advanced – You want to start with the basics first. One of the safest ways to begin is by performing a stationary lunge, keeping both feet fixed in place.

A few other tips that you should always follow when doing a stationary lunge:

1. Be sure to keep your front knee behind your toes, preferably right over your ankle.
2. Drop your upper body straight down towards the floor rather than moving forward.
3. Keep your chest up and facing forward.
4. Perform the entire movement slowly and with control.

Start off by doing 10 repetitions with one leg, then switch to the other leg.

Once you get the stationary lunge down and you've built up some basic leg strength you can move on to some more advanced lunges or even add in some dumbbells for added weight.

Want some quick workout ideas? Check out our Quick Workouts playlist on our YouTube channel.