The Magic of Lunges

#1 Metabolic magic

I can’t explain the science behind this, but I can speak directly from my practical experience. When I throw in 400-800m of walking lunges per week to my regime, my metabolism spikes through the roof. When you are going for this distance, you are somewhere between cardio and weightlifting.

It’s no secret that you are burning way more calories doing lunges, than doing steady state cardio. You’ll get a similar effect to what you would feel during HIIT (high intensity interval training). Some people just don’t hold up well with HIIT, so this could be a great alternative for them. If you are looking to switch up your training in an unconventional way while jacking your metabolic rate up, try out 400-800m of lunges.

#2 Lower body firing properly

Everyone has nagging injuries at some point in their weightlifting career. In my case, I’m referring to my deadlift. By incorporating lunges into my program, it helps me ensure that everything is firing correctly. When I say everything, I’m talking about the entire chain: glute, hamstrings, quads, etc.

If they aren’t all working together, something in the chain has to overwork, which could result in an injury. From personal experience, lunges have kept my muscle groups on the same page, and firing all as one.

#3 Muscular development

It comes to no surprise that walking lunges further develop your body into a more defined machine. From a bodybuilding standpoint, my quads feel blown up and separated, as well as my glute tie-ins to my hamstrings feel great. Being in the show world for years, I’ve come to know that these shows are won in the back (posterior). So, if your glute, hamstrings, etc. are lacking, try these out to further development those areas.

#4 Injury prevention

Walking lunges for me are insurance policy against injury, and serve as fantastic GPP work. One of the main reasons I started doing lunges was because of patellar tendonitis. I was having extreme pain around my knees, and when I started strengthening the areas around my knee with lunges, it essentially took the pain away.

They have done so much for me for injury prevention, and that’s one of the huge reasons I continue to do them to this day. They solidify and strengthen your connective tissue and tendons to be able to withstand the weights that you tackle every day.