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Exercise of the Month - July 2006: Lunges
Increase Your Leg Power with Lunges
Lunges are designed to increase balance and strength in your hip and leg muscles. Doing lunges only a few times a week can make simple daily activities easier, such as climbing stairs and bending down to pick up an object on the ground.
The lunge exercise uses your own body weight as resistance, and can be performed in the comfort of your own home. As you become comfortable with this exercise you can gradually add resistance such as weights (using dumbbells or even household objects such as soup cans) to help build your strength. Keep in mind that with any resistance exercise you should start slow and build up your strength gradually. Lunges should always be performed in a progression from low resistance to higher resistance.
How to Do Lunges:
- Start in a standing position and extend one leg forward.
- Gradually bend your forward knee ideally to a point where the upper thigh bone (femur) is parallel to the ground and your hip, knee and ankle joints form 90-degree angles. Be cautious not to allow your bent knee to move forward past your toes, as this may cause stress on your knee joint.
- Press through the foot of your forward leg back to a standing position and bring your forward foot back to meet your other foot while maintaining perfect posture. Do not use momentum to pull out of the lunge and do not hinge at the waist. You may either continue to work the same leg back and forth or alternate legs as the repetitions continue.
Lunges should be performed with one’s own body weight as resistance and can be progressed with dumbbells held at arms extended by your side. Performing one set in the 8-12 repetition range is a safe volume.