Fit Friday: Lunges

When I had a personal trainer, Theo, the first exercise I would have to do was the walking lunge. As he knew that I had MS and problems with balance, this exercise helped me to align my body without stress on my spine. That said, I dreaded doing them. I would fall out of place. It would take me more time than it should. My biggest obstacle with the lunge is that it had my lower body on fire!

Yes, the lunge activates muscles in your hip flexor, glutes, spinal erectors, calves, and hamstrings and is an excellent exercise for the lower body. Albeit that the lunge is most known for its lower body benefits, it is also great for the core! By independently exercising each side of the body, it builds the weaker side of your body to match the stronger one. By doing this, you incorporate your core for strength alleviating the stress on your spine. This is contrary to the squat and deadlift that encourage overall strength in the lower body.

When practicing the lunge in yoga, you are either in warrior 1 or warrior 2 pose that incorporate your upper body strength and further relieves the stress on the spine and forces you to rely on your core. While the walking lunge is great for balance and flexibility, the lunge in yoga causes you to use more of your core strength to hold the pose for an extended amount of time. Any exercise that is going to make both my abs and my behind tight, is worth its weight in gold to incorporate into my exercise routine!

In the words of Martin, “Get to steppin’!” In other words, literally take big steps towards your fitness success that is. Any lunge exercise that you chose to do will increase your balance, flexibility, alignment, and releases your overused and tight hip flexor muscles. It is perfect for a warm up or wind down in your exercise routine. Check out this Howcast Original video to learn how to maximize your results with this exercise. Happy lunging!