Lunges that aren’t done right aren’t doing anything at all

By Ea Francisco

If you’ve tried to strengthen your lower body, then you’ve probably done lunges more than once in your life. But just like other exercises, many people get it wrong. Here are the top three ways your lunges aren’t holding up.

Not dropping low enough

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A common mistake usually made by beginners is not going low enough. For some, it might feel as if you’re already pretty low but when you check, it’ll probably just look like a slight bend. To maximize your lunges, you want to go as low as possible. Doing shallow lunges limits the muscles you’re working. Your back knee should be almost touching the ground, and your front knee should form a 90-degree angle so that you can engage your glutes and hamstrings.

Knees past your toes

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This usually happens when your steps are too near or too far and when you lean forward too much. When this happens, the weight of your body goes to your toes. This puts a lot of stress on your knees and tendons, which makes the exercise more uncomfortable and injury-inducing. The proper way is to have the weight on your front heel and the knee parallel to your heels.

Not using core

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Sometimes when people go down, their upper body tends to wobble around instead of staying firm. One of the benefits of lunging is strengthening your core, so you shouldn’t be leaning too far back or front when moving. Keep your shoulders back, head up, and core tightened. When you go down, your shoulders and hips should still be aligned.

It may look easy, but proper lunges are no joke. It’s easy to make mistakes in lunges because you don’t have a full view of your legs when you go down, so you can check for errors by lunging in front of a mirror. The sooner you correct your mistakes, the sooner you can fully utilize the physical benefits of lunges.

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