Well, OK! Not exactly my favorite, because as you already know I love all exercises for legs and butt. Just the thought of squats, lunges and so on, fills my heart with enthusiasm and excitement! 😉
For the past two months, I’ve been incorporating in my training program, Reverse Lunges from Deficit. My progress is obvious, and I consider this to be an exercise that you MUST incorporate in your workouts, as well!
Why?
As every unilateral movement, reverse lunges from a deficit, help you improve the strength imbalances between your legs; they improve your balance and coordination, they help you improve stability in your hips and mobility in your ankles. Besides that they load pretty good your legs and your butt!
And probably you are already wondering why perform lunges from deficit and not traditional lunges?
The reason is that when you do them from a deficit, you have a bigger range of motion and you load your butt a lot more, than doing traditional lunges. Besides that a lot more leg muscles are activated, because you are going way deeper when you perform the exercise.
Why Reverse Lunges?
Personally, I always do reverse lunges, because they are easy on the knees, unlike the front lunges. And do not think that I am the kind of person, who thinks that squatting and lunging is gonna ruin your knees! That is not the truth, but when you perform reverse lunges, you do not need to step forward and slow down, the weight of your entire body!
Thus the stress on your knee is less! If you have problems with your knees, and you are fooled into thinking that you can’t perform lunges, try reverse lunges! I assure you, that you won’t feel pain!
What should you be careful about?
You should perform the lunge correctly! (check here how)
It matters if you perform the lunge with the bar in front, on your back or with dumbbells.
If you keep the bar on the front, as you do for a front squat, you should keep your elbows high. Don’t let your elbows drop down, because you will lean forward, you will load your back way too much and you will probably lose balance! And remember- the lower you get, think about pushing your elbows up!
If you perform the exercise with dumbbells, keep them on your side and when you are dropping down, be careful- don’t let your shoulders drop down and go forward. Don’t let the dumbbells go forward. If you do so, you are changing the center of mass and you will lean forward, losing balance and making it hard on your back!
If the bar is on your back, think about your wrists- they should be always turned down( as for a back squat). When you go up, think how you should be pulling yourself for the bar! You should press it down. This will help you keep your body tight and it will keep you away from stressing your back.
No matter which way you pick, you should be careful about the height of the platform. Don’t make it too high. If your platform is too high, and your legs and butt aren’t strong enough, you will compensate for the weakness by shifting your hips to one side, which is not the right way to do it! If you feel that you are shifting your hips to one side, either take lighter weights or decrease the height of the platform.
And before you start doing Reverse Lunges from a Deficit, master the traditional lunges! Each lunging variation has its place and time! Don’t skip the steps!
Are you doing Reverse Lunges from a Deficit? What do you think about them?
Don’t forget to visit Ben Bruno’s website! You know he is the expert on lunging and knee health!
P.S. If you liked this post, please share it with your friends! I’d greatly appreciate it!
Join my Facebook page!
