Lunges

[I Declare War]

Hi guys, what are your thoughts on lunges?

I've tried to get into them before several times, but I keep giving up on them because they require a lot of balance and co-ordination. I like exercises where I can load up the weight and work my muscles without having to worry about balance or co-ordination. I believe this reasoning makes sense if your primary goal is packing on mass?

What's a good alternative exercise that doesn't require a high degree of balance and co-ordination?

[mike27]

cant beat lunges!

their a great exercise! :twisted:

[I Declare War]

cant beat lunges!

their a great exercise! :twisted:

But why? They're fiddly and you can't work the muscles like a madman without falling over.

Dorian Yates explains this well in one of his videos that I've got... I'll try and dig out his comments on lunges tonight.

[PeterDolan]

Have you tried them with a BB? I find also that if I stride out to the side a little bit, I have better balance. Failing that, single leg smith machine squats. There is also a hammer strength machine I've seen that can be used. SG uses it for shrugs I believe so may know the name of the machine

[mike27]

yeah true you cant use as much weight as on the leg press for example. however you are working far great muscle mass on lunges compared to the leg press

great compound movment!

great all in 1 leg exercise.

they have their place for sure, if your a fat bastard and need to burn thru some calories, then lunges are the go. safer to start someone on lunges than bb squats too for example

good to build up you balance as you point out, co-ordination etc too.

at the momment ive been doing sets on the leg press and then finishing with max times jumping split lunges to really finish off my legs

time under tension etc

[I Declare War]

Have you tried them with a BB? I find also that if I stride out to the side a little bit, I have better balance. Failing that, single leg smith machine squats. There is also a hammer strength machine I've seen that can be used. SG uses it for shrugs I believe so may know the name of the machine

Yep I have, but I find that there's unecessary co-ordination and balance required. Single leg smith machine squats sound interesting - I'll give them a go next time I do legs.

I wonder which Hammer Strength machine that is.

[PeterDolan]

I only find co-ordination becomes an issue if I don't concentrate. Personally, my limiting factor for BB lunges are cleaning the weight to my shoulders. DB lunges, now they are hard to keep balance. I think of lunges more of a finishing exercise so I prefer a moderate weight for 15-20 reps per leg as the last/second to last exercise of the workout. If you are going to be quoting Dorian, I presume you are using a HIT style of training? If so then I'd probably ditch lunges cause they aren't a "heavy" exercise unless you can get all Ronnie on that shit

[I Declare War]

they have their place for sure, if your a fat bastard and need to burn thru some calories, then lunges are the go. safer to start someone on lunges than bb squats too for example

good to build up you balance as you point out, co-ordination etc too.

at the momment ive been doing sets on the leg press and then finishing with max times jumping split lunges to really finish off my legs

time under tension etc

I can see how they might be useful for fat bastards. Haha

But I'm a bodybuilder (sometimes relatively lean), looking for fast and efficient exercises that allow me to obliterate my muscles without worrying about balance and co-ordination.

[mike27]

too true

squats for the win

what if you were cutting tho and needed a quick 30min leg session? lunges would fit in nicely then

[I Declare War]

I only find co-ordination becomes an issue if I don't concentrate. Personally, my limiting factor for BB lunges are cleaning the weight to my shoulders. DB lunges, now they are hard to keep balance. I think of lunges more of a finishing exercise so I prefer a moderate weight for 15-20 reps per leg as the last/second to last exercise of the workout. If you are going to be quoting Dorian, I presume you are using a HIT style of training? If so then I'd probably ditch lunges cause they aren't a "heavy" exercise unless you can get all Ronnie on that shit

I think you hit it on the head there. I do lean towards an HIT style of training. I alternate my training from high volume/lighter weights to low volume/heavier weights on a monthly basis. Maybe they'd be good on my high volume/ligther weight phase (will try incorporating them the next time I do that), but I'd likely injure myself with them on my low volume/heavy phase... I tend to "go all Ronnie" as you say on my exercises then.

[I Declare War]

what if you were cutting tho and needed a quick 30min leg session? lunges would fit in nicely then

Yep that makes sense aye. It's all about intelligently incorporating them into your workout routine.

[PeterDolan]

I think you just need to look at why you'd use lunges and if that fits in to your overall goal. As a unilateral movement for even leg/quad development? Then you can use the lunge alternatives or single leg leg press or single leg hacks? If it's for a different angle then there is a ridiculous amount of different leg exercises so have fun with it. I've train HIT before, don't have to do a lot luckily, maximal effort, in and out. Easy. I hate lunges so overall I say f*ck 'em

[Android]

Hi guys, what are your thoughts on lunges?

I've tried to get into them before several times, but I keep giving up on them because they require a lot of balance and co-ordination. I like exercises where I can load up the weight and work my muscles without having to worry about balance or co-ordination. I believe this reasoning makes sense if your primary goal is packing on mass?

What's a good alternative exercise that doesn't require a high degree of balance and co-ordination?

I know what you mean I thought they didn't target a specific muscle well enough either.

I went out into a park once and did 300 walking lunges, could only do them in sets of 30, stop and walk a bit, then go again for another 30 lunges.

The next 4 days I felt every part of my Leg, from the Quads, to the Glutes, to the Hammies and sore and tight as anything. They are a great conditioning exercise!

Once you get the balancing muscles stronger you can carry some weight like dumbbells. Prolly keeps the whole Leg strong and tight which in turn can make your other lifts better which must be a bonus.

That's my current thinking on them anyway. There's no alternative exercise imo, they are what they are.

[Jenna]

db lunges walking or on to a step up is one of my fav exercises \:D/ works most leg muscles plus most of your little stabilizer muscles too. good for newbies good for everyone... if your cutting awsume way to burn cals plus work your ass. if you have problems with co-ordination/balance.. probablity not working your core while your doing them... slow everything down make sure your TVA is activiated and you should be getting an awsume leg workout...

[greemah]

A while back I lost all motivation to work out hard and just did lunges and goodmornings to replace squats and deadlifts. This was doing a couple warmup sets then a 6RM followed by three 2-rep sets 30 seconds apart (so pretty much rest pause). I did this for 6 months before going back to squatting and deadlifting, and I was stronger than ever.

So gotta say barbell lunges are a great exercise for building legs going heavy. If you start light you will have your balance sorted before it starts to get heavy and you won't even think about it. And when you get heavy it is a great exercise - you just need to stick with it