Whether you are just starting out or are a seasoned fitness buff lunges should be part of any comprehensive fitness routine. Lunges work your thighs and glutes and provide a great stretch. In doing so this exercise helps prevent sports injury and gives you the flexibility to perform a whole host of exercises which you may currently be finding challenging.
Along with a good diet lunges will fully develop your butt and thighs to give you the look everyone wants. The lunge works the quadriceps, glutes, and the muscles that comprise your hamstrings. If you do a long-stance lunge you will focus more on the glutes whereas a more narrow-stance lunge will put more focus on the quadriceps. But this is all relative as all three major muscle groups are worked no matter what stance you take.
Lunges are also gives you a great stretch, specifically your hip flexors which are located on the front of your hips. You should feel them get tight as they are stretched at the bottom of your lunges. The long-stance lunge will stretch them more so than the narrow-stance lunge. Choose a stance that gives you a good stretch. As you get more flexible from doing the lunges continue to have a longer and longer stance to increase your flexibility. Also, when you are performing each lunge spend a moment at the bottom to feel each stretch fully.
Tight hip flexors are very common among anyone over 20 years of age. The reason it is so important to have good flexibility in this area is that it affects your ability to squat properly. When one squats with this kind of inflexibility you will end up lifting with your knees and lower back instead of your hips. So whether it is lifting something off the ground, jumping, or simply squatting down, lunges allow you to lift with your hips and prevent knee and lower back injuries. Also, if you do any athletic endeavour where you sprint, lunges give the whole hip and leg region a great stretch in all the muscles you use for sprinting thereby minimizing the probability of injury.
So make sure you make room for lunges in your fitness routine. A great exercise plan and a good diet will have you shedding any excess weight you may be carrying to reveal the great butt and thighs you have built with all those lunges!
If you’re someone who wants to learn a new
fitness routine then ImpactFitnessInc.com is for you. We can introduce you to a
good diet that tastes great and keeps you going all day long. Learn from the pros who train the pros.
More Information:Niall Traynor writes helpful tips on health, fitness and diet.
Categories
