EXECUTION
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand or a barbell across the back of your shoulders with a wide grip.
- Inhale slightly more than usual and hold your breath as you take a step to the rear. At the same time bend the knee of the forward leg.
- Bend the front leg as you step back until there is a 90-degree angle in a knee joint (measured from behind the thigh and shin) with the thigh parallel to the floor and the shin of your front leg perpendicular to the thigh.
- The forward leg should bear most of the weight and the rear leg should be bent with the ball of the foot in contact with the floor. Your trunk should remain erect throughout the execution.
- After reaching the lowermost position push forward from the rear leg to get more weight on the front leg and rise up to the start position.
- Exhale as you pass the most difficult point of the up phase.
- Prepare to do the next repetition with the opposite leg going to the rear and then alternate legs on each repetition.
- Keep the trunk erect by contracting the lower back erector spine muscles. The spine should remain in its neutral posture (slightly curved in the lumbar area) during the ascent and descent.
Performance
- To create sufficient tension on the quadriceps and especially the gluteus maximus and hamstrings, be sure to lower the body until you have a 90-degree knee joint angle in the forward leg. The more you lower the body the greater the stress on these muscles especially when you maintain an erect trunk position.
- Hold a slight arch in the lumbar area of the spine i.e. the neutral curvature of the spine, at all times. If you round the lower back and lean forward during the descent you eliminate stress on the hip joint muscles and place greater stress on the lumbar discs. This is especially true if you use a barbell on the shoulders.
- Be sure to step back sufficiently far so that when you lower the body the knee of the forward leg will not go forward. In the ending position the shin should be vertical to create a safe position for the knee joint and full stress on the quadriceps which is the main purpose of the reverse lunge.
- If you do not have sufficient flexibility in the hip joints, keep lowering your body to the thigh level position only if you can maintain an erect trunk position and normal spinal curvature. This is the key to targeting the muscles involved.
- To help maintain the erect trunk position and to hold the neutral position of the spine, consciously contract your erector spinae muscles. Do not contract the abdominals.
- Inhaling and holding your breath aids greatly in maintaining the erect trunk position and providing stability of the upper body. The breath holding also makes you stronger so that exercise execution becomes more effective and safer.
- Do not take too short of a step backward because you will then be doing a split squat rather than a lunge. The lunge is a very effective exercise for increasing hip joint flexibility and leg strength. For best results, you must take a long step. Since the reverse lunge is not most conducive to taking a long step, you should also do the front lunge which is more effective for developing strength and flexibility.
PRIMARY MUSCLES INVOLVED: In the knee joint the primary muscles are the vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, vastus intermedius, and the rectus femoris. Collectively, these muscles are known as the quadriceps femoris muscle group. The vastus lateralis is a large muscle located half way down the outside of the lower anterior thigh while the vastus medialis is located on the inner side of the lower anterior thigh. The vastus intermedius lies between these and beneath the rectus femoris, a large muscle positioned straight down the front of the thigh. It has an action at the hip (flexion), as well as the knee joint (extension). These four muscles converge at the lower end and join into the patella bone and surrounding ligaments. The major muscles of the hip joint are the gluteus maximus and hamstring muscle group. The gluteus maximus is a large, fleshy muscle at the back of the pelvis, that crosses the hip joint to attach high on the thigh bone. The hamstrings, composed of the biceps femoris, semitendinosus and the semimembranosus, are long muscles which run the length of the posterior thigh. The biceps femoris has two heads and is located on the outer thigh and the semimembranosus and semitendinosus are located on the inner posterior thigh. The bicep is the largest and strongest hamstring muscle.
MUSCLE AND JOINT ACTIONS
In the hip and knee joints of the leg being exercised there is extension. In these actions the thigh and pelvis move away from each other in a leg straightening action. The thigh moves upward and forward back to the normal vertical position while the pelvis remains in place. The major action is in the knee joint which involves the quadriceps muscle. The hip joint extension is secondary unless you go down to the thigh level position with an erect trunk where they are most powerful. To stabilize the spinal curvature, the erector spinae muscles contract isometrically.
SPORTS USES
Because of the backward step the reverse lunge does not play a major role in most sports. Its greatest benefit is in bodybuilding for increasing strength of the quadriceps and gluteus maximus and hamstring muscles. With some exceptions, the reverse lunge is beneficial in sports that require jumping, throwing and reaching actions that involve a lunge action. Thus, this exercise plays a role in rhythmic gymnastics, aerobics, tennis, racquetball, basketball, football, volleyball, baseball, and in sports that require running. In gymnastics and weightlifting the lunge is used to develop hip flexibility and strength of the muscles when going into a split.