Proper Lunges

[saevel25]

I was listening to The Drive podcast. The interview was with Eric Chehab, an Orthopedic Surgeon and Sports Medicine Specialist.

One topic came up about why they were seeing knee strain from people who perform a lot of lunges and squats. With lunges it is due to people putting improper loading on the front knee. In a proper lunge that knee should take on little to no loading. The glut should take on the loading. When people are too far forward in the lunge they are wearing down the front knee.

Just a tip for those who might be seeing knee pain with their lunges or know they are doing them incorrectly now.

[Bo the Golfer]

Thank you for this post. I have knee pain from two previous surgeries but lunges are a great exercise so it helps to be reminded to do them correctly.

[iacas]

Shin stays mostly vertical, basically, yeah?

[dennyjones]

34 minutes ago, iacas said:

Shin stays mostly vertical, basically, yeah?

That's what I was taught in martial arts many, many years ago.

[saevel25]

40 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

When people are too far forward in the lunge they are wearing down the front knee.

I may have been incorrect. The upper body can be slightly forward for better balance.

35 minutes ago, iacas said:

Shin stays mostly vertical, basically, yeah?

Yea, you don't want to create angles in the knee that produce a forward or lateral stress on the knee. You don't want your weight to push forward with the lunge causing your knee to move forward over your foot.

[TN94z]

I see squats done incorrectly ALL OF THE TIME! It hurts me watching some of these people. And yeah, lunges are great but need to be done as you said.

[Bo the Golfer]

[iacas]

That dude looks 30% zombie.

[Bo the Golfer]

37 minutes ago, iacas said:

That dude looks 30% zombie.

Lol yeah now that I look at it you're right. Does a hell of a lunge for a zombie.

[boogielicious]

I used to do lunges a lot. It is a major part of knee surgery rehab. Thanks for posting.

Alas, I have arthritis in my right big toe now, so lunges aggravate that. So I do single leg squats and other exercises to work on leg strength. Same rules apply though with respect to the knee position during the squat.

[billchao]

Lunges are supposed to target the quads with your hamstrings and glutes as support. I've always felt stress on the knees doing forward lunges even with proper form and little weight. It's something I'm concerned about in terms of my longterm knee health.

I got back into working out lately and found the Athlean-X YouTube channel which is really good, both entertaining and informative. Jeff Cavaliere who runs it has jacked up knees from years of doing exercises that people have always done despite the possible harm they can do to the body. One of the things he does on his channel is show alternative exercises or motions that will target the same muscle groups while limiting the potential harm to your body.

Here's one on reverse lunges and how they can help people who experience knee pain doing forward lunges:

 

[dennyjones]

9 minutes ago, billchao said:

Lunges are supposed to target the quads with your hamstrings and glutes as support. I've always felt stress on the knees doing forward lunges even with proper form and little weight. It's something I'm concerned about in terms of my longterm knee health.

I got back into working out lately and found the Athlean-X YouTube channel which is really good, both entertaining and informative. Jeff Cavaliere who runs it has jacked up knees from years of doing exercises that people have always done despite the possible harm they can do to the body. One of the things he does on his channel is show alternative exercises or motions that will target the same muscle groups while limiting the potential harm to your body.

Here's one on reverse lunges and how they can help people who experience knee pain doing forward lunges:

 

That guy is impressive.   Thanks for sharing.

[bones75]

Man i hate hate hate lunges. Least fav part of my routine. But good info in this thread. 

Was wondering if this means single leg squats should be a nono? Cause i do those, but dont feel like i can without the knee going beyond the toes.

Im also a fan of athlean x. I do whats in the below vid in addition to the single leg squats and lunges (not all in one session). Feels like it abides by the advice in this thread.

 

Edited July 13, 2019 by bones75

[billchao]

16 hours ago, bones75 said:

Man i hate hate hate lunges. Least fav part of my routine. But good info in this thread. 

Was wondering if this means single leg squats should be a nono? Cause i do those, but dont feel like i can without the knee going beyond the toes.

Im also a fan of athlean x. I do whats in the below vid in addition to the single leg squats and lunges (not all in one session). Feels like it abides by the advice in this thread.

 

If you're doing the kind of single leg squat where you stick one leg out in front you and squat down, I don't think you can keep the knee from going past the toes for balance reasons. Those are no good, IMO.

I do single leg squats the Bulgarian split way that Jeff shows in the video you posted.