‘Lunges’, a simple and perfect exercise to tone the glutes

This is a classic exercise in many strength training routines. We talk about lungs, Known as “zancadas” in Spanish “explosion”, One of the most effective exercises to work your legs and glutes from the comfort of your home. It is performed in a split position, where one leg is brought forward and the other leg is placed back while the body is lowered into a controlled posture. He tells us Personal trainer Victor Diaz (@prohealth.vd), Specialist in physical activity and sports scienceA unilateral leg exercise that engages the knee and hip extensor muscles. With them, we’ll teach you how to perform lunges with proper technique, the benefits they bring to your body, and some variations so you can incorporate this powerful exercise into your daily routine.

Which muscles work in the ‘lungs’?

Experts tell us that lunge This is an exercise that mainly works the lower body. The muscles involved in this exercise are the quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, core area and hip stabilizer muscles.

This is an exercise that mainly works the lower body muscle groups.

Where should you feel like you’re working in the zone?

“You should feel the work mainly in the quadriceps and glutes, but later we’ll see different variations that can affect some muscle groups more than others,” the personal trainer points out.

How to get the most out of them, step by step?

• starting position: Stand with your feet together and step forward with one leg, keeping your torso straight.
• Lower the body: Bend both knees until they form a 90-degree angle with the front leg, keeping the knee in line with the ankle, without collapsing inward on landing.
• Maintain stability as you descend: The back leg is bent and directed towards the ground without touching the knee.
• Push up and return to the starting position: Use your front leg to push off the ground and return to the starting position.

© Getty Images

Are there different variations of this exercise?

Victor Diaz confirms that it is a very interesting exercise because it has many variations that allow us to progress and adapt it to different objectives and physical condition levels. “There are many forms of performing this exercise, as they can be performed statically or with dynamic movements. You can even change the direction of the step (backwards, diagonally, forwards or backwards)”, points out the coach, who then explains some common variations:

• lungs steady: is also called dividedA static variant of lungs. In this exercise, you’ve already started from a starting position with one leg forward and the other back, and you’ll stay in that position for all repetitions of a set.
• lungs Walking: Legs alternate as you progress through each repetition, ideal for adding greater cardiovascular intensity. Leaning the trunk forward and striding with speed increases the activity of the gluteal muscles.
• lungs front: This is a progression where we step forward, hit the ground with that leg and return to the starting position. Among these types lunge Pushing the ground to return to the starting position requires increasing the momentum generated by the hip muscles, which increases the activation of the glutes.
• lungs after: Same as previous but stride backwards and return to starting position
• lungs the parties: Instead of moving forward or backward, the movement is performed laterally, which works the adductor muscles of the leg. The ankle and knee extensors have a major contribution to this type of stride. This allows you to work on hip mobility and stimulate the adductors. In addition, it encourages movement in the frontal plane, which increases the variability of our movements (most of our movements on a daily basis are limited to the back or front).
• lungs Bulgarian: The back leg is raised on a bench or platform, which increases the activation of the gluteus and the entire mid-body. This is one of the best unilateral exercises for legs. It contributes to better proprioception, improves stability and provides great stimulation to the lower body muscles. In addition, this exercise puts less load on the lumbar region, since the position adopted by the pelvis unloads the lower spinal segments. It’s even a dynamic mobility workout for the high leg hip flexors.

There are many forms to perform this exercise, as they can be performed statically or with dynamic movements.

How many sets of ‘lunges’ should we do per day in our training routine?

According to Victor Diaz, the number of sets and repetitions depends on physical condition and level of individual intention. “In general, a good recommendation would be for strength training Between 3 and 4 series Between 8 and 12 repetitions per leg,” he advises.

What benefits does practicing this exercise bring us?

• Main Reinforcement Lower body muscle groups.
• Improved balance and stability: They develop the stabilizing muscles of the core and glutes, which are essential for maintaining postural control. Greater demand for stability and core work. When we exercise unilaterally, the activation of the stabilizing muscles is greater. When performing this exercise we must overcome a resistance that tends to unbalance us, which forces greater recruitment and neuromuscular activation of the core, remaining stable when we exert force.
• Increase mobility: By working with a split stance, hip and ankle mobility is improved.
• D lungs Replicating natural movement patterns, Helps improve performance in daily activities.
• Reduction of imbalance between limbs and correction of bilateral deficits. Unilateral exercises allow you to correct existing imbalances between the limbs. It is very common to have a discrepancy in function or strength when comparing one side of the body to the other.

© Adobe Stock

Are there people who should avoid doing them?

As always, personal trainers emphasize that the most important thing is personalization of exercise, but he lunge This is an exercise that allows for a lot of adaptation And you can try to adapt and find the most suitable variant for each person. “For example, if you have knee problems, the backward lunge has a definite advantage because the body’s center of mass is not projected forwards or backwards, but downwards. It facilitates joint balance, which can be more problematic when moving forward,” he told us. said

Useful recommendations and to avoid mistakes

• necessary Keep the torso stable As we descend.
• Prevent front knee from breaking And as we go down it goes inwards, it’s important to always maintain knee stability.
• perform movements in a controlled manner, Especially in the landing phase. Avoid descending too quickly, as this can reduce movement control and cause you to lose control and proper technique.
• breath Helps improve control and stability. Inhale as you go down and exhale as you push off the ground to go up.