Credit: Stylist
Welcome to our weekly Move of the Week series. Every Monday, we’ll be sharing with you one of our favourite exercises – how to do them, what muscles they work and why they should be a regular part of your workout regime. This week: lateral lunge.
If you want to run comfortably, then you need to have a strong base – and that means working those leg muscles. It’s not just the glutes and quads you need to worry about though; the muscles on the insides of our legs often get overlooked when we move sagittally (front and back). Lateral (side-to-side) lunges can help to redress that imbalance and keep us running, injury-free.
So, what exactly is a lateral lunge and what muscles does it work?
A lateral lunge is simply a lunge done in the lateral plane – i.e. sideways. It’s great for:
- A good lower body workout: Targets every bit of the leg while challenging the body to move in a less common direction.
- Adaptable: To make it easier, take a more narrow step out and don’t go too deep. To make it harder, add some weight or reduce the amount of time that both feet are on the ground.
- Great for balance: It’s not just about strength but balance and flexibility. In time you’ll be able to lunge deeper – without any wobbles.
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