Correct Form With Walking Lunges

4

40something

Guest
I have been doing walking lunges ever since I read about them on this forum a year ago. Well, today I'm leafing through a fitness magazine and it has a blurp on how to do walking lunges...and the form they were describing is this: take a step forward into lunge position, pause, then bring rear foot up to forward foot. Start again.

Now, this is not how I have been doing them so I want to make sure I'm doing them correctly. I take that first lunging step forward, pause, then bring the rear foot all the way forward into the lunge position on the other leg so you constantly keep moving forward and your two feet do not meet. This is how Cathe described the correct walking lunge form, right? The other way described in the magazine is basically a static lunge but with forward movement.

Tell me I'm right after all this time and lunging!
 
I do lunges like the article. I do it this way because I have better control(and balance) of placing my foot down than slamming my foot down. I've tried both ways and I prefer this one better.

I really don't think it matters which way, at least not that much difference in results.

BTW, the way you do it is how they do it at my gym.

Namita
 
I do them the way that you do. It recruits more muscle as you stabilize while bringing the back leg to the front. The post above does make a good point - don't slam your foot into the ground.

The trainers at my gym apparently love walking lunges. Their clients are doing them as you described.

Debra
 
I created this evil walking lunge/sprint workout at my local high school track that I do on Sunday afternoons. I call it the "Buck" Swank Six Nickel Run. (I thought giving it a cutesty name would lessen the dread factor, but alas, it's tough to get out the door for this torture, especially when it's cold)

Anyway, I put my favorite music in my headset, take 6 nickels in my hand and jog lightly to the high school (about 1/4 mile from my house).

When I get to the track, I SPRINT one stretch, recover around the bend and do walking lunges the other straight away. I do this six times. I needed to bring the nickels because it became so distracting to keep track of how many times I'd gone around, so I put a nickel on the "Buck" Swank memorial plaque as I finish each lap.

Once I'm out of nickels, I'm done.

I'm totally fried by the end. FRIED.

Oh...and yes, I do them like you do...constant movement to allow for maximum tension and stabilization on the muscle groups. My husband said it looks like I'm running in slow motion because I pump my arms in the opposing manner like when you jog.

It's made a huge difference...HUGE difference in my legs.
 
Hi Angela,

I'm not sure...I've never counted them. Heck, I can barely count the laps, much less the actual lunges. It takes a lot of concentration to keep my form, so I don't bother to count.

It feels like a ga-billion and two.

Maybe next Sunday I'll try to count one side and do the math.
 
It's been a looong time since I've been on a track. But if I remember correctly, the straight away is 100 meters (at least). If you do 100 meters six times = 600 meters. One mile is 1,600 meters...so you're going over a half mile!!! Oh My!
Susan C.M.
 
This sounds like an awesome workout!!! Also very fun how you've named it!! I would probably have to do something like that to motivate me to torture myself like this!! When you say HUGE difference in your legs, could you elaborate a little? I carry all my extra weight in my hips and thighs and have never, ever been able to really slim down my thighs (even when I was younger). Wondering if something like this would help?!?!:)
 
Hi Bestoutwest,

Walking lunges...as painful and torturous as they are...really, really work to lean out the lower body. My quads are more defined, my thighs (saddlebags) are noticeably smaller and you can actually SEE my hamstrings. I'm also starting to develop a little contour on the side of the butt area that I'm thrilled about.

Keep in mind that I'm doing this workout AND the new Hardcores AND maintaining a clean diet with lots of water.

It's been soooooooo worth the effort. And trust me, it's quite an effort. Try it...you'll see.
 
Thanks so much for the responses, ladies. I will continue to do the walking lunges as I have been. :9
 
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