form question - lunges

[winter2b]

When I was doing the lunges in push pull last night, I noticed two things. #1, the dumbell wanted to keep rolling out from under my front foot x( , and #2, I was getting cramps in the calf of my rear leg. Is this normal, or do you think my form might be off?
Amy

 

[steppermama]

Hi Amy! I also have both of these problems. As for the rolling problem I now use a 2x4 board about 24in. to stand on instead of the dumbbell. It keeps your foot stable. As for the burn, I have noticed it just gets easier each time I do it, hopefully that keeps up. But I am still wondering why I seem to feel this move in the back leg more than the front? Anyway HTH.
Sandy

 

[red_mct]

Amy, are you using hexagonal dumbbells? I have a set of round dumbbells (Gold's Gym) and I can't use them for footwork like this because they just roll around. I think you need the hex version to do this, or use a board instead as Sandy pointed out...

One thing I did notice about lunges is that while I am average height (5'7), my legs are very long, so I had to play around with my form for a bit to find what worked for me. So you might want to try a couple of different foot placements, too.

Cheers,
Marie

 

[kathryn]

I refuse to do the lunge with a weight under my front foot. I think it puts too much pressure on the knee. Instead, I recommend putting the WHOLE FOOT on a step platform (or the high step platform).