Exercise library | Lateral Lunge
Today we are talking about one of my top exercises for legs and glutes, the lateral lunge AKA side lunge . At IPT Fitness we love to shake up clients programming by throwing this into their programmes.
The Lateral lunge is great for those training for both body composition and sports performance. Being a dynamic movement in the frontal plane, the lateral lunge, when executed correctly, activates the fast twitch muscle fibres of the hamstrings and also works the glutes. You will know about it the next day! As the lateral lunge is a unilateral leg exercise, it is also great for injury prevention in terms of hip and knee strength and stability, and also progresses weight transfer which is very important for power and safe direction change which is important in most sports.
How to perform:
- Stand with the feet hip-width apart
- Step directly to one side, whilst keeping both feet parallel
- One stepped out, sit your back back into your hips (don’t let your weight come forwards, and keep your heels down)
- Reach towards your outside foot with hands either side
- Maintain a strong core throughout
- Exhale as you push your foot
- With a big push on the outside foot, pull the body back to the middle.
You can complete this exercise body weight, with one or two dumbells, or a barbell on the back. You can either do all reps one side followed by the other side, or complete in an alternating movement.
Happy lunging people!
