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Mistakes you should avoid while beginning with lunges

Lower body workout without the inclusion of lunges does not take place normally. Lunges are considered to be the best lower body workout for shaping up glutes, hamstring, and quadriceps. It also puts good pressure on the calf region. A fine exercise, but maintaining the correct form is equally important. Body posture should be appropriate or else one may end up injuring knee and lower back region. Also, improper form will only waste your time and effort without making any serious improvement on the lower body parts involved.

This particular exercise can be done with the help of barbell rod, dumbbells (pair), or freehand. When doing this exercise with weights (barbell/dumbbell), don’t go too heavy. This may lead to improper balancing with incorrect form. Select a light weight to acquire the correct form and then go heavy.

Mistake 1: Upper body leaning forward

This is a very common mistake that occurs during introductory stage of the workout. The correct posture is to keep the upper back straight while stepping forward with a single leg. While bending the knees, it should be seen that the upper body remains in a straight arc like position. It’s crucial to practice this form correctly or else the entire back region can suffer severely.

Mistake 2: Lifting of body with additional momentum

Often it can be observed that a person uses too much momentum in order to lift his/her body.

What impact does this have on the overall exercise process?

Well, the entire lunge procedure does not get completed. It’s a sort of unfinished process with pressure shifting from quadriceps to lower back region. This may well be very dangerous. The person can hurt his/her lower back while following such an improper workout procedure.

Mistake 3: Too close stance while lunging

Taking minute steps during lunging may not be the correct workout procedure. It can lead to putting unnecessary stress on front knee.

The risk factor:

Constant stress on front knee region will lead to tendon strains. In fact, chances of arthritis may not be written off.

Correct posture to avoid such injuries and muscle strains:

At first, it is necessary to stand straight. Then, step frontwards with your right foot. Remember to maintain a distance of 2 feet from the other foot. This stride is big enough to restrict unnecessary strains from catching up on the tendons. While lowering/bending the knee, it is necessary to scoot front foot in a forwardly manner.

Mistake 4: Continuing with the workout even after knees are in 90 degree position

Most people make this common mistake to continue bending their knees beneath the 90 degree posture. But this is an incorrect posture. This leads to to providing unnecessary pressure on the quadriceps. Tearing of tendons and ligaments can happen if someone continues maintaining such a wrong posture. It also affects the lower back region to some extent.

The right posture should be to stop at once when knees are at 90 degree angle from the floor.

Mistake 5: Knee over the toe

While performing lunges, often people allow the knee region to move far over toes. This happens due to leaning too forward or taking giant steps. But it causes extreme stress on knee region. Tendons may get affected due to such a posture. Muscle strains are likely to take place which can be quite painful.

Focus should always be on taking down the body while maintaining a straight back rather than leaning or moving forward. The knee can come forward a little bit, but upper body should be in a straight arch like shape.

Also, it is necessary to maintain a straight line in between the front knee with second toe during the entire lunging procedure. A minute tucking of hips may take place due to this form but it will help in maintaining the correct form and posture.

Mistake 6: Rotating back knee externally

Again, a common mistake. However, such a mistake is much prevalent among overweight people.

Lunges can challenge body balancing ability. As a result, several people try to rotate back knee in an external way to experience higher stability. A lot of people have the habit of rotating back knee simply as a habit they have acquired through passing of time. Twisting or rotating knee externally during lunge workout is a risky act. This may result in some sort of injury after a certain time. During lunge, it is strictly advised to keep back knee pointed towards the floor while going down.

Pain in back knee can occur due to external rotation movement. Hence, it is necessary to perform lunge facing a mirror. By this way, one can check on the exact body posture as well movement during workout.

Before performing lunges, it is necessary to take into consideration the flexibility of hip flexors and quadriceps. People having tight quad or hip flexors may experience a certain pulling sensation while performing lunges. For such people, the form can well be compromised a bit. The entire motion range can be shortened a bit to experience comfort.

To avoid pain or injury, it’s always recommended to stretch the quadriceps before performing lunges.

Mistake 7: Feet too far apart

Lunges need to be done with wide stance. But that doesn’t mean it will be wider enough to make the body loss on its balance. Too much wider stance will make the body remain in some sort of unstable position. This can even cause some sort of knee problems.

To maintain a perfect stance while doing lunges, it is better to perform the workout before a mirror. It will be helpful in taking the correct stance before performing the workout.

One thing to mention: while doing lunges, it is necessary to place a rubber mat on the ground. Stand on the rubber mat to avoid direct contact with floor. It helps in providing greater stability and prevents accidental slipping.

Mistake 8: Looking down during lunging

Neck should be straight and up while doing lunges. But a lot of people have tendency to lower down the neck while performing lunges. Maintaining such a form will result in injuring the neck. A certain type of cramp will occur within the neck region. Pain is very similar to that of spondylitis. Pain may last for eight to ten days. So, be careful while doing lunges. Never lower down the neck or else the pain will keep on coming back.

Mistake 9: Knees touching ground

This mistake allows for hurting down the knees severely after a certain time.

Lunges should be done with knees never touching the ground at all. In fact, as soon the knee touches ground, pressure is released and lower body comes to a resting position. This is less beneficiary for the workout.

This mistake is much common while performing lunges with weights like kettlebell, barbbell, or dumbbells. Be careful as knees hitting the floor frequently may result in causing serious injury to the joint region.

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