Also known as strides or lunges, it is especially recommended for sports that precisely involve lunging movements.


The lunge exercise is gaining popularity in recent times. In good measure, because it is a good exercise for a core area routine and presents certain demands for many of the practitioners, although it can be adapted to the conditions of each one. Also called strides or lunges, it has different variations and does not require much space to practice it.


We could define the lunge as an exercise of body resistance, strength and toning, which allows us to work part of the muscles of our legs. Specifically, it works the quadriceps and hamstring muscles of the thigh and buttocks, as well as a little of the lower leg muscles.

It is an exercise especially recommended for complementary training to the practice of many sports. In particular, and especially to sports such as soccer, basketball or tennis, which precisely involve lunging movements.

In any case, it is still an adaptation of the classic squat, but requiring a little more balance and concentration. Exercises such as squats and lunges are very functional, since they are movements involved in different types of activities.


In this way, we clearly improve injury prevention and maximize our personal performance. In contrast, other exercises isolate specific areas, so we can neglect other aspects that would be very useful in sports practice.

On the other hand, the lunge also helps to improve our upright posture, since we consciously train our core, our center of gravity, between the pelvis and the rib cage. So much so that, when performed correctly, they automatically activate the deep abdominal and back muscles, thus gaining stability and balance.

How is a lunge performed?
The standard version of this exercise involves bringing the supporting foot forward and the other foot backward, while bending the knees. If we perform it slowly, we will activate the muscle fibers with each repetition, while if we perform it fast we will basically increase the heart rate.

Types of lunge
There are different types of lunge exercises, and each one has different functions and applications within our routine. We highlight three of the main ones:

  •  Forward lunge: We start standing, with an organic body position, and advance our good leg forward. We descend with our back straight and our hands on our hips, bringing our buttocks as close to the floor as we can. Repeat with the other leg. We hold for a few seconds, and return to the starting position.
  •  Walking lunge: We start in the same way as the static lunge. However, when we come back up, we take advantage of the movement to do a backward lunge. This serves to alternate the position of the legs with a repetition.
  • Side lunge: We start in the same way as in the reference lunge, but in this case we take a side step with the right, stretching the left completely. Return to the starting position and repeat with the other leg.

It is normal that in the first few lunges we encounter some difficulties, either some pain in some of the muscles, a quick exhaustion or lack of balance. But with time it is something that we will notice the improvement and we will be able to perform more and better lunges.


However, we should avoid exercising if we notice pain in our knees or lower back, for example. It is also very important to perform the exercises with the correct postures, helping us with reference images that can help us. And do not perform a heavy exercise load, especially at the beginning, when we have not yet perfected the technique.