Lunges are a powerful exercise, allowing you to shape and strengthen almost every muscle in the lower body.
Learn to do them with good form and this exercise can become a valuable part of a strength training or circuit training workout.
How to Do a Lunge
Stand in a split stance with the right foot roughly 2 to 3 feet in front of the left foot. Your torso is straight, the shoulders are back and down, your core is engaged, and your hands are resting on your hips.
■ core
noun (IMPORTANT PART)
C2 [ S or U ]
the basic and most important part of something:
The lack of government funding is at the core of the problem.
추가 예
The radicals in the party were clearly sacked to propitiate the conservative core.
Hardline rightwingers form the core of the movement.
The core of our workforce comes from local families.
A desire for justice is at the core of his arguments.
The core of her philosophy is respect for life.
1. Bend the knees and lower your body until the back knee is a few inches from the floor. At the bottom of the movement, the front thigh is parallel to the ground, the back knee points toward the floor, and your weight is evenly distributed between both legs.
2. Push back up to the starting position, keeping your weight on the heel of the front foot.
What Does It Mean to Engage Your Core?
People learn from mistakes—in that sense, it might be easier to learn how to engage your core by understanding what not to do. Below are some common examples of failing to engage the core.
Your back arches while you perform shoulder presses or push-ups
Your back slumps while sitting down
Your lower back raises from the ground when trying to “hollow” your body
You lean far to one side when performing a single-arm shoulder press
You lose balance when performing single-leg exercises
All of the above scenarios exemplify a weak core in different ways. The first example—back arching when performing shoulder presses—is the easiest to dissect. When you perform a shoulder press, you should be able to extend your arms fully overhead while keeping your back in a neutral-spine position. If you can’t, your core muscles are weak, you haven’t learned how to engage and brace them, or perhaps you have a different mobility issue (discuss this with a doctor or physical therapist).
How to Engage Your Core
Engaging your core means bracing and tightening all of the muscles in your core2 —your four abdominal muscles, lats, paraspinal muscles, hip flexors, and glutes—to keep your spine safe and stable. Picture everything from your rib cage to your pelvis: It should all feel like a single, strong cylinder.
It’s More Than Just “Sucking in” Your Stomach
It’s common to think that “engage your core” means “suck in your stomach.” But that’s actually pretty far from the truth; in fact, it’s quite the opposite.
To engage your core, imagine that you are bracing yourself for a sucker-punch right to the stomach. You’re not going to suck in your stomach. You’re going to take a deep breath and tighten all of your abdominal muscles. It may be helpful to picture “zipping up” your abs—bringing your navel up and toward your spine.
You should be able to continue to breathe when you engage your core: First, fill your belly, and then inhale and exhale, only allowing your rib cage to move. Your belly should remain tight and full after the initial breath. After that point, you should be able to see your ribs move in and out when you breathe.