Oxygen USA – July-August 2019

20 summer 2019

move move LEVEL UP

LEVEL 2: AROUNDTHE

WORLD LUNGE

Multi-planar lunges like this train your

muscles to control movement patterns in

every direction. Do this version with a light

pair of dumbbells for endurance or with

bodyweight only as a dynamic warm-up

for a heavy leg day.

Stand with your feet hip-width apart and

your arms at your sides or clasped in front

of you. Take a large step forward and bend

both knees to drop straight down toward

the floor, keeping your front knee over your

toes and stacked directly on top of your

ankle. Push off your front foot and return to

LEVEL 1: UNILATERALLY
LOADED SPLIT SQUAT
The split squat helps develop balance and
control while maintaining proper hip, knee
and ankle position. Unlike a true lunge, your
base in a split squat doesn’t move, keeping
the tension on your glutes and quads and
preventing you from using momentum.
Here, you’re loading just one side to
challenge your core and hip stability.

Hold a dumbbell in your right hand at
shoulder height with your chest lifted and
elbow down, and stand with your feet in
a split stance, left leg forward, right leg
back and up on your toes. Keep your torso
erect as you bend both knees and drop
straight down toward the floor until both
legs form 90-degree angles at the hips
and knees. Extend your legs to return to the
start. Complete all reps on one side before
switching.

Troubleshooting
Since this move is unilaterally loaded, the
dumbbell will want to pull your torso over to
the weighted side. Focus on keeping your rib
cage level with the floor and squeezing your
shoulder blades down to maintain balance
and stay square, with your center of gravity
over your hips.
If you feel off-balance, either your starting
stance is too narrow — e.g., like you’re walking
a tightrope — or your feet are too far apart
front to back. Adjust your stance until you hit
those right angles and are able to maintain
contact with the floor with the entire sole of
your front foot.

center, then step to the side, kicking your glutes

back while keeping your torso erect. Return

to center and then take a step backward and

bend both knees to lower into a reverse lunge.

Return to standing to complete one rep.

Troubleshooting

Use the entire bottom of your working

foot to push off forcefully from each lunge,

generating enough drive to bring you to

standing. This prevents you from pulling with

your stationary leg or swinging your upper

body/arms around to create momentum.

Trouble with control? Do the move with

bodyweight only and change the tempo, taking

four counts to lower and two counts to rise.

Relearn to love lunges

Change up this overplayed classic and breathe new life into your lower-body routine.

As far as lower-body exercises go, lunges are one of the best for

developing strength, building endurance and improving balance. But

truth: They are also exceedingly boring. Use these four exercises to

level up your lunges — and still keep a level head.

For this move,

first try holding

a weight on the

same side as your

back leg, then

try loading on

the opposite side

(front leg) and see

how it increases

the instability and

makes the move

that much harder.

To emphasize

your glutes and deep

hip rotators, perform

the reverse lunge as

a curtsy instead: Step

behind and across the

stationary leg while

keeping your hips level

and maintaining knee

and ankle alignment.