Thread: Lunges

Any of you guys and girls do Lunges?

Originally Posted by UN Soldier

Any of you guys and girls do Lunges?

sure do. Depending on what gym i train at when its legs day. My gym has a hack squat but the 1 near my missus doesnt so i replace hacks with lunges. Doesnt make sense but i figure they both good mass builders so using 1 or the other is ok.

Nope, don't like them, as I have poor balance and I tend to fall over.

Originally Posted by Thrasha

sure do. Depending on what gym i train at when its legs day. My gym has a hack squat but the 1 near my missus doesnt so i replace hacks with lunges. Doesnt make sense but i figure they both good mass builders so using 1 or the other is ok.

I did Lunges for the first time in my life on Saturday morning, after 3 failure sets of squats. Anyway mate I have never felt pain in my legs like this before, still 2 days later and my legs are sore, not as sore as before, but dam those lunges really target my whole leg: hammie's, quads, glutes and lower back. I do them fairly slowly and precise and I go all the way down to the ground and let my knee hit the ground. My ass muscles have never ever been so sore, I was walking like I had a pole up my ass.

I can't do hack squats, because I have some weird knot in the middle of my left quad, its been there for years, and it clicks or pops if I do hack squats, I don't know whats wrong with it?

Originally Posted by Lazarus

Nope, don't like them, as I have poor balance and I tend to fall over.

Yeah I noticed it was hard to steady myself and I fell a couple of times, but I train at home now so no-one can see me fall over. I wasn't even using any weight, after the squats I did I didn't need weight, but I found if I put my hands on my ass then I could balance myself, yeah I'm serious actually put your hands on your ass, like grab your ass and it helps balance when going up and down doing lunges.

Originally Posted by UN Soldier

Yeah I noticed it was hard to steady myself and I fell a couple of times, but I train at home now so no-one can see me fall over. I wasn't even using any weight, after the squats I did I didn't need weight, but I found if I put my hands on my ass then I could balance myself, yeah I'm serious actually put your hands on your ass, like grab your ass and it helps balance when going up and down doing lunges.

I have a spinal fusion and need another, so my general balance is crap. I can't do free-standing squats, for example, have to use a smith machine.

Originally Posted by Lazarus

I have a spinal fusion and need another, so my general balance is crap. I can't do free-standing squats, for example, have to use a smith machine.

Dam thats no good mate, sorry to hear that.

At home right now I use Dumbells for sqauts, as I don't have a barbell. The dumbells tend to pull your body forward and I think they bring in the lower back more than it should be brought in. Anyway I've only been training at home for 2 weeks now and I'm still finding new exercises to do, but I can target my entire body fairly well I have found.

i read a science study once which suggested isolating one leg had no added advantage.

I don't do them because I don't think that they are a mass building exercise. I can however see the merits of it as a finishing off exercise. It's just that after Hack squats, Leg Press and Leg Ext, I don't have the energy for lunges.

I do them walking up and down a slight incline ramp with Dumbells at the end of a leg session...
Do them with shorter strides and you will hit quads a little more, long strides will hit hammies and glutes more...
You should not be touching the ground with your knee, you should stop just short of the ground... The breaking power required will make the muscle work much harder...

I tend to agree with the above from RF though, they aren't much of a mass builder for quads, but they are great for glute and hamstring devlopment as a change from hammy curls or SLDL...

Originally Posted by O.N.

i read a science study once which suggested isolating one leg had no added advantage.

That could very well be true. I think cause I've never done them before it has shocked me a bit, which is what I need.

Even better is stacking Sqauts with Lunges, I put them in the same syringe.

Originally Posted by RF1964

I don't do them because I don't think that they are a mass building exercise. I can however see the merits of it as a finishing off exercise. It's just that after Hack squats, Leg Press and Leg Ext, I don't have the energy for lunges.

Fair enough, but I do see and hear of a lot of pro's doing lunges, hey if it works for them it can't be that bad right!

Lunges will definitely build more mass then Ext, come on mate whats wrong with you? Ext are just like a toning exercise, they are the most basic exercise for the quads, they are definitely not a mass building exercise.

Originally Posted by Scottie85

I do them walking up and down a slight incline ramp with Dumbells at the end of a leg session...
Do them with shorter strides and you will hit quads a little more, long strides will hit hammies and glutes more...
You should not be touching the ground with your knee, you should stop just short of the ground... The breaking power required will make the muscle work much harder...

I tend to agree with the above from RF though, they aren't much of a mass builder for quads, but they are great for glute and hamstring devlopment as a change from hammy curls or SLDL...

I'm thinking of really switching up my leg routine from week to week or month to month, just really keep the legs guessing and keep on shocking the absolute shit out of them. It is risky doing this though, just make sure your warm and fully juiced up and ready to go etc.

I do them with longer strides, I try to purposely hit the hammies and glutes a lot. I beleive that a lot of people focus to much on quads and then they end up getting a torn hammie or some back of the leg problem. Then again I see many people who love their deadlifts, these I don't do.

Hack Sqauts were perfect for targeting my quads, but they hit them too hard, well my left quad clicks and pops, I have some growth or weird artery or ligament in the middle of my left quad, it has a fairly large lump, could have been a bad shot years ago, I don't know but after doing hack squats it can become sensitvie for several days afterwards. Its not that bad, but I know its there. At home I do 'One Leg Hack Sqauts', I lean up against my smooth cupboard door with one leg out in front, then I slowly go down all the way and come back up. No weight is needed cause I only use one leg, I hold the other leg off the ground.

I agree with what you said about the knee not touching the ground etc. And yeah I'm trying to bring out my glutes and hammies, so I think lunges are my best choice for the moment, especially since I train at home now.

lunges are not mass builders, they are the icing on the cake.

i personally never do them.

if u want a bigger ass squat wide and deep

Originally Posted by UN Soldier

Fair enough, but I do see and hear of a lot of pro's doing lunges, hey if it works for them it can't be that bad right!

Lunges will definitely build more mass then Ext, come on mate whats wrong with you? Ext are just like a toning exercise, they are the most basic exercise for the quads, they are definitely not a mass building exercise.

I agree I've seen a lot of pro's (Ronnie, Jay etc) doing them to but I think that they are doing them for the same reason you are, to shock the muscle. As for my ext. that's just for the burn at the end of my leg workout. I know they're not a mass exercise. LOL. Here I am defending my workout!

Originally Posted by C_T

lunges are not mass builders, they are the icing on the cake.

i personally never do them.

You guys seem obssessed with the term "Mass Builders". No-one is saying that lunges are mass builders, this Thread was not about "MASS BUILDERS!" They are definitely better than Ext. I will say that! And everyone has different Physiques, so this basically means that some exercises will work better for some people than other people. One guy may not gain much mass on a certain exercise, whilst the next guy with a totally different physique may gain several KG's off that same exercise.

Originally Posted by mrt

if u want a bigger ass squat wide and deep

Lunges work my legs better than squats, I'm sorry to all you guys that disagree okay, but like I said we all have different body shapes okay, we aren't all the same and our bodies react different to the same exercises.

Originally Posted by RF1964

I agree I've seen a lot of pro's (Ronnie, Jay etc) doing them to but I think that they are doing them for the same reason you are, to shock the muscle. As for my ext. that's just for the burn at the end of my leg workout. I know they're not a mass exercise. LOL. Here I am defending my workout!

Yeah sorry mate I know you weren't saying all that stuff aye

Originally Posted by UN Soldier

Lunges work my legs better than squats, I'm sorry to all you guys that disagree okay, but like I said we all have different body shapes okay, we aren't all the same and our bodies react different to the same exercises.

I know what you mean mate. I've had better results from the Leg Press than I've had from Squats.