Currently, ordinary lunges, as well as back lunges, are widely popular among a female audience. However, to argue that the exercise is created only for this gender is incorrect. The thing is that you can perform the movement in two variations. Because of this, reverse lunges can still be successfully used in training programs for men.
Types of lunges
There are three main types of performing this exercise. The first is back lunges, which use only the weight of their body. However, this movement is performed only by beginners. Slightly more experienced athletes use the second, most common option - lunges with dumbbells. The third method is considered the most difficult, since instead of dumbbells, a barbell is used for weight training. Naturally, the maximum possible load can be hung on it, while dumbbells exist only with a certain weight, and it may not be enough for experienced athletes.
We can add that the second version of the exercise is most often used just by girls, since the weight of the dumbbells is less, but the third method is more often performed by men, since with the barbell you can achieve maximum load on the muscles.
What muscles are involved in the exercise
Back lunges are considered the most effective way to work on the gluteal muscles and the front of the thigh. The movement is aimed at the maximum load in areas where the middle and lower parts of the quadriceps are located. In other words, it can be used in order to achieve high leg relief, and not for the development of their total muscle mass.
It is worth noting that long attacks of the opposite type are used only by women. There is a completely reasonable explanation for this, which is that with a long lunge, the peak load falls on the gluteus muscle. If you perform the movement, but at the same time put your foot close to the body, then the load will shift towards the quadriceps. So the exercise is performed mainly by men.
However, in addition to these main muscles, many other smaller as well as synergistic departments participate in the movement. Synergists call those muscle groups that are included in the work as auxiliary and receive minimal load. Reverse long lunges as synergists involve parts such as the conductive muscles of the thigh and soleus muscles.
Execution technique
Back lunges with dumbbells, with a barbell or without a burden have a common technique for performing this exercise.
The first thing to do is decide whether to do it with weights or not. The position of the hands depends on this. If you take dumbbells or barbell, then you need to stand in the same position as with standard squats.
The athlete is clearly straight. At the same time, the setting of his legs differs from that used for squats. Back lunges require a narrow setting of the legs, approximately the width of the pelvis. This is narrower than shoulder width.
After that, the athlete must take a deep breath and begin to take a medium-long step backwards with either foot. At the same time, you need to remember that the leg, which is laid back, should gradually bend at the knee, and the athlete himself should squat at this time.
The final phase of the exercise occurs at the moment when the shin of the working leg is in an upright position, and the supporting knee is at a height equal to 10-15 cm above the floor.
In order to get up and return to the starting position, it is necessary to push off from the floor with the toe of the supporting leg, and transfer the entire load to the side of the worker. After several attempts, good back lunges will begin to turn out.
It is recommended that the athlete exhale at the moment that is most difficult for him to complete the exercise.
After completing all points with one foot, the same thing is done with the second.
The nuances of the exercise
The first thing to remember when doing the exercise is the right angle of the working leg. Squatting deeper is traumatic, as it can damage the knee if the angle is more than 90 degrees.
It is worth noting that for the correct and non-traumatic performance of this exercise, an athlete must have great flexibility in almost all muscles and joints located below the pelvis. If flexibility and stretching are absent, it is better not to perform such movements, they can greatly harm your health.