Barbell Lunge

Directions:

Preperation/body position

1. If using a rack, place barbell on squat rack pins, which are set at a suitable height for you to dismount and re-rack safely.
2. Load bar with correct weight. Put on safety collars.
3. Position barbell on back of shoulders, taking a wide grasp on the bar.
4. Dismount barbell carefully, taking a few steps backwards.
5. If not using a rack, clean bar off floor and set in position on shoulders.

Excution/Movement

1. Lunge first foot forward, keeping back straight and torso erect throughout execution.
2. Land on heel first then let rest of foot make contact with floor, in a slow controlled action.
3. Keeping back straight, lunge down by flexing the knee and hip until front thigh is close to parallel to the floor and the knee of the following leg is close to the floor.
4. Return to standing position by forcefully extending the knee and hip of the front leg, keeping good body posture throughout.
5. Repeat in same manner for the other leg.
6. Repeat for repetitions.

Comments

The barbell lunge is an excellent choice for stimulation of the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and calves. The lunge can add a bit of variety to leg workouts that are usually dominated by squat variations. Give it a decent run in your sessions before making judgements.

When performing the lunge it should be kept in mind that it is quite a difficult movement to master. The back should remain upright throughout the execution, knees should not touch the floor, front knee should not travel over the front foot (front lower leg should be no further forward then perpendicular to the floor to minimise the chance of knee injury), and head should remain up at all times. Coordinating all these during execution, whilst balancing with a barbell on the back of your shoulders can take some getting used to!

A verity of the barbell lunge is the dumbbell lunge. This can be a better option to start with as it is easy to dump the weights if you start to loose balance, or struggle.

For hypertrophy 6-12 reps will likely yield the best results, providing optimal time under tension. This will provide adequate stimulation for sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, and acute response to anabolic hormone concentrations, compared to that of lower rep ranges.