There are not too many exercises that rip your leg muscles to shreds and leave you as breathless as the walking lunge. It is a popular exercise in many functional strength and fitness classes for this very reason but there is a lot more to this than many people realize, especially if you add some of the variations I am about to discuss in this article. For those of you who want a new challenge in your workout or, perhaps find it a bit boring and monotonous doing the same walking lunge variation, you will find these advanced progressions exactly what you need. Enjoy.
Why It Is So Important To Learn Good Exercise Technique In The Gym
When it comes to learning a musical instrument we know that technique is everything and coaching will make it so much easier to learn the necessary skills required. The learning process is simple in the beginning before gradually progressing to more complex skills as you improve. Simply practicing more with poor technique will not make you a better guitar player. This is same principle is linked to exercise, yet many ignore the need for learning technique in the sake of getting more done. This is a dangerous road to head down for if we lack fundamental movement skills and place more emphasis on quantity instead of quality we are now building fitness on a dysfunctional body. Unlike the musical instrument where poor technique just sounds bad, poor technique with exercise over a period of time inevitably leads to poor performance, injury and pain. Today’s society tend to treat exercise like going to war with their body, instead of trying to gradually challenge and allow the body to adapt. We forget there must be a balance between quality work and rest to ensure we move well. In this article we take a close look at everything to do with exercise technique and why quality beats quantity every time.
Is It Okay To Let Your Knees Go Over Your Toes When You Squat?
One movement that has a lot of confusion and controversy surrounding the “correct technique” to use is the squat. For a long time people have been told to keep their knees behind their toes or it will cause serious knee damage. This teaching is still used in many gyms and fitness centers today, yet the basis and logic for this instruction is more likely to cause harm and dysfunction than prevent it. If you watch elite weightlifters competing you will see their knees always go over their toes, and the taller they are, the further forward they go. And not only do they not have knee pain, they have legs stronger than most people on the planet. What causes knee pain has more to do with hip and foot mechanics combined with poor movement strategies that were either taught or learned from an early age. In this article, I will explain the theory behind the squat and help clear up what the correct movement you should be striving to achieve really is.