The lunge! A fantastic unilateral movement with a range of variations and benefits. It is a great exercise for everyone to incorporate into their training / workout regime as it is scalable to all levels of fitness.

Benefits of the lunge

1. Lower body strength / hypertrophy  – Lunging is great for developing the glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, lower back etc. You can perform lunges at heavy weight with low reps to target more of a strength gain bias, or lighten the weight and increase the reps to focus on muscle hypertrophy. 
   
2. Balance and coordination – The unilateral nature of the lunge means that one side is being targeted at a time, which requires high levels of balance and coordination due to not being able to use both legs to stabilize. If you play a sport like tennis, ice skating, athletics, skiing etc then lunging is a great exercise to implement in your training regime. You can also add in balance boards or yoga balls to your lunge variation to further increase the levels of balance needed to perform the lunge.
   
   
3. Symmetry – Once again the unilateral nature of the lunge means you can develop the musculature of the lower limbs more symmetrically, and even out imbalances. Most of us have imbalances present due to mobility restrictions, the way we function day to day, or because of injuries meaning we favor one side more than the other. 
   
   
4. Core strength – The balance required when lunging places large amounts of stress on the core. This is great for developing the deeper core muscles, especially the ones surrounding the spine such as the transverse abdominis, multifidus, and the pelvic floor. You can also do anti-rotation lunge variations increasing the core strength required. 
   
   
5. Knee injury prevention and rehabilitation – Lunges are great for knee health. It is a great way to strengthen the tendons and ligaments surrounding the knee. Blood flow to tendons is comparatively poor compared to other areas of the body making it harder to get good oxygenated blood to them. Lunges are a great way to increase blood flow to the tendons, increasing their ability to function better. If performed correctly the lunge strengthens all the smaller musculature surrounding the knee, decreasing the likelihood of injury. 
   
   

Variations of the Lunge

1. The body weight lunge – Simple yet effective. The body weight lunge is great for teaching the basic mechanics of the lunge and introducing someone to the movement. Spend lots of time mastering the body weight lunge and you will have greater success with the more complex variations.  
   
   
2. Barbell weighted lunge reverse lunge – The barbell sitting across the shoulders in the back rack position can be loaded up heavy for strength bias or lightened for hypertrophy focus. Loading the lunge this way also places stress on the core too. 
   
   
3. Bulgarian split squat – Excellent variation to isolate one leg to focus more on strength and balance on that one side. It also requires a level of hip flexibility due to the positioning of the leg that is elevated. 
   
   
4. Knee over toes lunge – This is a deep lunge position that helps target ankle and hip mobility as well as lengthening and strengthening the tendons and ligaments around the knee joint. This can take time to master but performing slowly and controlled will help with injury prevention.
   
   
5. Pallof press + reverse lunge – This is a combination of anti-rotation core exercise as well as lunging so you reap the benefits of both. Great for athletes that require high levels of balance and coordination.