Featured Exercise of the Month
April 2006 - Lateral Lunge to Press
Client Model = Sharon M.
Age = 41
Sharon has been training with me for almost two years. Though a master level swimmer, Sharon was overweight with a high body fat content, suffering from pretty severe asthma and a noticeable lack of muscle tone or strength. We often make jokes about Sharon's early days with weights - if there was a way to do an exercise wrong, Sharon found it! I corrected her, she learned and we moved on.
After her first six weeks of weight training just once per week, she had dropped one whole dress size without losing one pound on the scale as her body added desperately needed lean muscle tissue. Sharon is one of my most disciplined clients as she does her cardio, rarely misses a session, and carefully adheres to the dietary modifications I suggested.
Over the past 18 months she has gone down 6 dress sizes and totally reshaped her body. Her asthma has improved and she reports an overall greater sense of power as she has changed her life. Along with that came a much higher level of self-esteem. This woman has a beautiful spirit and now enjoys a beautiful size 4 body and fashions as well. I am quite proud to have Sharon M. as one of my clients.
For April Sharon demonstrates one of my favorite metabolic booster and total body exercises - the lateral lunge to press combo. This exercise primarily targets the glute medius, quadriceps, hamstrings, and shoulders. It's a great overall body shaper and calorie burner!
The lateral lunge (body weight version just to the knees) is also an excellent stretch for the inner thigh adductor muscles, and for this reason is often included as part of a warm up or stretching program.
Position 1 - Start Position
Position 2 - Lowering Dumb Bells and Preparing for the Lateral Lunge
Position 3 - Completing the Lateral Lunge - Back Should be Flat and Flexed at Hip
End Position - Overhead Press with Dumb Bells
1) Start with feet hip width apart, standing with shoulders back, abdominals engaged with dumb bells hanging at sides, palms in. Flex biceps and position dumb bells in shoulder carry position.
2) Take a large step out to the left as you flex from the hip to bend over, straightening your arms to touch dumb bells to the midshin, ankle or floor (depending upon your flexibility). Your left knee should be bent and the right leg should now be straight. Bend only as far as you can go in good form. Your goal is to keep your back flat to avoid bending through the thoracic spine instead of the hip/pelvic region.
3) Push off with the left foot as you return to standing. At the same time swing the dumb bells up towards your hips, continuing to push them so that by the time you arrive to full standing position, the dumb bells are at shoulder height and feet are again no more than hip width apart. Stabilize your spine and PUSH the dumb bells up over your head.
4) Lower dumb bells back to shoulder carry position as you take a large step out to the right, again flexing from the hip and repeating steps 2 and 3 above on the right side. Try doing this move with a side view mirror until you get the hang of it so you can check your form and make sure you are not flexing from the mid-back instead of the hips.
5) Repeat for three sets of 10-15 reps on each leg, alternating legs for each rep and keeping a good 2-0-2 pace. In other words, this is a fast paced movement pattern designed to get your heart thumping. Use a weight which you can handle in perfect form for the full set. Beginners usually start with 4-5 lbs, intermediates use 6-9 lbs, and more advanced trainees use 10-12 pound dumb bells.
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