Today’s movement is a lunge. This is a foundational lower body exercise. It strengthens the quads (upper front of the leg), hamstrings (upper back of the leg), and glutes (your butt).

Start by standing tall and the step forward with one leg, while lowered the back knee towards the ground. Then push back up. The ideal is the knee touching the ground and your legs both being in a 90° angle. That’s the ideal but we are living in reality. So, the thing we are looking for is at least a dip with the back leg to a position where you can still get back up.

Lunges can be done while standing in one place, or by walking forward with each step. Moving forward gives momentum but is less stable and more difficult while staying in one place is more stable, but less intense and doesn’t demand as much strength or coordination. So it depends on what you are looking for.

Since these are difficult, there must be a way to scale, right? Of course there is. One way is to not go all the way down to the ground/floor. Another way is to use a PVC pipe (or some such device) as a cane which allows you to have your upper body help push or propel you upwards. You can also use a counter for this or perhaps a chair that is stable and won’t slip away from you.

Another possible scaling option is a static split squat. Your feet are planted in a lunge position with one foot forward and you simply move up and down which reduces coordination demands and muscle strength demands.

A reverse lunge is often more stable and less stress on your knee than forward lunges so that is another option for scaling. All these options include lowering yourself only as far as you wish.

If you are looking for beast mode, you can do them while walking and/or weighted either with DBs at your side or something held aloft overhead. I personally only do this under duress.

Today’s workout:
WARM UP
2-3x
5 air squat
10 jumping jacks

CIRCUIT
2-3x
6 lunges in place, 3 each leg as forward
8 Russian twists with or without weight, feet planted or raised
add or subtract weight as needed
rest as needed

Keeping your legs strong is one of the best ways to maintain a stable walking gait. Last time I mentioned how important the calf muscles were for this task. The upper leg and butt muscles are also key. Of course, having a strong core helps hold your upper body stable while you move your lower body to propel you through the world so you can do all your amazing things.

Stay balanced.
Video on Facebook.
List of workouts. I have made a page with all the dates and what the titles are with links to them if you wish to review either the text or link to the video to watch the “how-to” again.