7 Reasons For Practicing Walking Lunges
If you want to tone your thigh muscles and get a strong lower body then you should do walking lunges. A modified version of regular lunges, walking lunges tones thigh muscles, boosts strength, strengthens the core, improve stability, and enhance aesthetic performance.
If building your lower body is your objective then you should do walking lunges. There are three types of walking lunges – Stationary Lunges, Walking Lunges, and Walking Lunges With Weight – that you can practice at home. The benefits of the exercises will be visible within a couple of days.
Read on to know how to perform the exercises and the advantages of a workout
Types Of Lunges
- Stationary Lunges
How To:
• Stand straight with your feet hip-width apart
• Take the first step with your right foot and flex your right knee
• Your right thigh should be parallel to the floor and your left leg should be stretched
• Get up and bring your right foot back to its position
• Repeat it with the left foot
Benefits: It involves a downward movement that gives a strong, eccentric contraction to hams, quads, and glutes. The entire weight of the body falls on the forward leg and the back leg support the body in maintaining balance. Also, both legs take equal pressure to push the body back to its original position.
- Walking Lunges
How To:
• Stand straight with your feet hip-width apart
• Take your right foot forward and bend the right knee
• Your right knee should be parallel to the floor and your left leg stretched back
• Stand up and bring your left leg forward
• Take the next step with your left leg and do the same
• Keep walking with lunges
Benefits: Walking lunges have similar benefits to stationary lunges. Downward movements in both lunges are similar but there is a little difference in the upward movement. Here the focus is on the forward leg so its muscles are maximally contracted to maintain the speed.
- Walking Lunges With Weight
How To:
• Come in the position of walking lunges
• Grab a lightweight in both your hands
• Take a step with your right foot as you do in walking lunges
• Get up and take the next step with your left leg
• Keep moving at a slow speed
Benefits: This exercise has similar benefits to the earlier two exercises. The only difference in this exercise is here you add extra weight to your body and this weight puts more pressure on your thighs, quads, and glutes.
Muscles Walking Lunges Work On
Walking lunges work on the entire body but you will feel more pressure on specific muscles including your thighs and glutes. Here’re the muscles that will feel the pressure during these exercises.
• Gluteal muscles
• Hamstring
• Quadriceps
• Calves
• Core muscles
• Back muscles
Benefits Of Walking Lunges
Walking lunges exercises have multiple benefits for your body and mind. It will improve your balance and strengthen your core. But these are one of the many benefits of these exercises. Keep reading to know the full mental and physical benefits of doing walking lunges.
- Improve Balance
Walking lunges is a unilateral exercise as it works for both sides of the body. It improves balance and coordination which is hard to achieve in any other activity. It involves both downward and upward movements for which you need to maintain a fine balance. The challenge with walking lunges is that you have to use your lower body to maintain balance.
- Boost Functionality
It is an added benefit of the exercise. When you do walking lunges, you try to push your body to the extreme. You put a firm foot forward and balance your body with the help of stretched back leg. Then you get up to take the second step. While doing these exercises, you keep your back and neck straight. In other words, you maintain a good posture while maintaining your movement.
- Aid Symmetrical Toning
According to fitness experts and trainers, walking lunges focus on the neglected parts of the body. The lower body parts often get neglected for no visible reason. But these exercises take care of those body parts including thighs, glutes, and quads. With these exercises, you get a symmetrically toned body. Also, it improves flexibility to allow smooth movement of your limbs.
- Boost the Flexibility Of Your Hips
Walking lunges stretch the hip flexor muscles that boost the flexibility of the hip muscles. A sedentary lifestyle can make your hip muscles stiff and it is difficult to take swift moves with stiff hips. If you lead a sedentary lifestyle, your hips need a good stretch that walking lunges can give. The biggest advantage of this exercise is it gives a good stretch to both hip flexors.
- Tone Your Glute Muscles
You will agree that gluteal muscles are often left out during regular workouts. Or you can say that regular activities don’t target gluteal muscles. But it is necessary for you to move your glutes as they allow taking firm steps and maintain balance. With walking lunges, you can give a good stretch to your gluteal muscles. And the results of the exercise will be visible soon.
- Strengthen Your Core
Walking lunges involve downward and upward movements that put pressure on the core. And a strong core is necessary to maintain a good posture and build stamina. With walking lunges, you can make your core stronger. Every time you go down and come up, you increase the strength of your core.
- Let Your Spine Rest While You Exercise
Walking lunges keep the spine free from unnecessary stretch and stress. You can see that the spine is kept free from the downward and upward movement of the exercise. You can easily keep your back straight while doing lunges.
Final Thoughts
If you want to tone your body then you should include walking lunges in your workout. These exercises will stretch your lower body and make the lower body muscles work. Also, these exercises are easy to perform with little training and precautions.
Disclaimer: The above information is for educational purposes only and the readers are advised to take proper training before practicing walking lunges to prevent injuries.
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