Lunging helps balance asymmetries.
Why this matters:
The reverse lunge exercise is a great way to measure the difference between your left and right leg. You’ll target your glutes if you lean your torso forward, and your quads when being more upright. Not only is this a good test for strength and asymmetries, this is also a useful way to strengthen your muscles in a way that spares your spine. Lunging helps you focus on one leg at a time, meaning that you’ll probably be moving more than 50% of your body weight when doing this activity. This is particularly useful in people like yourself who are experiencing one sided pain.
Action steps:
Try this lunge variation. Do you notice a difference in strength between left and right sides? If you are pain free with this activity, try to complete a 2:1 ratio of repetitions. This means that you’ll do twice as many reps on the weaker side as compared to the strong side. This is something that can be completed for 3 sets of 5-10 repetitions, and only needs to be done a max of 3 times per week to gain the most benefit.
If you are having pain with this activity, this tells us that you’re not quite ready for it, and we need to look somewhere else.If you would like more help with trying to recover from your pain, check out the patient advocate program. You’ll start off with a 100% free 30 minute call with us where we’ll discuss a plan of action for you. You can book your call here.
