literally me today. I was almost on the verge of giving up on that exercise cause i didn't feel my glutes. Upped slightly the weight. Changed the posture. Gotta be the first time I felt my glutes on ANY exercise. I feel glutes and quads like they're tearing.
Super informative and something I never knew. #Gamechange 1 - Long Step Length for Glute Focus: To target glutes effectively during lunges, take longer steps while maintaining stability and force production. This allows for a greater stretch and workload on the glutes compared to shorter steps that primarily engage the quads. 2 - Maintain Upright Posture: Keeping a rigid and upright posture during lunges, with slight forward lean from the hips if necessary, ensures the focus remains on the legs and glutes rather than shifting the load to the back, promoting better muscle engagement. 3 - Front Leg Weight Bias: Most of the hypertrophic benefits for the glutes come from the stretched position of the front leg during lunges. It's recommended to bias more weight onto the front leg rather than distributing it evenly or placing too much on the back leg. 4 - Equipment Choice for Stability and Experience: For beginners or those with balance issues, dumbbells are advised over barbells due to easier stabilization and safety. For more experienced individuals with strong lunges, a barbell can be more beneficial for targeting glutes without worrying about grip or balance issues. 5 -Load and Repetition Adjustments for Optimal Glute Engagement: Experiment with different loads and rep ranges (15-25 recommended) during lunges to find the sweet spot where glute engagement is maximized. Heavier loads can sometimes shift focus to quads, so adjusting the weight can help refocus on glutes.
1. Step Lenght - Long Step ; as long as your stable - Knees (around) over toes 2. Posture Don't lift with back. - Proud Chest - You can lean forward a bit, but lean with your hips - No back rounding 3. Weight Distribution - Stretch position > over contracted position - Most weight on the front leg - Either 50/50 weights or more on front leg (Front leg : the one stepping in front) 4. Barbell or Dumbell - I. D. C for now (advanced) 5. Light or Heavy - Light = better technique + Mind Muscle Connection - Hard : High SFR not great technique and activation - Moderate : Best of both worlds. 15 to 25 : great connection and focus. Quads is a limiting factor above.
I learned the same thing 2 years ago. I never felt my glutes with squats or regular lunges in my life. Once I started doing long step lunges, I felt my glutes sore for the first time ever. Now I feel sore glutes every time I do squats OR regular lunges. I woke them up.
Recently I began to incorporate reverse lunges in my routine, my glutes feel SORE AF FOR DAYS and I even feel my glutes more when I walk or perform other lower body exercises!!!
I dismissed lunges for like 20 years. Now I needed to add them, to train legs with a back injury. And I found lunges to be fantastic. Good for hypertrophy and translates so well into the real world
You can do a weighted vest with dumbbells as well. We don't have the space in our gym to lunge with a Barbell. And I do agree that gripping the dumbells becomes problematic when they start to get heavy - which will be different for different people.
I used to think only barbell hip thrusts hit my glutes hard, but I've been squatting a lot lately and my glutes are definitely getting worked. Guess I never squatted this much.
@@thelastMaster100 I used to feel hammies first, I would say to focus on pushing the hips through the instant the concentric starts, lower the weight, hips through and stop resting at the top, your quads (and even glutes) will fire. Film yourself from the back/side to check if your hips are doing the right thing. Good luck!
@@thelastMaster100 I squat pretty deep and my hammys get some work during squats too, I'm guessing in the bottom. But it's still mostly quads and glutes.
Dr. Mike, what are your thoughts on stepping forward vs. stepping backward for lunges? I have limited floor space so I try to do them "in place" as much as possible. Lunges wreck my glutes and groin muscles. I usually do them with 20lb dumb bells. 8-10 reps per leg, 2-3 sets, slow decent, close to but not actually touching knee, pause at the bottom for a second. If I do too many sets it can make it difficult to do them a second time per week... sore AF. This video is actually confirming what I have been doing with my length of step and upper body posture. Balance is usually good to go for me. Really enjoy these focus videos.
I could’ve sworn in a recent Q&A of either Jared or James, Dr. Mike said there is essentially no functional difference between forward and reverse lunges. I have no room in my home gym for walking lunges, so I just do reverse lunges with a safety bar on my back.
Dr Mike, I really like your videos. Thanks for sharing. If possible, I'd appreciate a video where you talk about the best exercises for people with back issues. Because of cervical issues I cannot do deadlifts and much less barbell squats. No barbell on my shoulders ever, according to my doctor. Makes me feel like my workouts will never be as efficient as I'd like them to =/
I started doing isometric lunges due to not being able to feel my glutes, I knew that the problem was that I had poor range of motion plus I lacked stability at the bottom so I started doing isometric lunges holding the bottom position to gain ROM in the same way you can hold the bottom of the squat to gain ROM over time, this way my rom and stability at the bottom improved greatly in just one month, ideally the ROM should be like the one Knees Over Toes has.
I’m definitely going to try this on my left glute. I just cannot get that mind muscle connection unless I do a shit ton of glute med activation before the main movement and I simply do not have enough time for that BS. Thanks for sharing your experience!!
Someone asked me how to better target their glutes in lunges and I gave them the exact advice you've given here in the first 2 minutes. Even just having some kinesiology background helps so much to be able to intuitively figure out these kind of things for people and adapt exercises accordingly! 💪
Dumbbells definitely add a lot is stability to the movement . My left glute is a huge problem . No matter what I do I still feel more tension on my vastus medialis .
Can you do a leg video that's safe for back pain I can do alot but due to slipped lower disc's can't put weight on shoulders anymore or leg press ...struggle is real tryna get leg and glute gains as I use to move alot of weight and now I can only do moderate weight higher volume and am limited on exercises that won't trigger my back😢
I have found sliding lunges help me get a deeper stretch and help me out more weight in the front leg! If you don’t already do them they’re worth trying.
Ah I was curious what your thoughts are on barbell lunges where you step forwards and then explode back to starting position. I can see pros and cons of it.
I just got the RP app and the only glute excercise on it that I can do at home is the lunge and I tried it for 2 weeks but couldn't feel my glutes at all while doing it and now I see this video in my recommendations, perfect
Hello Dr. Mike, Could you care to comment on stepping forward vs stepping back during a lunge and the differences? Also any technique modifications you would make doing standing lunges if I had limited gym space? Thank you!
I have the opposite problem, sometimes I do lunges to hit my quads when my lower back is messed up, and I end up getting sore as hell in my glutes while my quads are not even tired.
I have had some very bad experiences with many glute exercises due to a chronic low back problem. I've recently incorporated walking lunges into my routine. I love them! I use a lower weight as i am able to slow the movement down, balance better, and really work my glutes well. This video was really helpful, dr Mike, thank you.
I have them in right now, but definitely struggling to connect. I don’t have a lot of space so have to turn around ever 3 reps (6 total steps). I’m choosing weights that get my 12 reps, but I’m usually gassed at a cardio level for some reason. It’s the most grueling lift in my entire program from that standpoint…. But that seems strange to me. No other lift makes me breath as heavy or hard so I feel like somethings off or wrong
I am kind of happy that I saw your comment. Iam exactly the same, its killer for my glutes so I do this exercise but sometimes I wonder is it worth 😂 I feel like i am gonna vomit or get heart attack afterwards
Hey Dr. Mike! What's your opinion on lunges/split squats biased toward knee extension (front foot elevated, short step, knee forward etc.), as a quad exercise?
Make as many Targeting the Muscle as you can with the biomechanics. Dr Jordan Shallow does a good job but you need a Bachelors in Biomechanics to understand a little of it.
step length and torso angle don't have much to do if glutes or quads are involved. It's mosty about the angle of the force vector in relation to the shin. And it's even more a mind thing. Better feet and core strength/controll = more glutes.
This is exactly what i needed, been injured lower back have rediculopathy running down a leg. It makes it hard for me to feel the glute and piriformis muscles. P.s. i do them slow trying to feel the muscle and do to pain.
Gonna start lunges with 100s pretty soon. Usually I do 10-20 steps a set. Anymore than 20 steps; I’m just so mentally exhausted and I get the urge to throw up .
@joedimaggio3146 Kickboxing, I had just bought new equipment (and I wasnt a good kickboxer anyway) that was pulling my toes out of position. Dodgy front kick messed up the first one and then stubbornly kept going and messed up the second. Honestly the pain is my own fault for not getting it seen by a doctor lmao, still get major flare ups even years later
Hip thrusts are such a high fatigue exercise for me that over loading and volume are difficult. Noting makes he cheeks more sore than good ol squats. But honestly, idgaf about glutes, my thighs make pants hard enough to shop for as it is. 34 is loose at the waist but I still need 36 for my legs to fit. Not unless I want JNCO bagginess
@@muscularclassrepresentativ5663 my gym has a primo thrust machine, plate load. Adjustable foot base etc For reference, my last 1mr squat was 445. 120lb girls can do more on that machine than I can 🤣
Does lunging in place target the glute differently than if lunging forward and stepping forward "like walking"? Any reason to specify training one way or the other?
