The lunge is so often blamed for knee pain.

We need to understand there is a difference between going through the motions and mimicking proper form and actually getting the correct muscles working. Too often we end up demonizing this amazing move instead of learning to properly control it and load muscles correctly. And that overload is what leads to the pain. When you don’t engage the correct muscles to power the movement can prevent us from seeing the full benefit of all the amazing lunge variations out there.

I want to share 3 key form cues I use to help client’s get more out of this amazing move while avoiding those common mistakes we often make that lead to aches and pains.

1. Maintain A More Vertical Shin Angle:

When our knee travel further forward over our foot, there will be more loading of our quads. This is what can lead to lunges causing knee pain, especially if you have previous knee issues or lack of ankle mobility.

You also want to make sure your heel is firmly planted on the ground and focus on maintaining a more vertical shin angle with our front leg as you lunge, whether doing a static lunge, reverse lunge or even front lunge! When you maintain that vertical shin angle, you can actually engage your glutei more and make the move slightly more hip dominant. This can help you avoid overloading quads and your knees.

2. Keep Your Weight Centered:

Too often when we are moving forward or backwards in lunge, we become off balance and that can lead to overloading muscles that supports our knees. You have to try keep your weight more centred so you can smoothly push back to standing. The best way to learn how to keep your way centred is by making sure you first mastered static lunge or split squat. Star with your back knee about under hip and front knee over ankle so shin stays vertical. Push the ball of your back foot and entire front foot into ground. Squeeze back glute, and make sure you use front glutei to prevent front knee from caving in. Focus on pushing ground away to stand. Drive straight up instead of shifting forward.

So first we must learn to control This static lunge and build mobility to perform it properly before we progress. You want to make sure that correct muscles are working and not just mimicking movements!