Question about lunges

jwhat

Hi Guys,

I have an imbalance with my quads, left one smaller than the right. So I want to add some extra lunges into my routine to build up my left quad.

So to the question; when I'm doing a lunge and put my right foot forward and left knee near to the ground which quad am I working out?

COH

jwhat wrote: »

Hi Guys,

I have an imbalance with my quads, left one smaller than the right. So I want to add some extra lunges into my routine to build up my left quad.

So to the question; when I'm doing a lunge and put my right foot forward and left knee near to the ground which quad am I working out?

The right quad

Brian?

I prefer these to lunges myself.

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Quadriceps/DBSplitSquat.html

Hanley

Just on this whole topic... if you've an imbalance, allow your good legs workload to be limited by the weaker leg or you'll never bring them in line. It COULD mean slower strength gains, or even a strength loss on one side, but it's worth it to sort out the imbalance.

I've also read some stuff about how these issues tend to creep back around even after they've been sorted, so once you get it done, it's worth monitoring it on an ongoing basis to prevent it reocurring.

I've also seen stuff about how the imbalances come about as a result of compensatory patterns, and doing compound movements (even unilaterally) won't bring everything back in line properly and isolation may be necessary (single leg leg extensions in this case) - just another avenue for you to consider.

Hanley

Canis Lupus wrote: »

*scratches his head*

If that's aimed at my post, i'll simplify...

You've 2 options:
1) Do lunges, but start with your bad leg. Do the same reps and weight on the good leg. Don't do more.

2) Do leg extensions (assuming the quad is the issue) because sometimes even doing unilateral work won't have the desired effect because your body gets really good at compensating for weakness and may need to be targeted directly

Better?

COH

Canis Lupus wrote: »

*scratches his head*

If that's aimed at my post I'll simplify too.

1 - I meant the right quad, as in not the left quad. I did not mean the 'right' quad as opposed to the 'wrong' quad

I hope that also helps

jwhat

Thanks very much for the quick replies. I got much more information than I expected and I can now give it a go for the next few weeks to try and get rid of the imbalance.

nice_guy80

lunges
reverse lunges
split squats
side dumbbell deadlifts (also called side lunges, but they ain't really lunges)