Are there benefits of doing lunges everyday?

Lunges are a great unilateral exercise that is a great lower-body exercise. Are there benefits of doing lunges everyday?

Strength training makes you stronger and has many benefits for everyday life, including your balance and coordination. However, targeting the same muscle group every day is not advisable.

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Lunges are a compound exercise that works multiple lower body muscles, including your quads, hamstrings, glutes and calves. When you do lunges too often, you can put stress on these muscles and increase your risk of injury.

What should you be aware of?

If you do lunges daily, you may overtrain your legs. It is very simple when you are doing lunges, you are breaking your muscles and now allowing them enough time to recover.

Overtraining won’t take you anywhere. You may end up injuring yourself, so you should at least give a day in between.

Do lunges on alternate days, which will help your leg muscles to recover and build faster.

Muscles worked during lunges

Lunges are a compound exercise that works multiple muscle groups in the lower body. The primary muscles worked during lunges are:

Quadriceps: The quadriceps are the four muscles on the front of the thigh. They are responsible for extending the knee and helping to stabilize the knee joint.

Hamstrings: The hamstrings are the muscles on the back of the thigh. They are responsible for flexing the knee and helping to stabilize the knee joint.

Gluteus maximus: The gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in the body. It is responsible for extending the hip and helping to stabilize the hip joint.

Calves: The calves are the muscles on the back of the lower leg. They are responsible for plantar flexing the foot (pointing the toes down).

In addition to these primary muscles, lunges also work:

Adductors: The adductors are the muscles on the inner thigh. 

Abductors: The abductors are the muscles on the outer thigh. 

Hip flexors: The hip flexors are the muscles in the front of the hip. 

Core: The core muscles are the muscles that stabilize the spine and pelvis.

The specific muscles worked during lunges will vary depending on the type of lunge being performed. For example, a forward lunge will work the quadriceps and glutes more than a side lunge.

Lunges are a great exercise for strengthening the lower body and improving balance and coordination. They can be done with just your body weight, dumbbells, barbells or even TRX straps (save 15% on trainers with code TRX15SHALAMA) to make them more challenging. 

Common lunge variations

Forward lunges

Forward lunges are a basic type of lunge. These lunges are less stable than reverse lunges.

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart and take a large step forward with one leg.
• Lower your body until your front knee is bent at a 90-degree angle and your back knee is almost touching the ground.
• Keep your back straight and your core engaged.
• Push back up to the starting position and repeat on the other leg.

Reverse lunges

Reverse lunges are similar to the forward lunge, but you step back instead of forward. 

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart and take a large step back with one leg.
• Lower your body until your back knee is bent at a 90-degree angle and your front knee is almost touching the ground.
• Keep your back straight and your core engaged.
• Push back up to the starting position and repeat on the other leg.

Lateral lunges

Instead of going from front to back, you’ll go out to the side of your body. The side lunge targets your outer thighs. 

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart and step to the side with one leg.
• Lower your body until your front knee is bent at a 90-degree angle and your back knee is almost touching the ground.
• Keep your back straight and your core engaged.
• Push back up to the starting position and repeat on the other leg.

Curtsy lunges

The curtsy lunge is a reverse lunge with a twist. It targets your inner thighs.

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart and step diagonally behind you with one leg.
• Lower your body until your front knee is bent at a 90-degree angle and your back knee is almost touching the ground.
• Keep your back straight and your core engaged.
• Push back up to the starting position and repeat on the other leg.

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Static lunge

The stationary lunge only requires you to move up and down. You can do these with your body weight or adding dumbbells for additional resistance.  

Walking lunges

Walking lunges are a variation of the traditional lunge exercise. Instead of standing back upright after performing a lunge on one leg, as you would in a static lunge, you “walk” forward by lunging out with the other leg. 

What are the benefits of lunges?

Leg day wouldn’t be leg day without lunges. Lunges are a versatile exercise that can be modified to fit your fitness level and goals. So if you want to improve your leg strength and definition, lunges are a great option.

Here are a few benefits:

• Strengthen your lower body. Lunges work the muscles in your legs, and glutes. The more you do them, the stronger these muscles will become. It can help you improve your performance in running, jumping, and climbing stairs.
• Improve your balance and coordination. Lunges require you to balance on one leg while you lower your body. It can be helpful in everyday activities such as walking, standing up from a chair and getting into and out of a car.
• Reduce your risk of injury. Strong muscles and good balance can help to reduce your risk of injuries such as knee pain and ankle sprains.
• Improve your posture. Lunges can help improve your posture by strengthening your back and core muscles.
• Unilateral training: Lunges are an excellent way to improve any muscle imbalances and work on training one leg at a time.