Avoid These Common Mistakes When Doing Reverse Lunges

When it comes to dumbbell reverse lunges, your form matters.

I can’t stand watching reverse lunges done with poor technique. Dumbbell reverse lunges are an exercise that builds great legs. But you need to perform them the right way to get the benefits.

How To Do Dumbbell Reverse Lunges

The dumbbell reverse lunge is a basic movement. It is often butchered in the gym.

The main problem with most dumbbell reverse lunges in the gym is not lifters using too much weight. Unlike the bench press, dumbbell reverse lunges are not an ego exercise. The main issue with dumbbell reverse lunges is questionable form. But I’ve got three lifting cues that will clean up your form and allow you to build stallion legs.

1) You Must Create Tension In Your Upper Body

It is a mistake to do dumbbell reverse lunges without locking in your upper body.

For example, if you try to step back into a lunge and your body is loose, you will fold at your hips. Standing up from a reverse lunge while bent over significantly increases your risk of a lower back injury.

After you pick up the dumbbells, you will create tension in your upper body by doing the following:

• Look straight ahead
• Keep your chest up and shoulders back
• Pull your elbows toward your lats
• Tighten your abs

Now, when you step back into the lunge, you will not fold like a nervous NBA player in crunch time. So, you’ll be able to lunge back with the confidence of a man leaving the barbershop with a fresh haircut.

2) Your Back Knee Must Contact The Floor

Oh me, oh my.

The half-rep plague in commercial and some hardcore gyms affects reverse lunges too. Half-reppers either have too much ego or they do not want to work hard. But, since dumbbell reverse lunges are not an ego move, most lifters cut them short to avoid the pain of hard work.

When you do dumbbell reverse lunges, only going a quarter or halfway down, you are missing out on leg gains. You won’t build thick legs and a round butt by doing half reps.

To do the dumbbell reverse lunge, your back knee must kiss the floor as you step back. This will ensure that your legs work through a full range of motion.

3) Apply The Force Through Your Heel And Midfoot

How you rise up during a dumbbell reverse lunge will determine where the stress of the movement goes.

When it’s time to stand up in the lunge, many lifters make a mistake: they push through the balls of their feet. Their heels also come off the ground when they try to stand. If you put all that force into the balls of your feet with lunges, you will strain your knees.

To avoid stressing your knees, you must push through your heel and midfoot. Using your heel and midfoot lets your muscles do the work, not your joints. The goal of lifting weights is not to put your joints and tendons in bad positions.

The goal is to get stronger and more muscular. You have to have great form to achieve those goals.

Conclusion

Great form leads to fantastic results.

I’ll holla at you next time.
The People’s Trainer
Fitman