Is there anything problematic, tricky, or unsafe about static lunges? A friend who is a trainer(and I think an ex-pro athlete) has told me that he does not teach his clients lunges because they cause problems. From what he described I think he was talking about static lunges, (as opposed to the ones which T-mags recent article described as dynamic which he said were OK). Any comments?
back to the top
Scott: First some terms to make sure we are on the same page. “Dynamic” Lunges are lunges where you actually step forward (or backward), and push back up through your heel/quads/hams glutes to a starting position where the feet and legs are together.
With “Static” Lunges, you step out initially (like the “Dynamic” Lunge), but don’t move the forward foot anymore during the movement. You merely extend the leg by pushing into the heel with the power of the quads/hams and glutes so that you go “up and down” from a kneeling to a standing position.
It sounds like your trainer friend MAY have been mixing up the two. A lot of trainers stay away from “Dynamic” lunges because of the natural tendency to extend the knee past the end of the toe when you step out. This puts shearing forces on the knee that over time can lead to pain, tendinitis and/or ligament/catilage tears. You have greater control over this tendency with “static” lunges.
The Testosterone "Great Ass Lunges" are actually a combination of Static and Dynamic Lunges. You can look at it like doing full range of motion lunges ("Dynamic") followed by partials or "burns". ("Static"). Hope this helps.
Mufasa thanks for the reply. But no, my friend was specific in that he thought the ones “where you stepped back” were ok, but the others, the ones you describe as static were a problem. He said that “he does not teach lunges [static]and no one who works with him teaches them and that he was presently rehabing someone who had done too many lunges”