ADVENT CALENDAR OF CORE: DAY 13
Day 13 – Lunge again!
As always click the link for your bauble.
After another four days of continuous core exercises, it’s time to take a break again and give your muscles time to repair. If you would like to hear more about why we need a rest, head back to Day 4. Today we will be repeating Day 4’s exercise and work on maintaining great posture with the Lunge Walk again.
Remember, the Lunge Walk can be used as a warm up before a run and while it requires good core control, it doesn’t require such intense strength as some of the exercises that we’ve been including.
Lunge Walk Exercise Cues
In today’s exercise we will travel forwards so we have a sequence of pictures to show you the move. Plan ahead and perhaps do this exercise outside if your room is quite small.
Start by standing tall and looking ahead. Hold your arms straight up, brushing your ears, with your hands pressed together. Think tall! From this position we are going to raise one leg and take a large controlled step forward. Control the hips, keeping them parallel, as you raise your leg. Note, control is the key throughout this exercise. We aren’t launching forward but slowly stepping out in front and as we start to fall toward the ground our front leg lands and is used to stop our trailing knee hitting the ground. This slowing down causes eccentric stress in your quad, as the muscle resists lengthening, to slow your descent. Our knee should never hit the ground. Instead, think about allowing your knee to brush the grass but not touch the soil. From this position we stand up and with forward motion. Return to a tall posture with your hands above your head, mimicking your starting position but a metre or so ahead.
Nice stuff! You have performed a lunge. Repeat this process with your other leg and you will have completed a Lung Walk.
During this exercise always look straight ahead, not at your feet, and hold a tall posture. As you lift one leg, your hips should remain parallel, controlled by your core. When you step out and land on your leading foot, your knee should be kept in line with your foot. Don’t allow it to drop inwards or outwards.
One step of the Lunge Walk should look like this.
Click To View larger Image.
The Exercise Set:
Today’s exercise set is short and sweet so use this chance to really dial in good posture and control.
| Step | Instruction | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Perform Lunge Walks (One Left Lung, One Right Lunge) | 5 Walks | 9 Walks | 15 Walks |
| 2 | Rest | 40 seconds | 30 seconds | 30 seconds |
| 3 | Perform Lunge Walks (One Left Lung, One Right Lunge) | 5 Walks | 9 Walks | 15 Walks |
| 4 | Rest | 40 seconds | 30 seconds | 30 seconds |
| 5 | Perform Lunge Walks (One Left Lung, One Right Lunge) | 5 Walks | 9 Walks | 15 Walks |
Let us know how you went by commenting on our web page or by posting a picture on Facebook with #CalendarOfCore .And you are done – nice stuff!
We’d love you see you on the trails and we are free to try. Come along and say hi to a really friendly group of trail runners.
See you tomorrow, Wild Runners.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.