AskMen reports on the benefits of lunges and how often you should be doing them according to HSS exercise physiologist Max Castrogaleas MA, CSCS,*D, TSAC-F,*D, EP-C, FRCMS.

Unilateral exercises like lunges, where you are moving one side of your body differently than the other are great for improving balance. “Think about the last time you performed forward lunges and how difficult it was to maintain balance and control,” noted Castrogaleas. “The muscles of the core and hips play a very important role in helping you maintain body control during motion.”

Lunges are also versatile so you don’t get bored. “Lunges allow for multidirectional movement as there are variations that can be performed in different planes of motion,” explained Castrogaleas. “This is great for mixing up your lower body exercise routine by including front to back, side to side, and rotational lunge variations.”

“When we perform a physical activity or exercise, we break down muscle. When performing any sort of strength training exercise, you want to make sure that you take at least 48 hours of rest between each major muscle group,” advised Castrogaleas. He noted this break time allows the muscles to repair and minimizes the risk of overuse injuries.

Castrogaleas added, “When it comes to repetitions, start on the lower end and slowly build up.” He continued, “You want to make sure that you are performing the lunges with proper technique. As you build strength you can start to increase the repetitions and depending on your goal you can even start to add weights.”

Read the full article at Askmen.com.