Lunges as a big guy

[robertbelmes]

[Apologies in advance for the rambling ]

So I’m a big guy (6’3, 350ish lbs). Trying to start the year on the right foot and have been working to #CloseMyRings (I have an Apple Watch) every day this month (so far so good). Trying to keep some variety to it and also work with the variable winter weather (citizen of the far North ) so it’s a mix of weightlifting, walks outside, and yoga.

On the days I do weightlifting, I’m doing it at home with my adjustable bench and dumbbells. The one exercise I have difficulty with right now is the lunge. It’s just difficult doing the full lunge when theres a fair amount of me to support (remember, big guy here). I don’t want to injure myself over-exerting my knee. I somehow did that mildly last summer and it was not cool.

I’d like to work on the lunge movement, but don’t wanna screw up my knee again. Are there are any modifications or alternate movements I can be doing to try to get the same group of muscles worked out???

 

[blagadarenia]

@robertbelmes Your best bet is to regress the movement until you're confident you've built up the strength (or lost enough weight) to do it. I would think step ups are a good place to start. Here's a link to the lunge progression. As your strength increases, when you can do 10 comfortably with good form, you can graduate to the next exercise.

 

[robertbelmes]

@blagadarenia Dude, thanks! That looks like just the resource for me. Hi five!

 

[blagadarenia]

@robertbelmes yeah man, good luck.

 

[pleaseprayformeplz]

@robertbelmes Hey man, it’s been a few hours and I was wondering if you found a modified lunge or alternative that works. I’m 6’7 and 365lbs, feeling the same issues with my knees, and lunges are kryptonite to me too.

 

[robertbelmes]

@pleaseprayformeplz It looks like the link in @blagadarenia’s post above has some videos to progress up from “ I can’t do lunges”.

It looks like the trick is having some sort of straps that can support some of your weight through your arms so not all of your weight is being put on your knees. I’m not sure what I was looking for originally, but this seems to make sense to me... (now I just need to find some way to do the strap thing, whether it’s Amazon or homemade MacGyver style).

I guess it’s basically about having some extra support to where you’re not putting all the weight on the knees.

 

[dinafrancis]

@robertbelmes Without looking at the video, I'm guessing the straps are suspension training straps (TRX is a brand name, plenty of cheaper ones on Amazon) check the weight limit on them though (you might not be able to get the cheapest ones)

But these straps are great for support for leg work and can be used for upper body work quite easily.

As for your knees, please do take care of them. Not doing lunges for a while would be fine! Body weight squats would be way more stable and combine that with some RDLs and youre golden

 

[harpgal]

@robertbelmes I just wanted to say that I'm a skinny person and I'm also struggling with lunges. Hurts my knees and my balance is just not great. I'd love some general tips for getting lunges to not suck

 

[jsanford108]

@robertbelmes Great question!

Invest in a resistance band. Not those little hip ones either. The big boy ones are for big boys.

What you’ll want to do is loop it around a pull up bar and do your lunges underneath, using the resistance band as counter weight.

It will allow you to progress with form until you’re strong enough to do the smoothest lunge in the entire world.

You might even forget you’re a big guy it’ll feel so easy. Lmk if you need any other help.

 

[robertbelmes]

@jsanford108 I’m not entirely sure what you’re referring to. I think I have an idea, but can ya drop a link in a reply so I’ve got a clear understanding of what you’re talking about?

 

[jsanford108]

@robertbelmes Yes, I will make a video tutorial explaining this for you exactly.

For now, just check the YouTube channel. I’ll have a lunge tutorial dropping in… 5 days I think.

Tomorrow will be a full tutorial video for bodyweight exercises using athletic programming technique called “block training”.

All of this, plus the YouTube videos, and a written description with the history of calisthenics will be included in an article early next month.

If you want to be notified on that join the email list.

Link to YouTube videos (plus a bunch of extra stuff you might find useful) can be found on the Health Hub:

www.hub.yudaewellness.com

P.s. if you can’t tell there’s a lot being worked on right now, so if this is super urgent for you to get this info asap (like you’re going to workout tomorrow and need to know how to do this) then fill out a special request form located at the bottom of the Health HUB and I will personally move it to top priority.

Lmk if there’s anything else I can do.