TPT
10-04-2009, 03:35 PM
the lunge and variations of the exercise are popular in most gyms. i even see men doing them. bodybuilders swear they are great ever since ronnie coleman popularized a variation.
so lets take a look at some studies and find further applications to performance and bodybuilding.
the following was just published. the experimenters studied two variations of lunges: walking and jumping. pictures of the lunges are in the link for full text.
differences between the two lunges were found. rectus femoris, lateral hams, and lateral gastroc were active during during all phases of both exercises. the jumping lunges showed greater activation
during all phases of both lunges. likely because of the greater range of motion required. concurrently, muscle length differences of the hams and rectus were found between lunges. makes sense, right? greater range and greater activation.
rectus fem (ie., quads): high emg activity during the beginning of the both lunges and as the foot hits the floor. emg activity peaks as the knee and hip flex with an excentric contraction.
lateral hams: two peaks in activation were as the foot hits the floor and before push off. the first peak was just an isotmetric contraction just to "brace" the extremity. the second peak is at push off where the hip extends. a brief peak was found at the beginning of stance during the walking lunge. now check this out- the hams only contracted eccentrically 18-19 percent of the lunge cycle. that bit of info is for those who swear lunges are for hams( and glutes). sorry, this evidence says no for hams. anyone want to take at a stab on why? back to hams (and glutes) later.
lateral gastrocs: friggin 61 and 63 percent of the cycle were eccentric contraction, respectively. maybe we need to consider forward lunges as calf exercises.
ill be back for questions and review other lunge studies.
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/122563882/PDFSTART
1: Scand J Med Sci Sports. (javascript:AL_get(this, 'jour', 'Scand J Med Sci Sports.');) 2009 Aug;19(4):561-8.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/corehtml/query/egifs/http:--www3.interscience.wiley.com-aboutus-images-wiley_interscience_150x34.gif (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/entrez/utils/fref.fcgi?PrId=3046&itool=AbstractPlus-def&uid=19708966&nlmid=9111504&db=pubmed&url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0838.2007.00692.x) Links (javascript:PopUpMenu2_Set(Menu19708966);)
Muscle activation and length changes during two lunge exercises: implications for rehabilitation.
Jönhagen S (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22J%C3%B6nhagen%20S%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus), Halvorsen K (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Halvorsen%20K%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus), Benoit DL (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Benoit%20DL%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus).
Department of Orthopaedics, Stockholm Söder Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. [email protected]
Eccentric exercises are commonly used as a treatment for various muscle and tendon injuries. During complex motions such as the forward lunge, however, it is not always clear which muscles may be contracting eccentrically and at what time. Because this exercise is used during rehabilitation, the purpose of this investigation was to determine what type of contractions take place during two different types of forward lunge and assess the implications for rehabilitation. Five experienced athletes performed five cycles for each of the walking and jumping forward lunges. Motion analysis was used to calculate the shortening or elongation of each muscle based on the change of position of their origin and insertion points during the lunge. Electromyography of the lateral hamstrings, rectus femoris and lateral gastrocnemius was combined with the muscle length change data to determine when isometric, concentric and eccentric activations occur during the lunge. Eccentric contractions in both the quadriceps and gastrocnemius were observed during the lunge. No hamstring eccentric contractions were found; however, the hamstrings showed isometric contractions during the first part of the stance phase.
PMID: 19708966 [PubMed - in process]
so lets take a look at some studies and find further applications to performance and bodybuilding.
the following was just published. the experimenters studied two variations of lunges: walking and jumping. pictures of the lunges are in the link for full text.
differences between the two lunges were found. rectus femoris, lateral hams, and lateral gastroc were active during during all phases of both exercises. the jumping lunges showed greater activation
during all phases of both lunges. likely because of the greater range of motion required. concurrently, muscle length differences of the hams and rectus were found between lunges. makes sense, right? greater range and greater activation.
rectus fem (ie., quads): high emg activity during the beginning of the both lunges and as the foot hits the floor. emg activity peaks as the knee and hip flex with an excentric contraction.
lateral hams: two peaks in activation were as the foot hits the floor and before push off. the first peak was just an isotmetric contraction just to "brace" the extremity. the second peak is at push off where the hip extends. a brief peak was found at the beginning of stance during the walking lunge. now check this out- the hams only contracted eccentrically 18-19 percent of the lunge cycle. that bit of info is for those who swear lunges are for hams( and glutes). sorry, this evidence says no for hams. anyone want to take at a stab on why? back to hams (and glutes) later.
lateral gastrocs: friggin 61 and 63 percent of the cycle were eccentric contraction, respectively. maybe we need to consider forward lunges as calf exercises.
ill be back for questions and review other lunge studies.
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/122563882/PDFSTART
1: Scand J Med Sci Sports. (javascript:AL_get(this, 'jour', 'Scand J Med Sci Sports.');) 2009 Aug;19(4):561-8.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/corehtml/query/egifs/http:--www3.interscience.wiley.com-aboutus-images-wiley_interscience_150x34.gif (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/entrez/utils/fref.fcgi?PrId=3046&itool=AbstractPlus-def&uid=19708966&nlmid=9111504&db=pubmed&url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0838.2007.00692.x) Links (javascript:PopUpMenu2_Set(Menu19708966);)
Muscle activation and length changes during two lunge exercises: implications for rehabilitation.
Jönhagen S (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22J%C3%B6nhagen%20S%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus), Halvorsen K (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Halvorsen%20K%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus), Benoit DL (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Benoit%20DL%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus).
Department of Orthopaedics, Stockholm Söder Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. [email protected]
Eccentric exercises are commonly used as a treatment for various muscle and tendon injuries. During complex motions such as the forward lunge, however, it is not always clear which muscles may be contracting eccentrically and at what time. Because this exercise is used during rehabilitation, the purpose of this investigation was to determine what type of contractions take place during two different types of forward lunge and assess the implications for rehabilitation. Five experienced athletes performed five cycles for each of the walking and jumping forward lunges. Motion analysis was used to calculate the shortening or elongation of each muscle based on the change of position of their origin and insertion points during the lunge. Electromyography of the lateral hamstrings, rectus femoris and lateral gastrocnemius was combined with the muscle length change data to determine when isometric, concentric and eccentric activations occur during the lunge. Eccentric contractions in both the quadriceps and gastrocnemius were observed during the lunge. No hamstring eccentric contractions were found; however, the hamstrings showed isometric contractions during the first part of the stance phase.
PMID: 19708966 [PubMed - in process]