Wobbly Lunge

[skim]

When doing fwd lunges on my right leg, I'm pretty wobbly/unstable and I'm wondering what the root cause is. (left leg is solid)

In my normal standing stance, the right foot is turned outward to about 1 or 2 o'clock. When I'm lungeing, should I turn the foot in to 12 oclock or just leave it where it goes? Is the root cause a flexibility issue? I'm becoming concerned about potentially straining my knee and also b/c I've convinced myself that each butt cheek is developing differently.

Can anyone help?

[OldGuy]

Are you right-handed?

The reason I say is I'm lefthanded so all my moves when playing sports (throwing a ball, making a golf swing) seems to have made me very stable in a lunging movement with my right leg. I'm unbalanced on my left.

Just an observation , not sure if it's accurate.

[Jean-Paul]

I would try to be as symmetrical as possible (do the same with your right that you do with your left). If it hurts, then you have found a problem. As Bill Hartman will tell you, if it hurts don't do it. Sounds like a strength imbalance that you have probably been developing for a while. You may be "guarding" against an existing injury completely unconsciously. It's hard to tell from what you've said so far what the corrective action may be though. Someone like Bill, Eric Cressy, or Mike Robertson might be better at recommending where you go once you have identified the problem.

[skim]

Old guy - I was born LHanded but was forced to become Rhanded at an early age - (oddly, my left arm is more muscular than my right) If your theory is correct, I'm wondering how to correct the imbalance. Do you do anything for that?

JP - I just tried the lunge with the RFoot pointing at 12 and the RKnee then starts to point toward 11. It doesn't hurt but it feels weird in the kneecap. That's why I was hoping to get a trainer to help me evaluate what's going on.

[OldGuy]

Nothing specific. I just do the weight and reps wth the left leg and match that with the right, even though I know I can do more with the right. Again, I don't know if this is a valid reason; it just seems logical.

[John Izzo]

You may have overly tight lateral hamstrings and hip rotators. What I do with my clients is a "kneeling-to-lunge exercise".

Master this--including the foot placement and glute activation (see another thread) and then progress to standard stance lunges.

1.) Begin kneeling on the floor (like at church--if you go)
2.)Then put the working leg out 90 degrees and keep your arms away from your body or keep them interlocked behind your head.
3.) Raise your body using the working leg only.
4.) Return to a kneeling positino and use teh otehr foot for the next rep.
5.) Keep your eye on your front foot and focus on coming straight up rather than "forward up".
6.) In my experience...with any lunge and assymentrical issues....I like to have a client perform them in front of a mirror where the 2 ends of the mirrors connect. You know tehe line that seperates two 8x8' mirrors? That way, you can watch deviations during the action.

Hope that helps.

[skim]

Originally Posted by standAPART

You may have overly tight lateral hamstrings and hip rotators. What I do with my clients is a "kneeling-to-lunge exercise".

Master this--including the foot placement and glute activation (see another thread) and then progress to standard stance lunges.

1.) Begin kneeling on the floor (like at church--if you go)
2.)Then put the working leg out 90 degrees and keep your arms away from your body or keep them interlocked behind your head.
3.) Raise your body using the working leg only.
4.) Return to a kneeling positino and use teh otehr foot for the next rep.
5.) Keep your eye on your front foot and focus on coming straight up rather than "forward up".
6.) In my experience...with any lunge and assymentrical issues....I like to have a client perform them in front of a mirror where the 2 ends of the mirrors connect. You know tehe line that seperates two 8x8' mirrors? That way, you can watch deviations during the action.

Hope that helps.

So if I'm going to work my R. Leg by following the above, my right leg would be in front of my left when I get to standing, correct? Should I try to turn my foot to 12 oclock as well? Thanks so much for your advice!

[John Izzo]

yes....and yes.