How to Level Up Your Lunge to Avoid Knee Pain
People come into the office daily and complain about their knees hurting and the pain they feel when trying to perform a lunge. Whether an athlete feels their knees on the field or in the gym, the lunge gets a bad reputation for causing knee pain.
The truth is… the lunge is not causing your knee pain. So you may wonder, “why do lunges hurt my knees?”. When performing lunges, there are three common faults of our physical therapists that can influence any pain you may be feeling.
If you're experiencing pain when lunging, fix these faults and watch your knee pain go away.
Fault #1: Master The Progressions
If you're performing a regular lunge and you experience pain in your knees, MASTER THE PROGRESSIONS. Odds are you progressed into lunging way too soon. Typically a forward lunge is earned and not the proper starting point for a patient or beginner into exercise.
Fault #2: Utilizing The Wrong Muscles
- A lunge should be an up-and-down movement. With a forward lunge, you should step forward right into a split squat position (see above), perform the up and down motion, and then step back into standing.
- Stop using your back foot to press up. When you use the back foot in a lunge, you shift forward during your lunge. This can increase pressure on the knee and cause pain.
Fault #3: Loading Improperly
- If you haven't fixed the first two faults, why would you add weight?!?! You need to master the progressions first to earn the lunge back into your program.
- Once you earn the lunge and feel comfortable, don’t jump right into loading with a barbell; use the tool that's right for you. Dumbbells, kettlebells, and sandbags are all good options to load your lunge. Figure out which option is best for you! If you can complete the movement properly with your tool of choice, and it doesn’t restrict your motion or increase or cause knee pain while performing lunges… you found the right option!
Are You Still Experiencing Knee Pain While Doing Lunges?
Have you tried all these suggestions and are still experiencing pain in your knees during your lunges? If you’re sick of getting the run around and want to see if we might be a good fit, click here to schedule a free phone consultation with our team of West Springfield Physical Therapists.